The State of Circularity in the UK Fashion Industry

Measuring the State of Circularity in the UK Fashion Industry

Part 2

Executive Summary

21

Introduction

Part 3

Conclusion

Part 1

Circular design The process of creating fashion products with sustainability and circularity principles in mind, considering factors such as material selection, durability, recyclability, and end-of-life options.

Circular design is the most prevalent, most highly scaled and most supported circular initiative in the industry. Unlocking further value will require industry-wide collaboration and alignment on definitions in this space, certifications or accreditations to display progress and regulation enforcing improvements in textile supplier transparency. The most prevalent circular initiative, just over half of survey respondents stated they embed circular design principles within their product ranges. However, there is misalignment in the definition of this initiative, with each retailer sharing a different definition of a ‘circular product’. While strong in execution and future expansion, there is great opportunity for retailers to embed circular principles into products. Design tools Well-utilised: Only 7% of respondents stated they hadn’t accessed any circular design tools or toolkits. The most frequently used tools are approved material lists, circular design guides and training programmes. Room for improvement: Retailers stated that centralisation or standardisation of tools and recommendations across the industry would make design tools easier to use and better suited to their business cases.

The numbers at a glance

Presence within retailer market 51%

70%

Proportion of product range with some circular design attributes applied

46%

Proportion of initiatives accessing third party support

Approved material lists

Most common circular design business model

Environmental impact reduction

Most tracked KPIs

Industry initiatives and support from SMEs, academic bodies and consultants

Most frequently accessed support

Credit: Stefan Cooke

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