How the denim industry is gearing up for the circular economy
The key motive of Macarthur’s New Textile Economy is its vision to develop a new system for textile building on circular economy principles of restoration and regeneration. This ‘closing the loop’ is rooted in reuse, eradicating waste by breaking down products at the end of their life cycle and turning them into the building blocks of new products, continuing the cycle as many times as possible.
While implementing a circular fashion system may have once seemed far-fetched, today it’s becoming urgent. Population growth and the inevitable spike in consumption that will follow is set to have a detrimental impact on the environment. But the shift to a circular system is not only an environmental imperative. The fashion industry is currently placing little focus on the business opportunities that lie for instance in the end of use phase of the value chain. According to Macarthur’s report, more than USD 500 billion of value is lost every year due to clothing underutilisation and the lack of recycling.
Slow Down: Vetements recycling dump window installation at Harrods in February 2018 aims to speak to people about the problem of overconsumption and overproduction
The Argument
The key motive of Macarthur’s New Textile Economy is its vision to develop a new system for textile building on circular economy principles of restoration and regeneration. This ‘closing the loop’ model is rooted in reuse, eradicating waste by breaking down products at the end of their life cycle and turning them into the building blocks of new products, continuing the cycle as many times as possible.
While implementing a circular fashion system may have once seemed far-fetched, today it’s becoming urgent. Population growth and the inevitable spike in consumption that will follow is set to have a detrimental impact on the environment. But the shift to a circular system is not only an environmental imperative. The fashion industry is currently placing little focus on the business opportunities that lie for instance in the end of use phase of the value chain. According to Macarthur’s report, more than USD 500 billion of value is lost every year due to clothing underutilisation and the lack of recycling.
“To have the circular economy be a virtue, we have to have goods and services. Not bads and services. We need to have goods in the first instance. So let’s design things that are good, then circulate them.”
New business models and existing solutions focused on design, longevity, collection and recycling are currently being explored and an increasing number find ways to get scaled and prove the business and brand value at hand. At the same time circularity has become an industry buzzword that has been announced as the answer to all sustainability challenges with less commitment to real change. So what does circularity actually mean today and how do we get from hype to real business?
Triple R Concept: Nudie Jeans approaches circularity through its concept of repair, re-use and recycle
Nudie Jeans, which generates about €55 million in annual sales though the sale of 1 million jeans a year, offers life-long guarantees for its core product through repair (the company conducts over 44,000 repairs a year). But the Swedish brand admits that they cannot do this alone. In an interview with Fashion United
Fashion United
With labels like Nudie Jeans pioneering and significant improvements being made throughout the denim supply chain, there are reasons to be positive – if not complacent.
With labels like Nudie Jeans pioneering and significant improvements being made throughout the denim supply chain, there are reasons to be positive – if not complacent. The fashion industry has been slow to move towards higher ethical standards, but its exposure as the second most polluting industry after oil, has urged a greater momentum and activity over the past 18 months; and it is begging to feel like its finally happening in the sector now.
