Global fashion retailer C&A together with its corporate foundation, the C&A Foundation, wants to transform the fashion industry and drive its transition to a circular economy. Thus, as a founding partner, it has launched the global initiative Fashion for Good that wants to bring industry players together to "reimagine how fashion is designed, made, used and reused". From today onward, it is inviting those who want to learn more about the initiative to its newly opened Fashion for Good Centre at Rokin 102 in Amsterdam, hoping for a global coalition of brands, producers, retailers, suppliers, non-profit organisations, innovators and funders.

“The C&A Foundation is here to transform the fashion industry, and we recognise that to do this we need to completely change mindsets. That is why we founded Fashion for Good. It aims to inform a new way of thinking and at the same time nurture and embed innovations that can bring crucial change. This kind of transformation can only be done with others, so today we are calling for brands, manufacturers, funders and innovators to join us and work together to realise our shared vision,” said Leslie Johnston, executive director of the C&A Foundation.

There are 'Five Goods' in particular that Fashion for Good wants to focus on and improve: materials, economy, energy, water and lives. “The Five Goods represent an aspirational framework we can all use to work towards a world in which we do not take, make, dispose, but rather take, make, remake,” explains William McDonough of McDonough Innovation, one of the partners.

“As a leading fashion retailer, we joined forces with Fashion for Good to bring collaboration around circularity to our supply chain. Our first proof point in this partnership was to develop a garment that exceeds all current levels of sustainability - demonstrating that it can be done”, said Jeffrey Hogue, chief sustainability officer of C&A and C&A Foundation board member. “We want to democratize our approach by sharing our learning with the industry through Fashion for Good to encourage other brands to join this holistic approach to designing products for their next life.”

Other partners are the San Francisco-based Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, the UK-based Ellen MacArthur Foundation, IDH – The Sustainable Trade Initiative based in Utrecht, Netherlands, entrepreneurial network Impact Hub Amsterdam, the San Francisco-based Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), Silicon Valley startup accelerator Plug and Play, French luxury group Kering and a few more.

Photos: Fashion for Good