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Circular fashion is definitely one of the buzziest concepts in the fashion industry currently. Thousands of talks and conferences about this topic have been held recently. Businesses and consumers are placing increased focus on the sustainability of fashion products from apparel, footwear, technology to accessories. Several brands with a strong stance on sustainability made the ‘most searched for’ roundups for the first time. For example, the French trainer brand Veja, which works with more environmentally-friendly materials, took the number one spot in the ‘Insta brands’ ranking which looked at search spikes compared against Instagram mentions and tags, with searches having reportedly increased 113% year-on-year.    

What is circular fashion?

The concept of circular fashion was first coined and used in spring 2014 by two actors, almost simultaneously and independently of each other. Felix Ockborn, an environmental sustainability coordinator for H&M in Stockholm at a seminar presentation and Dr. Anna Brismar, head and owner of the Swedish consultancy firm Green Strategy when planning for a sustainable fashion event in central Stockholm. The concept quickly then became prominent and are widely used globally.  

So, what does “circular fashion” actually mean? ‘Circular fashion’ can be defined as fashion items that are designed, sourced, produced, distributed and provided with the intention to be used and circulate responsibly and effectively in society for as long as possible in their most valuable form, and hereafter return safely to the biosphere when no longer of human use. One of the key principles of circular fashion is the product’s being used by multiple users throughout its life time through resale, swapping, borrowing, rental, redesign, or second hand services, thus extending its useful life.  

Why is circular fashion important?

Fashion industry has been hugely wasteful. It’s estimated that 60% of new garments produced each year winding up in landfill within 12 months of being bought. The fashion industry produces 20 percent of global wastewater. As United Nations Climate Change News states, the industry contributes 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions due to its long supply chains and energy intensive production. By 2030, it’s expected that fashion waste will increase to a 148 million ton problem. 

There has been an increasing demand from consumers for sustainable fashions. More and more customers are becoming concerned with social and environmental issues, and thus they want to make purchase decisions that reflect their values. Many of those surveyed said that wearing a pre-owned fashion item gave them a sense of pride for being a sustainably conscious consumer.  

Therefore, making fashion circular can help reduce the huge waste in the industry and add tremendous value to our society.  

How to make more sustainable impact with circular fashion?

Wear and rewear: The best thing consumers can do to encourage greater sustainability in the fashion industry is to exercise your power as a consumer: buying sustainable products and making the most use of what you have in your wardrobe.  In particular, resale, redistribution or purchase of pre-loved items not only extends useful life of these fashion products but also gives you more access to other fashion items and new styles.  

Embrace circular fashion: In response to increasing consumer demand for sustainable fashion, fashion brands will need a fundamental redesign: changing from a take-make-waste model towards a reused-based model. This new model requires the brands to use safe and renewable inputs for fashion products, and develop solutions to enable the product to be used for as long as possible in their most valuable form. As the fashion system today has been built on many years of the take-make-waste mindset, this change is no small task, but critical to create positive impact on our environment and society. 

-Reluxe Co-