A real-world case study on PFAS fabric sourcing: I asked multiple suppliers for compliance documentation and received none. This article exposes the growing gap between PFAS regulations and textile supply chain transparency—and introduces a material traceability system designers can use to document risk and responsibility.

I emailed Knix about PFAS. What I got back was polished, reassuring, and carefully constructed to tell me almost nothing useful. What it did not mention was the $1.4 million federal class action settlement Knix entered into over the exact leakproof products I asked about — or the court-ordered requirement to stop calling those products PFAS-free. Here's what their email left out, and what every consumer should know before buying from brands like this.

Ten documents. From fashion fabrics to firefighting gear. Period underwear to bed sheets. Every sector where forever chemicals hide in sewn goods and exactly what to do about it. The conversation about PFAS in textiles has been almost entirely focused on one thing: DWR coating on waterproof jackets. That conversation is too small.

PFAS chemicals found in water-resistant fabrics have been formally classified as hazardous substances under federal Superfund law. The finished garments have not — yet. But the distinction matters far less than the fashion industry currently realizes. Before I built a career in fashion and entertainment production, I was the managing partner of a green demolition salvage company. That background is why I can answer the question nobody else in this industry is publishing: what

The fashion industry has a PFAS problem it has not yet fully confronted.

The fashion industry produces 30 billion unsold garments every year. That number is not a tragedy. It is a design feature — and I have spent 15 years inside production at the highest levels watching it play out in real time. I am Gina Vincenza Van Epps, Emmy Award-winning celebrity seamstress, author of the Modern Garment District Model, and the person behind Shakira's Super Bowl Halftime Show costumes. I built a system to fix what is broken. Now I am putting the tools in you

When a cardboard box is sold as luxury, fashion isn’t evolving, it’s collapsing. A breakdown of hype, pricing and the erosion of real craft.

Mass-produced goods are cheaper because they are designed to be. Lower labor costs. Faster production. Less attention per piece. When you pay more for custom or handmade work, you’re not overpaying.

Fashion is not failing because of creativity. It is failing because of how garments are developed, produced and scaled. For decades, the industry has operated on a model built around forecasting—predicting what people might want months in advance, producing at scale and hoping it sells.