Beyond the Linear: Core Principles of Circular Fashion

In the first article of this series I asked what circular fashion actually is, and why it matters. This is where we start answering that. Before exploring practical things we can do and policy solutions, it helps to have a clear picture of the idea underneath it all.

The straight line we are all inside

Picture a one-way street. Raw materials go in at one end, they are made into clothes, we wear them for a while, and then they leave through a bin at the other end. That is the "take, make, dispose" model, and most of the fashion industry still runs on it. Nothing in it is designed to come back.

Circular thinking bends that street into a loop. The aim is simple to say and hard to do: keep clothes and materials in use, at their best value, for as long as possible, and stop creating waste in the first place.

What circular fashion could look like.

Here is the whole picture on one page: the straight line in yellow, and the four loops that bend it back, tightest first. The tighter the loop, the more value it keeps.

What "circular fashion" means

The term was shaped by Dr Anna Brismar, who set out the concept in 2014 and built it on the wider circular economy. In plain words, her idea is that clothing, footwear and accessories should be designed, sourced and made to be used and recirculated responsibly for as long as possible at their highest value. When people truly no longer need them, they should return safely to nature rather than linger as waste.

A few principles run through her definition:

• Know where a garment comes from, what it is made of and who made it.
• Design out waste and pollution, with durable, timeless pieces.
• Respect the people and animals involved in making it.
• Keep items in use through repair, swapping, reselling and repurposing.
• Keep production clean, so what cannot be reused can safely go back to nature.

The three pillars

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, one of the leading voices on the circular economy, frames it around three principles. Here is how each shows up in fashion.

1. Eliminate waste and pollution. The cheapest waste to deal with is the waste you never make. The Foundation's Jeans Redesign guidelines, launched in 2019 with more than 40 denim experts, set minimum standards for jeans: they should survive at least 30 home washes, avoid hazardous chemicals and be designed so they can be taken apart and recycled. Brands including Gap, H&M Group, Lee and Reformation signed up.

2. Circulate products and materials. Once a garment exists, keep it moving. Patagonia's Worn Wear programme is a good example: it offers repair guides, trades in used gear for store credit, resells used pieces and takes back items that are beyond saving. Rent the Runway shows another route to reuse, letting customers rent clothes through subscription plans or one-off rentals instead of buying outright.

3. Regenerate nature. Circular fashion is not only about stuff going round. It is also about the land the fibres come from. The same Jeans Redesign guidelines ask that jeans are made mostly from cellulose fibres, such as cotton, grown with regenerative, organic or transitional farming methods.

Where this points

It all comes down to one thing: making second-hand the go-to, not the last resort. In the next article, we’ll get practical with easy wins you can try today, from simple mending to renting and swapping clothes.