With the cost of the world’s apparel stretching further than its price tag, the apparel industry must implement circularity into its business model and move away from its destructive linear model.

The apparel industry’s environmental impacts are becoming harder to ignore with fast fashion at the heart of planetary and social exploitation. The term ‘fast fashion’ was first coined in the 1990s to describe garments manufactured purely from a profitable point of view, produced rapidly on a mass scale and of poor quality. Fast fashion has now taken over, with consumers brainwashed into a repetitive habit of consumption, repeating a cycle of buying and subsequently wasting; the more they buy, the more they waste, as the need for quick consumption overrides the need for longevity and circularity.

The Problem with Fast Fashion and A Linear Economy

The repercussions of fast fashion are devastating. For years, apparel brands and retailers have been following the business model that it is better to overproduce than underproduce. Unfortunately, there is no recycling infrastructure built to handle the amount of textile waste that has been produced (less than 1 per cent of clothes produced are recycled¹). The demand for fast fashion is not slowing down; the world is consuming an estimated 80 billion new pieces of clothing annually, which is an increase of over 400 per cent over the last twenty years². As this demand for garments rises, so does the vast quantity going to landfill.

It is not just the waste element from fast fashion that is the problem, but also the unsustainable practices that accompany its production. In fast fashion, the majority of the garments are made from polyester, which is derived from oil and is one of the leading causes of microplastics in our oceans (amounting to 79 per cent); textile dyeing is the second biggest contributor after the agricultural industry to water pollution, and there have been instances when garment workers in developing countries were being paid less than living wage, and in some cases, working in inhumane conditions.

When looking at the linear fast fashion model, it is clear to say that it cannot co-exist with sustainability. However, if fashion brands implement circularity into their business models, then people can consume in ethical ways which will allow for both their wardrobe and the planet to look good. Thus, fashion and sustainability can co-exist if we stop treating them as separate, unrelated entities, and profit and quantity cannot be the defining factors driving the business.

Addressing both fashion and sustainability separately is a consequence of our highly flawed linear economic model. It is the reason that each year 100 billion garments are made, and $450 billion worth of textiles get thrown away³ – our linear economy has become one of pure destruction. With this linearity comes the assumption of infinity, but the planet is finite, and so for a future to exist, there is an urgent need for the world to be rebuilt with circularity and sustainability at the forefront of change.

Sustainable Fashion and Circularity

From destruction comes innovation. Apparel brands and retailers are, therefore, acknowledging their environmental and social impacts, and seeking sustainable solutions, including the implementation of circularity. Circularity is embedded within the sustainable fashion movement, a movement that promotes ecological integrity and social justice. A circular model means that garments are circulated for as long as their maximum lifecycle, and then can be returned safely into the biosphere with no environmental impact.

As the need for circularity becomes more ingrained into businesses and industries globally, the apparel industry must look at incorporating such initiatives as repairing, recycling, reselling and renting into its business models. If the industry can effectively implement these, then not only will the environmental impacts be mitigated but apparel companies can also reduce business costs because less new material will be needed.

For apparel companies to implement circularity into their business models, they must incorporate three important principles; eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature.

Incorporating Circularity into Business Models

Reclaim, Resale and Refurbish

There is an unprecedented amount of textile waste piling up in landfills around the world. Truly unsustainable, the world continues to produce and discard at a devastating rate. The processes used to source and produce virgin materials for apparel are environmentally destructive and unfortunately, the vast majority of garments produced end up in landfill, where they can take over 200 years to decompose, further polluting the environment and destroying the surrounding ecology.

Therefore, the apparel industry needs to find a way to eliminate the waste that currently exists and ensure that no more waste is created. If fashion brands start sourcing their materials from recycled materials and deadstock fabrics, then not only will they reinstate themselves as a brand that is committed to circularity, but also a brand that is taking action to mitigate and reduce the amount of textile waste that exists.

In addition to sourcing recycled and deadstock fabrics, brands could also embrace resale and refurbishment programmes. The global resale and second-hand market is continuously growing, with Statista (2022) predicting that it will be worth $218 billion in 2026, more than doubling its value from $96 billion in 2021. This growth is driven by Gen Z and Millennials who are looking for cheaper and more environmentally friendly ways to shop. Many fashion brands have now launched resale platforms, with fashion giants realising the benefits of resale. Brands including “Ganni, Gucci, COS, Levi’s, Nike, Adidas, and Mara Hoffman are a few of the brands contributing to the 275 per cent uplift in brand-owned resale shops.”^4.

Adidas’ ‘Choose to Give Back program’ invites consumers to send their used products back so that they can be reused and resold. This aims to extend the cycle of the brand’s products and keep them in circulation. UK sports brand Sweaty Betty has also incorporated circularity into its business model, believing that products should continue to live on after the consumer is finished with them. It operates recycling schemes in the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore, taking in old activewear to responsibly recycle or restore them. Sweaty Betty has already collected 40,000+ pieces of used activewear to be recycled or rehomed. If all brands adopted such practices, imagine the amount of waste that could be diverted from landfill.

