Earth Day Focus: From sustainability to circularity

In the last decade, sustainability in fashion has evolved from niche to trend and onward to global imperative. It has become the industry’s favorite buzzword while infiltrating customers’ vocabulary, corporate social responsibility strategies. and headlines of articles in mainstream publications including Vogue, Forbes and The New York Times.

The sustainable fashion movement, born from ecology and environmentalism, is today used to describe a spectrum of well-intentioned initiatives including reducing waste, supply chain transparency, water stewardship and organic materials.

However, throughout the increased uptake and prioritization, the word “sustainability” has become a vague umbrella term used more to describe philosophy and vision instead of well-defined actions. Products and brands labeled “sustainable” by certifications and marketing alike now represent an unspoken promise between producer and customer that denotes a commitment to “doing things better” with processes and materials that are “more” sustainable and “less bad” for people, animals and our planet.

While doing business as usual better aims to alleviate the negative environmental and social impacts of our industry, it does not drive the motivation, urgency and know-how to fundamentally change the broken system that produces these symptoms in the first place.

To fill the void of specificity in the sustainable fashion movement, refined ideas and innovations are quickly being adopted and championed throughout the fashion supply chain. In the last year, we have seen one such idea, the circular economy, slide into the limelight as the next step in the industry’s sustainability journey. “Circularity” is the new term for the times, promising to bring much needed action to the passion for sustainability that is clearly in the industry’s Zeitgeist.

But is circularity simply another fun sounding buzzword, capable of generating excitement without the defined calls to action to result in meaningful change? It seems that the use of the concept’s terminology to label and discuss a wide range of initiatives, from recycled materials to garment resale and upcycling might risk the same dilution and confusion that has weakened sustainability progress.

However, the circular economy, unlike sustainability, is a specific concept and method of design that’s been created and defined for industry and business. It brings consensus to the sustainable fashion movement and offers potential for a future for fashion that fundamentally challenges and changes the status quo.

Through research, education and conversation, the industry can maintain the integrity of circularity, unlocking its inherent potential and avoiding its fate as just another buzzword. Next, we examine what a circular economy is and how it changes the way we make, use and dispose of fashion.

Editor’s Note: This is the first feature in a four-part series that leads up to Earth Day and explores the circular economy and what it means for the future of sustainable fashion.

Author: Teslin Doud for the CFDA