When it comes to circular fashion, starting from scratch may be the only way out, because many production processes cannot be modified.
The focus of circular fashion is to regenerate natural systems and reuse and recycle items to ensure that there is no waste and pollution in the production process. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the fashion circular economy will "create better products and services for customers, contribute to a resilient and prosperous fashion industry, and rejuvenate the environment." With COP26 currently held in Glasgow , The urgent issue of carbon emissions in the fashion industry is receiving attention. Circularity solves this problem by moving clothes from landfills to consumers in permanent rotation.
In November 2020, the Circular Fashion Report launched by the Circular Fashion Summit estimated that the market size of circular fashion has a potential of US$5 trillion. New business models are necessary to expand the circular economy, and fashion companies have not yet reimagined their production processes from cradle to cradle. From cradle to cradle refers to the production process of developing products for closed-loop systems, where each output component is safe and beneficial.
Fashion brand The Minimalist and footwear brand Hilos are two companies that create round fashion models. Below, these two brands show how circular fashion can take advantage of consumers' growing awareness of cradle-to-cradle strategies and direct-to-consumer models, which have obvious advantages in this field.
Case Study: How Minimalist Creates a Luxury DTC Production Line
The founder and creative director Tamara Davydova launched Minimalist as a DTC luxury fashion brand in March this year. It focuses on providing luxury goods that are also designed to be fully biodegradable and 100% recyclable at the end of their useful life. For 20 years, Davydova has been engaged in design work with designers such as Michael Kors and Monique Lhuillier. "I took the role of vice president in my last job. I always traveled to participate in textile exhibitions. I began to notice that their sustainability forums in Paris Première Vision became bigger every season. I knew this was the next One step," she said.
For Davydova, Minimalist provides an opportunity to break the production model she saw while working for a traditional fashion brand. She participated in FIT's Sustainable Design Entrepreneur Program and Harvard Business School's Sustainable Business Strategy Program to deepen her understanding of cycles and how it can change the thinking behind fashion business decisions. Her collection reflects this. Every component of the garment, from the fabric to the zipper, is designed with its next life in mind. "Through recycling, it has eliminated waste and pollution from the beginning by using only sustainable and certified materials," she said. Using higher-quality starting materials and higher recycling costs, but the longevity of clothing makes it a worthwhile investment for consumers.
The brand's DTC format allows all clothing to be made after the order is placed, which is a key part of the cyclical transformation of the fashion brand. The products range from shirts and jackets to jumpsuits with waistbands and exposed zippers. Maintaining high-quality materials in clothing can extend its lifespan and make them more likely to be accepted by reuse or recycling programs.
Davidova said that textile recycling is limited. You must use pure fibers in the current market, because fiber-to-fiber recycling does not accept mixed fibers. Single fibers are those fibers that are not combined with other fibers in the production stage to give them different characteristics. For single fibers like cotton, innovative products such as Infinna™ using Infinite Fiber Company's cellulose carbamate technology can reuse waste cotton to create new fibers. However, this cannot be done with mixed materials. The Minimalist series only uses 100% sustainable viscose and Tencel from Lanzing and 100% organic cotton from Japan. These fibers can then be recycled back to their original form, leaving no waste in the process.
Many companies like H&M that accept clothing recycling from consumers are downgrading recycling, and the recycled materials are of low quality during processing. The textiles are then used as furniture fillers, while polyester garments are turned into carpets. Davydova said that this is where the concept of recycling is misunderstood, because fashionable clothing should be circulated as fashionable clothing for as long as possible. "My goal is that my clothes will never be thrown into the landfill."
Another valuable part of the minimalist strategy is that it is first marketed as a luxury brand. It attracts consumers with its exquisite finishes and mature aesthetics. "Most of my customers are between 35 and 55 years old and have income to spend, but the first reason they choose the brand is the product. When they wear it, they like it, and then I shared it with them A cyclical story that few people know. They become my ambassador and share this story," she said. Every consumer will have an area of influence, which means that through this connection with clothing, the concept of circulation can reach a wider audience.
The next step for the brand is to expand its scale, grow its business by expanding into specialty boutiques, and by prioritizing circular methods.
Case study: How Hilos realizes looping through 3D design and content
Hilos incorporated technology to create a full-circle shoe. The Portland-based company has created a unique foundation that uses BASF's Ultrasint materials to combine traditional insoles, midsoles and outsoles into a single 3D printed mesh platform. Mesh can provide a developed insole with the same performance as sports shoes. Each pair of Hilos uses 85% less water than traditional footwear production, and each pair saves 1,700 gallons of water.
The use of 3D printing means that there is no excess waste in the production of shoe soles. Founder Gaia Giladi (Gaia Giladi) and technical expert Elias Stahl (Elias Stahl) said that the realization of the footwear cycle means "making detachable shoes."
"For us, this is the core of recycling-being able to separate parts into raw material forms, recycle them cleanly and be able to use them in other products," Starr said.
Before Hilos, neither of the two founders had designed footwear, which meant that they were able to approach the design process from a problem-solving perspective. Giladi has worked in the fashion industry before and believes that the level of overproduction is unsustainable. "Not enough people are willing to change the status quo and change in this industry, even if it is inefficient," she said.
Research conducted by the two before founding the company showed that using traditional manufacturing and supply chains would not work. The old model needs to be ordered in size and style before receiving the order based on estimates, and requires 12 to 18 months of development time, which may lead to product wastage and unsold. "Even if the material itself can be recycled at the end of the day, more materials will still enter the landfill, and the resources put into production will exceed what is needed," Starr said.
The founders used the knowledge they gained from building a business to spread the cycle as a concept to their consumers. Using social media and videos, they demonstrated the disassembly process, provided transparency, and at the same time allowed users to participate in the product and cultivated loyal followers in the process. Their post describes the 3D process behind their mesh structure and unified sole. Every Hilos order comes with a return label. Consumers can use this label to send the shoes back to the company for recycling, and enjoy a 15% discount on their next purchase. The material is then broken down and Hilos recycles the components.
Hilos also recently announced a new cooperative business model, cooperating with other retail brands to help them provide a zero-waste on-demand footwear product line. The first partner is Austin's men's shoe brand Helm. Helm by Hilos series was launched on October 21 and is part of Hilos' future collaborative business model strategy. The model is effective because design thinking starts before anything is produced, making every decision move towards a circular model.
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