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Transforming circularity in UK fashion from well-intentioned to fundamental
Market Report
5 min
6th February 2025
If ever there was a moment to put circular approaches at the heart of fashion industry operations, it is now. Initiatives to date have tested the water, but with a whole raft of legislation about to drop, it is time to dive in.
Find out how to overcome the biggest challenges holding organisations back in Newton’s new report, created in collaboration with the British Fashion Council and Circular Fashion Innovation Network (CFIN).
Here’s what you need to know
Over a decade since the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s ‘Towards the Circular Economy’ report outlined the now widely recognised framework, circular initiatives have become an important part of the fashion industry. New research in this report reveals:
82%
of fashion organisations are running at least one circular initiative
Nearly half
embed circular design principles into product ranges
But has circularity become truly fundamental to the fashion business? Evidence suggests not. Despite positive intentions, many brands struggle to implement circular business practices and very few go all-in: none of the brands who took part in our research who have a customer-facing circular business model feel confident to scale it.
While customers may be calling for increased sustainability, the issue right now is that stringent new EU guidelines are on the horizon. To meet these, individual initiatives are unlikely to generate sufficient impact. Action needs to stretch across whole organisations.
From single initiatives to systemic implementation
In partnering with the British Fashion Council and through our work with over 20 organisations in the Circular Fashion Innovation Network (CFIN) working group, the team at Newton is working to create more momentum to make circularity central to fashion operations.
The first step is carrying out this industry-wide research by surveying and holding conversations with fashion organisations across the UK, representing nearly a third of the fashion market. Insights from this research have been developed into this in-depth report highlighting the levers for accelerating circular initiatives.