You’ve heard the term tossed around quite a bit. Circular fashion. Sometimes, just circular. Or circularity. Brands use it like it’s a magic spell, all set to take away the evils inherent in the fashion industry. But is that so? Also, more importantly, what does circular fashion even mean?
As the use of the word ‘circular’ implies, it’s something that goes in circles, with no clear beginning or end. It’s also the opposite of ‘linear’, which is what is most relevant in this context. Essentially, Circularity is a business model that stands in opposition to the Linear ‘Take-Make-Waste’ model. The endeavour is to not take new, but take something existing, and instead of ‘waste’, send it all back into production. In an ideal scenario, what can’t go back into production, will biodegrade quickly and completely.
So when it comes to fashion, how does circularity work?
As with everything else, there is no one size fits all. But there is a key to making fashion (or any other industry) circular: Taking as little as possible from the planet, and keeping as much as possible from landfill. There are a few definitive ways in which brands can embrace circularity, and through which customers can take more circular decisions. Let’s take a look.
Prioritising circular materials.
While natural fibres, which biodegrade at end-of-life, are great, they do not inherently imply circular fashion, unless we know more about their supply chain. The idea, at this point of the production cycle, is to avoid tapping into newer, limited resources. Using leftover fabrics/offcuts, deadstock, and even fabrics like ECONYL, which are recycled and infinitely recyclable, do make a brand more circular. Recycled yarns, such as used in crafts like Kantha, are also a circular component. As are embellishments that have been repurposed, such as broken shells, coconut shells, etc.
Giving items a second life.
This is important from a brand as well as consumer point of view. Reselling, repairing and mending, alterations and upcycling are all integral to circularity. If a brand provides these services, they’re well on their way to being a circular fashion brand. If a consumer takes the help of a third-party service provider, or undertakes the task themselves, it adds up to a more circular closet.
End-of-life care.
This is really the most important aspect of circular fashion: Ensuring nothing (or as close to it as possible) ends up in landfill. Items that are no longer salvageable through repair and upcycling are either recycled—manually if not chemically—or disposed of responsibly. The recycling part, being labour-intensive as well as skill-based, would typically fall under a brand’s purview. On their part, customers can be more mindful about disposal of garments they can no longer use or downcycle.
- Natural fibres can be put in the compost, after cutting into smaller pieces.
- Textile waste may be handed over to the garbage collector, marked out as textiles, so it may be sorted accordingly and sent forth for responsible disposal/recycling.
- The items may be packed and couriered to organisations like Material Library of India, which recycle fabrics at their Textile Recovery Facility.
