Within the fashion industry, the concept of circular fashion focuses on designing, manufacturing, and using apparel in a way that makes it possible for materials to be recycled and repurposed. Waste and environmental impact are reduced. With a closed-loop system in place, this strategy encourages products to be long-lasting, repairable, and recyclable, prolonging their lives and lowering the requirement for new raw materials.
Circular fashion market
By 2030, the circular fashion market size is projected to grow from its 2023 valuation of US$ 6.09 billion to US$ 11 billion.
North America is anticipated to hold a market share of more than 35 percent in 2023, making it the largest global market for circular fashion during the projected period. The presence of major fashion companies and growing awareness of sustainability are the reasons for the market’s rise in the region.
By 2023, the European market is predicted to hold a market share of more than 25 percent, making it the second largest worldwide market for circular fashion. The European market has grown as a result of strict government regulations pertaining to circularity.
With a CAGR of more than nine percent, the Asia Pacific market is anticipated to grow at the quickest rate. Growing consumer awareness and quick economic growth are credited with the market’s expansion in this area.
Celebrities supporting sustainability
Some celebrities promoting and supporting sustainable and green fashion include Stella McCartney, Emma Watson, Billie Elish, Olivia Wilde, Kate Middleton, Pharrell Williams, Gisele Bundchen, Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep and Lily Cole. They help reach their millennial and Gen Z audiences with their star power and social media influencers help shift perceptions around pre-owned and upcycled fashion.
Key principles of circular fashion
- Creating durable and timeless pieces that last longer.
- Using sustainable materials that can be recycled.
- Encouraging and facilitating repairs to extend the life of garments.
- Ensuring garments can be easily recycled or upcycled into new products.
- Minimising waste in the production process and throughout the product’s life cycle.
Differences between fast and slow fashion
Fast fashion:
Fast fashion is defined as inexpensive, stylish, mass-produced clothing that produces a lot of waste and carbon emissions and frequently ends up in landfills soon after being purchased.
- Production speed is high to quickly bring new trends to market.
- Generally low-cost, making it accessible but often at the expense of quality and sustainability.
- Environmental impactis high due to overproduction, waste, and use of non-sustainable materials.
- Lifespan is short, as clothes are often designed to be worn a few times before being discarded.
Slow fashion:
Slow fashion uses a sustainable and ethical production process when making clothing. The detrimental effects of rapid fashion on the environment and textile workers are the driving force behind the slow fashion movement. It promotes choosing clothing in a way that is more environmentally friendly and kind to people.
- Production speedisslower, focusing on quality and longevity rather than rapid turnover.
- Cost is generally higher due to better materials and ethical labor practices.
- Environmental impact is lower, emphasising sustainable practices, including using eco-friendly materials and reducing waste.
- Lifespan is long, encouraging consumers to buy fewer, better-quality items that last.
Circular Fashion:
Fashion companies need to reinvent themselves in this day and age. The circular economy is a revolutionary idea that has the potential to usher in a new age in the business and offers benefits beyond only lessening harm. It’s an opportunity to establish a fashion industry that ensures long-term success while addressing issues like waste, pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change.
- Production speed is likely to vary but focuses on sustainable processes.
- Due to the use of sustainable materials and ethical practices, the * production cost can be higher but can also offer cost savings through recycling and repair.
- Environmental impactis low, aiming to minimise waste and resource use through a closed-loop system.
- Lifespan is extended through design, repair, recycling, and upcycling, ensuring materials and products are usable as long as possible.
With an emphasis on a comprehensive approach to sustainability, circular fashion seeks to establish a circular economy in the fashion industry where resources are continuously repurposed and waste is reduced.
Fast fashion puts cost and speed before sustainability, which causes serious problems for the environment and society.
Slow fashion places an emphasis on longevity rather than necessarily closing the loop as thoroughly as circular fashion, instead emphasising quality, sustainability, and ethical production.
A different future for fashion is envisioned in the Circularity GAP Report 2024: one in which businesses typically offer reasonably priced services like repair, rental, and second-hand sales, and take-back programs make it simple to give clothing items a second life. Trendy, disposable clothing is replaced by long-lasting, easily repairable, and recyclable items. In the future of circular fashion, there will also be a shift in the mindset of consumers as they swap, exchange, and upcycle their clothes as part of neighbourhood-based programs leading to ‘circular’ lives. Clothes are never dumped into regular trash cans; donation bins are utilised as a last option.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Who invented circular fashion?
The concept ‘circular fashion’ was first coined and used in 2014 by two actors, almost simultaneously and independently of each other. One of these was Anna Brismar, owner of Green Strategy. Anna coined the term circular fashion in June 2014 at an early project meeting, in preparing for a sustainable fashion event in central Stockholm.
What are the four Rs of circular fashion?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Remove