Circular Economy news and archive

British brand Rapanui uses recycled cotton from own Remill T2T factory

Just in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which now mark an entire week of discounts, British circular clothing brand Rapanui is offering a reminder that there is another way. Collections can be made from recovered cotton fibres, thus avoiding contributing to the growing mountain of textile waste. Eighty percent of all Black Friday...

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Changemakers in fashion (part 2): Romain Narcy of Rematters, Ereks Blue Matters and the Denim Deal

There are countless sustainability initiatives, but who in the fashion industry is truly driving the transition, whether their efforts are visible to the general public or not? We interview changemakers, consultants, sustainable fashion experts and activists. What can we learn from their work? In this second instalment, FashionUnited spoke with...

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Gucci joins Ellen MacArthur Foundation as a strategic partner

Italian fashion house Gucci has announced a new strategic partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to accelerate its vision of a circular economy and regenerative agriculture for the future. Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a charity committed to creating a circular economy that delivers better outcomes for people and the environment and...

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Fashion

The North Face launching circular re-commerce platform

Outdoor brand The North Face is transforming into a circular business model with the launch of a new circular e-commerce platform that will re-sell, repair and recycle clothing to keep it out of landfill. The circular re-commerce platform, The North Face Renewed, will launch as a pilot scheme in Germany on May 4. The initiative will not only...

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Fashion

Recycling fibres and textiles could revolutionise sustainable fashion

Fashion’s next generation of sustainable fibres are pushing toward a circular and greener future for one of the world’s most polluting industries. Studies show the fashion industry is responsible for approximately 10 percent of global emissions, a reckoning that has fuelled start-ups to innovate a long overdue sector. From new biodegradable...

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Fashion

2021 to be the year of circular sneaker

Sneakers are not typically shoes that are designed to last or even be repaired. Fabric shoes tend to have a shorter lifespan than leather, with the majority of people discarding their old trainers once they are out worn out. While the idea of a circular sneaker is not new, it has yet to be adopted in a mainstream way like sustainable clothing....

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Fashion

Fashion companies including Burberry and H&M sign circular economy pact

A number of leading fashion companies including Burberry, Stella McCartney, H&M and Inditex have signed a pact committing to working towards a circular economy in response to the widespread impact of Covid-19. They join a number of policymakers, CEOs, and other influential figures calling on businesses and governments across the world to join...

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Fashion

Introducing Fibersort, a post-consumer textile sorting machine looking to clean up the industry

A cutting edge machine looking to revolutionise textile to textile recycling by automatically sorting large volumes of post-consumer garments is now up and running in Wormerveer, just outside of Amsterdam. The Fibersort machine, a Near Infrared (NIR) based technology, is capable of sorting around 900kg of post-consumer textiles per hour in 45...

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Business

Something old, something borrowed: the rise of resale and rental in fashion

Fast fashion brands drop new collections as often as every two weeks, illustrating the fast cycle of manufacturing, buying and disposing of which drives the fashion industry’s wastefulness and polluting impact. In fact, it is estimated that more than half of the fast fashion produced is disposed of in under a year. But it appears that the “...

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What does the EU's Green Deal mean for the textile industry?

The European textile industry has to waste less and recycle more after being highlighted as a key sector by the European Commission in its industrial strategy for a transition to a circular economy. With the Commission's new plan, voluntary green initiatives by the textile industry could become legally binding in the future. In its plan for a...

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Business

The second hand clothing market is thriving

StitchFix, ThredUp, Rent-the-Runway, The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective are just some of the leaders defining the new frontier of shopping for clothes, from fashion subscription services to the re-sale revolution, to peer-to-peer marketplaces, that is changing how we consume fashion. As the global need for sustainability challenges the...

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Business

Fashion companies unite to create digital ID to enable circularity

“Circularity” is replacing “sustainability” as the buzzword in the fashion industry. After all, it doesn’t suffice for companies to rethink the materials and energy used to produce their clothing, they should also take responsibility for the entire life cycle of the product. With this idea in mind, H&M, Target, C&A Foundation, PVH Corp,...