How the Circular Economy is Changing Fashion

The “circular economy” is a new way to look at sustainability and it is taking the textile and apparel industry by storm. It can be broadly defined as an alternative to a traditional linear economy, which relies on the “extract, make, use, and dispose” model, to one in which resources are kept in use for as long as possible, the maximum value from those resources are extracted while in use, and then products and materials are recovered and regenerated at the end of each service life. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, whose mission is to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, this new approach relies on system-wide innovation, and aims to redefine products and services to design waste out, while minimizing negative impacts.1 It is underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, and it builds economic, natural, and social capital.