At the Copenhagen Fashion Summit yesterday (17 May), some of the biggest names in fashion are joining forces to create a thriving industry based on the principles of a circular economy.
Make Fashion Circular builds on the vision outlined in the Foundation’s 2017 report A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning fashion’s future. Today Dame Ellen MacArthur announces the industry leaders who are joining forces to Make Fashion Circular, and leads a panel discussing the topic at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit.
As core partners of Make Fashion Circular, Burberry Group plc, Gap Inc., H&M, HSBC, NIKE, Inc., and Stella McCartney, will work with the Foundation to radically redesign the fashion industry.
“By joining forces to Make Fashion Circular we can harness the creativity and innovation that is at the heart of this USD 1.3tr industry to create a system that delivers benefits for everyone.”
Together they will deliver the solutions needed to meet the changing demands and expectations of society, and address the issues that have seen the fashion industry become one of the most polluting and wasteful operating today. The project has been made possible with the support of C&A Foundation and Walmart Foundation.
A further 16 participants including city authorities, fashion producers, designers, and brands have joined the initiative to help drive momentum towards the vision for a circular economy for fashion.
Participants of the Make Fashion Circular initiative will unite behind three key principles to create a system that delivers benefits for citizens, the environment, and businesses:
- Business models that keep clothes in use
- Materials that are renewable and safe
- Solutions that turn used clothes into new clothes.
By working towards this bold new vision, the fashion industry can capture USD 460bn currently lost due to the underutilisation of clothes. An additional USD 100bn from clothing that could be used, but is currently lost to landfill and incineration, can also be captured.
“For the fashion industry to thrive in the future we must replace the take-make-dispose model, which is worn out,”said Ellen MacArthur, founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “We need a circular economy for fashion in which clothes are kept at their highest value and designed from the outset to never end up as waste.
“By joining forces to Make Fashion Circular we can harness the creativity and innovation that is at the heart of this USD 1.3tr industry to create a system that delivers benefits for everyone.”
London’s Circular Fashion
The London Waste & Recycling Board (LWARB) announced that it is signing up as a participant in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s ‘Make Fashion Circular’ initiative.
A circular economy for fashion could globally unlock a USD 560bn opportunity – and the implications for London could be huge, according to Dr Liz Goodwin, Chair of LWARB: “A circular economy approach to fashion in London would ensure that clothes are used to their greatest potential throughout their lifecycle, leading to more items being repaired, shared, collected and recycled.
“Current estimates suggest that net benefits from a circular economy in the textiles sector in London could add over £1bn annually by 2036.”
Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment, Shirley Rodrigue – “Textiles are high in embodied carbon and London is a world leader in fashion – so it’s only fitting that London should be at the forefront of circular fibre innovation.”
London is a thriving centre of fashion design and innovation and home to a number of well-respected fashion institutions, making London perfectly placed to influence both the design and production of clothes in a way that will have an impact both in the capital city and around the world.
Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment, Shirley Rodrigues, said: “The Mayor has been clear on his ambition to make London a zero-carbon city by 2050.
“Textiles are high in embodied carbon and London is a world leader in fashion – so it’s only fitting that London should be at the forefront of circular fibre innovation.
“The environmental and economic benefits are clear and we hope other organisations join us in this important initiative.”
LWARB delivers a range of other textiles-related initiatives across the capital, including:
- helping boroughs collect more textiles for re-use through the procurement of a London-wide textiles collection contract
- building networks with leading fashion colleges to increase understanding of circular economy principles
- supporting innovation in the sector through investment, working with textiles SMEs and promoting circular business models through awards, events and ‘hackathons’
- delivering #LoveNotLandfill, a behaviour change campaign to encourage young Londoners to donate more clothes for re-use
- collaborating with retailers to pilot new business models.
By working with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and partners in the ‘Make Fashion Circular’ initiative LWARB aims to find and build new opportunities to deliver sustainable textiles and circular economy in London.
