The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s mission is to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.

This year alone, the foundation has promoted this important message through Make Fashion Circular’s Jeans ReDesign, which challenges leading fashion brands such as Tommy Hilfiger as well as manufacturers to transform the way they produce jeans, while its #WearNext campaign is a city-wide effort to tackle waste and pollution in fashion.

This summer, CFDA hosted the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for a presentation on circularity where the 2018-2019 CFDA + Lexus Fashion* Initiative cohort, along with a group that included: Julie Gilhart, MZ Wallace, Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, and IDEO, learned that a circular economy is based on three principles:

• design out waste and pollution
• keep products and materials in use
• regenerate natural systems

For fashion to thrive in the future, we must design a circular economy for clothes.

Since, launching the #WearNext campaign, Ellen MacArthur Foundation has opened a location in New York City. To mark the occasion, we spoke to Francois Souchet, the lead for Make Fashion Circular, about New York, #wearnext how designers can be more sustainable, and the foundation’s goals for 2020.

Why did Ellen MacArthur Foundation open a location in NYC?

New York is not only a global economic center, it is one of the world’s fashion capitals. It is home to some of the biggest brands in the business, but also has a passionate community of designers and disrupters who are challenging the way the industry operates.

When we launched the #WearNext campaign earlier this year, we could see how much New York was already doing as a city to challenge the ‘take-make-waste’ approach to fashion. Working alongside the New York City Department of Sanitation, New York City Economic Development Corporation, leading brands, collectors, recyclers, and resale companies, it was a chance to show the rest of the fashion world, how we can work together to solve the challenges faced by fashion, and redesign the industry so it can thrive in the future.

What are Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s goals for 2020?

Through Make Fashion Circular we are working to engage even more people within the industry to help create a circular economy for fashion. We will work with the industry to create unstoppable momentum behind the solutions that will mean our clothes are used more, are made from safe and renewable materials, and are made to be remade when we are finished wearing them.

This summer, we launched the Jeans Redesign Guidelines and during 2020 we will see the first pairs of jeans made in line with the guidelines in stores. These jeans will be more durable, recyclable and traceable, and made in ways that are better for the environment and the people that make them  – and will be an example of what can be achieved throughout the industry.

How can emerging designers and established designers be more sustainable?

Designers have a vital role to play, not just helping fashion to become less wasteful and polluting, but also helping to unlock new opportunities to create an industry that works better for society, for businesses and for the environment. They have the power to inform material choices and garment composition, and they can make clothes that people wear for longer, and that can go on to have many lifecycles beyond a single owner.

Designers should consider the entire lifecycle of the clothes they create, as well as the business models through which customers access those clothes. Today, designers are often constrained by the linear approach, where value comes from making more and selling more, and the constant pressure to create larger collections and produce more and more clothing. By challenging this, and adopting the principles of a circular economy, they can create amazing products that steer the industry in a new direction.

A garment’s design can inform how long it is used for. Designers could consider whether a product can become more beautiful over time and whether the look can be upgraded again and again. Products can be designed that are easier to recycle. Designers can choose to design out material blends, for example, keeping natural and manmade fibers separate so they are easier to reuse.

Can you elaborate on Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s mission, and what it means to you?

The Foundation’s unchanging goal is to accelerate the transition to a circular economy – an economy in which we use resources, without using them up; where we design out waste, keep materials in use, and we regenerate natural systems. It is about looking at how we can unleash talent, creativity and innovation and embrace opportunities to transform our economy so that it works better for society, for businesses, and for the environment.

Can you offer an opinion on the climate impact on NYFW?

The fashion industry is under more scrutiny than ever before when it comes to its impact on climate change. In 2017 we published our report a New Textiles Economy and our analysis showed greenhouse gas emissions from fashion were greater than those of all international flights and shipping combined.

Customers, investors, and policymakers are all demanding changes in the industry and the results are starting to be seen, not just in the stores and the catwalks. Right in the middle of fashion week, Gucci made more headlines for its strategy to go carbon neutral than it was for its latest collection. It is a sign of how much brands are starting to consider the way they operate.

In what ways do you feel that the CFDA can do more?

CFDA is already taking a number of positive steps to support their members, through toolkits and inspiration sessions for designers and brands. The organization can play a critical role in bringing circular economy concepts to the fashion design community. As the creators, the tastemakers, and the material selectors in the fashion industry, designers have a unique opportunity to catalyze change. Through CFDA’s commitment to supporting and nurturing emerging design talent, it can help educate creatives on circular economy principles and highlight the design possibilities such a system opens up. Next steps could certainly be to engage the marketers and brand owners, whose talent can also be employed to create a fashion industry that can thrive in the long term.