Less methane from sheep: Textile Exchange honours fashion brand Theory
At the Textile Exchange conference in Vancouver, Theory won an award for a wool project: a feed supplement cut methane emissions from Merino sheep by 43 percent.
Symbolic image · Photo: Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
Non-profit organisation Textile Exchange presented its Climate and Nature Impact Awards at its annual conference in Vancouver. The conference took place in October at the Vancouver Convention Center. The Collaboration for Global Impact Award went to fashion brand Theory, owned by Fast Retailing, together with Australia's Congi Farm, the company Sea Forest and Italian wool mill Botto Giuseppe.
In their pilot, 2,000 Merino sheep were given the feed supplement SeaFeed for 120 days. According to FashionUnited, enteric methane emissions fell by 43 percent, avoiding around 54.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The wool went into Theory's spring 2026 'Regal Wool' collection. Theory's head of sustainability Gonzalo Pertile called the results 'encouraging'. Also honoured were Jabir Karat of Green Worms for circular waste management, Amitabh Singh of Amiha Agro for regenerative cotton farming and the recycling network around Circulose.
The Removing Economic Barriers Award went to Pur for its regenerative wool programmes: since 2020, the company has supported 16 producers on almost 17,000 hectares and mobilised 350,000 US dollars in direct funding. Pur's Hannah Crone said producers 'should not be expected to carry the cost and risk of transition'. Textile Exchange CEO Claire Bergkamp said the winners showed what is possible when innovation, collaboration and a shared commitment to change come together.