Circular design trending among 2020 commitment signatories

By June 2018, 94 companies had committed and submitted 206 targets spread across four action points, with most targets set on circular design (58%), followed by garment collection (49%) and recycling (46%), and the fewest set on reuse (24%), according to the first annual 2020 Circular Fashion System Commitment status report by the Global Fashion Agenda, a leadership forum with the mission to make sustainability fashionable.

Representing a broad range of market segments and price points, the report has highlighted the central role that design and development plays in creating products that can be looped back into the fashion system and that this area needs further exploration, both at company and industry level. The circular design targets show four general tendencies: Training in circular design, integrating circularity in design briefs, sourcing of monofibres and promoting customer care and repair.

Increasing the use of recycled post-consumer textiles fibres is also a priority, with 46 per cent having set 47 recycling targets. The recycling targets show two primary tendencies: Sourcing of recycled fibres and investing in technology, the report stated.

"Throughout the first year of the 2020 commitment we've gained unique insights into some of the challenges the industry faces in creating a circular fashion system. The three barriers to change that signatories mentioned the most are lack of industry tools and standards for circular design, supportive and incentivising regulatory frameworks and sorting and recycling technology available for scale. To tackle these barriers and to support the signatories in reaching their targets in the coming years, we'll address the following four main elements in our continued work with the 2020 Commitment: Taking action, knowledge sharing, policy engagement and industry alignment," according to the report. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India