Primark is partnering with the Circular Textiles Foundation to deliver an advanced training programme on circular design principles for its Design and Product teams.
Circular Online has spoken exclusively to Primark’s Head of Circularity Nick Lambert and the Circular Textiles Foundation’s Founder and Director Tim Cross about the new training programme.
In a wide-ranging interview, Lambert and Cross delved into how Primark define “circular by design”, the importance of fashion’s emotional durability, and how the training builds on Primark’s Circular Product Standard.
The new training will cover advanced circular design principles, with a focus on recyclability, to support Primark’s commitment to make more of its clothes recyclable by design by 2027, the fashion retailer said.
Primark’s Design and Product teams will participate in the training, in addition to selected suppliers, who will review Primark’s clothing category by category to understand how circularity principles can be applied.
Through this programme, Primark said its teams will learn how to apply the core principles of circular design to different product categories and adapt their approach based on the unique characteristics of each product type.
CTF will also host a series of workshops to help put the theory of a circular design into practice and show colleagues ways to embed this into their day-to-day work.
Nick Lambert, Circular Product Lead at Primark, commented: “This is the next step for us at Primark to really start embedding circular design principles into the core of how we design and make our products.
“Our teams are really looking forward to honing their skills and understanding where we can elevate our designs through this bespoke new training.
“We want to keep pushing our in-house designers and suppliers to create fun and innovative ways to elevate our clothes beyond what our customers may traditionally expect from us.”
Our teams are really looking forward to honing their skills and understanding where we can elevate our designs through this bespoke new training.
Primark’s partnership with CTF builds on its first Circular Design Training programme, which was completed by over 500 Primark employees last year.
The initial programme, developed in collaboration with Circle Economy and the Sustainable Fashion Academy, was designed to educate Primark’s Designers and Product teams in the basic principles of a circular economy as well as Primark’s own Circular Product Standard.
To help give its clothes a longer life, Primark has committed to making its clothes recyclable by design by 2027.
Over the past two years, the retailer said it has embedded circular design principles into some of its clothing collections, and last year launched its first collection of 35 pieces across menswear, womenswear, and kidswear made in line with the Primark Circular Product Standard.
Commenting on the training, Tim Cross, Founder of CTF, added: “Sharing knowledge is crucial to tackling the industry’s issues at pace and scale and this is where the Circular Textiles Foundation comes in.
“We are taking designing for recyclability mainstream, making it accessible and available to all. We hope that by working with Primark we will take a step closer to encouraging industry-wide change. We look forward to Primark engaging with us on this journey and the opportunities for progress.”