Educate and Upskill

Education is paramount in the apparel industry’s sustainable transformation from linear to circular. The shift in education will allow designers and business leaders to understand the need for sustainable fashion and equip them with the skills to transform the industry, and also promote awareness surrounding the importance of sustainable and ethical development in the apparel sector.

Circularity will push brands to start sourcing recycled and reclaimed material to be upcycled and reused for future designs. For this transition, their whole business model will need to shift, and their employees retrained. Clothes will need to be designed differently and cannot be so reliant on mass production. Employees will need to be upskilled so that they can know how to use recycled material, natural fibres and natural dyes to create and produce the designs.

This need for re-education presents an incredible opportunity for entrepreneurship and upskilling. A report by BSR (2021) found that in India, “66 percent of workers surveyed, and particularly women, are keen to start their own businesses but feel constrained by lack of investment and business skills.” If they could be educated to understand “how garment and textile waste is segregated, processed, and re-entered into the marketplace”⁵, then they could harness their newly learnt skills to develop a sustainable apparel business and promote a circular apparel economy.

Utilise Technology and Innovation

Technology has shaped the modern world and now it must shape the future of apparel. Technology plays a pivotal role in the implementation of circularity throughout the apparel industry due to advancements in material innovation and traceability.

Material innovation can help facilitate circularity in apparel because by using technology, textile waste can be collected, sorted and regenerated back into societal use. The problem with textile waste recycling currently, is that each time textiles are recycled the fibre quality reduces and degrades, and so to ensure the quality of textiles, they have to be mixed with virgin material. Therefore, utilising the newest biotechnology can help fibres retain quality and help expedite a circular operating model for apparel.

Finnish biotechnology group Infinited Fiber Company is harnessing the power of technology to regenerate textile waste into cellulose-based textile fibres that can be used to create numerous types of fabrics. These fabrics can then be designed, manufactured and sold by global apparel retailers. Adidas and H&M group are just some of the new investors that have invested in Infinited Fibre Company as the fashion giants look for ways to regenerate textile fibre and create a more sustainable future for fashion.

In addition to textile innovation, technology can also help promote traceability within the apparel industry. Traceability is crucial in circularity as it allows materials to be identified throughout their life cycle, helps supply chains identify inefficiencies, organise manufacturing processes, sort post-consumer waste, and reduces reputational and financial risks. For traceability to work, it is imperative that the tracking begins at the start of the supply chain, so that every operation that takes place in apparel manufacturing can be understood from the very start, allowing brands to implement traceability from day one.

Blockchain is an example of technology which promotes traceability. Blockchain allows brands to record product information, through RFID tags and physical tracers which can be used to anchor product information. These technologies allow products to be traced from the source and throughout the entire life cycle of a garment. This allows brands a way to track their products and substantiate claims that their garments are made from recycled materials. Alexander McQueen implemented blockchain technology into its business model and as a result “McQ was the first fashion brand to have an entire label traceable on blockchain.”⁶ Its blockchain platform helped to cultivate a positive relationship between customer and product and combat any residual greenwashing suspicions.

Prioritising Natural Fibres

For apparel to be truly circular, products must be able to degrade back into the environment and leave no trace after they have finished their life cycle. Synthetic fibres are incapable of doing this and so apparel brands and retailers will need to rethink how they source their material and prioritise natural fibres over synthetic. Natural materials are those which are naturally sourced from the earth. They can be derived from plants, such as cotton, flax, hemp and bamboo, and animals, for example, silk and wool.

In relation to natural fibres, it is important to consider how these natural fibres have been sourced and that harmful and environmentally exhaustive processes, such as the use of toxic pesticides and chemicals, are avoided at all times. This was emphasised in the Circular Fibres Initiative created by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which is dedicated to phasing “out the negative impacts of the fashion pipeline at the root source.”⁷

Companies committed to using natural materials include Patagonia which only uses organic cotton, hemp and merino; MATE the Label which uses 100 per cent certified organic cotton and Tencel; and Tentree which uses hemp, Tencel, organic cotton and recycled polyester. Other brands are also experimenting with natural fibres, including Swiss brand Happy Genie, which has created luxury handbags made out of apple peels, and Adidas’ latest concept shoe which is made out of mushroom-based material.

Conclusion

There is no ‘waste’ in nature. Waste is a substance that humanity has brought to this world, and therefore only they can take it away. There is a new growth of conscious consumerism; a social movement where people are purchasing products based on the positive environmental, economic and social impacts that brand values. It is only through the duality of conscious consumerism and a brand’s moral responsibility that fashion and sustainability can co-exist.

The planet is humanity’s home, and its ecology is what enables life. Millions of textiles have been added to the world, and before more are produced, humanity must learn how to cope with those that already exist. For the alliance of fashion and sustainability, there is an essential need to work harmoniously with the earth’s surroundings and rewrite the narrative of overproduction that has caused so much destruction.