Having moved on to the stage of industrialising its offering via a factory in Thailand, Japanese company Spiber has announced that it has raised 10 billion yen to support the roll-out of its protein fibre.

Impact investors try to influence the strategies of listed companies to make them more socially and environmentally virtuous. Find out more about their approach from Johanna Schmidt of Triodos IM.

UK consumer confidence isn’t just on the up again, it’s reached a new two-year high as personal finances improve, especially among 25-34 year-olds. But that isn’t necessarily feeding through to spending habits.

​The BFC’s 2024 Institute of Positive Fashion Forum has wrapped up with the big news being a call from Sojo for the UK fashion industry and its customers “to get behind Care & Repair in a bid to reduce textile waste”.

​Following its move to axe individual seller fees on fashion, eBay UK has come up with some interesting statistics about UK consumers’ fashion usage and they highlight a huge amount of waste in the sector.

Hardware stores, furniture shops, and clothing stores all reported a rise in sales, but these gains were offset by falling food sales and in department stores where retailers say higher prices hit trading.”

Represent will launch a collaboration with Metallica on 24 April with TikTok star Huddy starring in the campaign. The British luxury streetwear label said it “marks a full circle moment” for the brand”.

Klarna’s exploration of AI has produced what it’s calling its Untrend Report. Produced using AI, it highlights the products that defy trends and it also focuses on AI as a way to help consumers shop more sustainably.

The National Retail Federation has announced that executive director of the NRF Foundation Adam Lukoskie has been promoted to also serve as senior vice president of NRF.

Shoulder-padded, daffodil yellow and accented with gleaming gold buttons -- a very of-its-time suit Princess Diana wore during her 1989 trip to Hong Kong is now among six outfits on display in the former British colony.

The BFC Foundation has welcomed Andin Fonyonga to its board of trustees. Fonyonga joins fellow trustees David Pemsel, Pam Batty, Laura Strain and Caroline Rush.

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to make its mark across the fashion landscape, Boohoo Group has now expanded its tie-up with cloud-based e-commerce experience platform Bloomreach.

British womenswear brand Mint Velvet is to open a key regional store at centre:mk in Milton Keynes this summer.

London-based Trouva has yet another new owner. The platform for independent boutiques and brands has been acquired by Fy! for an undisclosed sum.

Fashion, accessories and homewares retailer Oliver Bonas is set to open a 3,000 sq ft store within the Touchwood shopping centre in Solihull.

The two luxury brands, along with the Italian retailer, are making a name for themselves at this year's Milan Design Week with some particularly original and environmentally-friendly projects.