This research explores the controversy of sustainably run start-ups, subject to circular fashion systems. Circular fashion economy is based on a vision of creating eternal life cycles, where product development, design are done by keeping in mind the next step, reuse or recycling of the product created.

1. A RESEARCH ABOUT CIRCULAR FASHION SYSTEMS
APPLIED TO START-UPS
HANDED IN AT: IFA PARIS
23/01/2018
MBA FASHION BUSINESS
BY
ANDREA HERGET

2. 2

3. 3
5.
CIRCULAR
PRODUCTION
6.
SERVICE
7.
QUALITATIVE AND
QUANTITIVE
RESEARCH
8.
CONCLUSION
1.
INTROCTION
2.
THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND
3.
CIRCULAR
DESIGN
4.
CIRCULAR
SOURCING

4. 4
IMAGE 1, ENSŌ CIRCLE
Ensō represents a project dedicated to inspire businesses to act responsible towards our planet.
Ensō springs on a Japanese philosophy symbolizing enlightenment, strength, elegance and the
universe. Ensō philosophy is applied in the course of this research in the sense of creating healthy
cyclic systems. Therefore each letters e-economc, n-non-linear, s-sciety and o-optimization melts
together in this project.

5. 5
ABSTRACT
Fashion industry majorly follows a linear economic model (take-make-dispose), subsequently re-
presenting the second biggest waste producer today (The True Cost, 2015). Entrepreneurs world-
wide are progressively searching for new means to run their businesses (Lacy and Rutqvist, 2015).
This research explores the controversy of sustainably run start-ups, subject to circular fashion
systems. Circular fashion economy is based on a vision of creating eternal life cycles, where
product development, design are done by keeping in mind the next step, reuse or recycling of the
product created.
In-depth interviews had been conducted, where circular fashion entrepreneurs have been asked to
share their achievements and challenges faced in the process of closing the loop. Furthermore an
online survey (in France, Paris) had been run, in order to analyse the needs and wants of the cur-
rent fashion consumption. This study develops a holistic framework, solely designed for circular
fashion start-ups. The research provides implementation and useful aid and for circular fashion
enthusiasts launching their businesses.

6. 6
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Entrepreneurs worldwide are progressively searching for new means to run their businesses. Our
consumer society has reached a point where saturation has peaked, resulting in the gradual decline
of natural resources (Lacy and Rutqvist, 2015). The fashion industry is the second biggest waste
producer today, majorly following a linear system (take-make-dispose) of economy (The True
Cost, 2015).
The scarcity of raw materials alongside the rise of the world population today trigger a progres-
sive acceleration of innovation in many fields (Webster, 2017), such as the fashion industry. The
fashion industry is facing numerous challenges, which demand urgent changes as economical,
environmental, ethical and social.
First and foremost, the fashion industry is recognised as the most ubiquitous and globalized in-
dustry in the world (Anguelov, 2016). By its nature the fashion supply chain involves a large
number of actors into the production process, who are located often all over the world. (Karthik
and Gopalakrishnan, 2014). This causes the fashion industry to have a sizeable carbon footprint
(Turker and Altuntas, 2014).
In addition to that, the environmental impact caused by the cultivation of natural resources pro-
ves to be highly material, energy and water intense (Draper, Weissbrod and Murray, 2007). To
be precise the production process causes the major environmental impact. Taking the example
of natural fibres like cotton and wool, the production requires huge amounts of water, pesticides
and fertilizers. On the contrary, synthetic fibres crave a lot of energy within their processing. The
recommendation, which fibres create the least harm is difficult to analyse and by now there is not
a single answer to this problematic (De Brito et al., 2008).
Moreover, the phenomena fast fashion highly contributes to the demise of the environment and
the devaluation of creativity amongst designers. Fast fashion is considered as the remodelling of
the industry by copying designs and broadly selling it to mass at a lower price level (Sull & Tur-
coni, 2008). This causes customers to go to stores and regularly buy fashionable items (Barnes
and Lea-Greenwood, 2006). The compressed market cycles, which usually consists of 2-3 weeks,
lead to more seasons and more purchasing activities. Subsequently this adds to accelerated waste
and pollution (Dissanayake and Sinha, 2015).
Furthermore, fashion industry’s global nature still causes major ethical issues largely known in de-
veloping countries. Particularly after the incident in Rana Plaza in 2013, fashion and ethics started

7. 7
to became a big problem in need of a solution
(Kozlowski et al., 2015). Livia Firth, Creative
Director of Eco-Age and founder of the Green
Carpet Challenge, explains that most of the
time unfortunately factory workers and people
at the bottom of the supply chain, independent
of the industry, are not treated correctly, she
calls it ‘modern slavery’ (Gardetti and Muthu,
2016). This and more highlight the fact that
the fashion industry urgently needs to change
and become more in alignment with the values
of our time.
As André Gide argues, everything that needs
to be said has already been said. But since no
one was listening, everything must be said
again. This depicts the actual situation of our
economy, environment, society and our world
very well. The challenges faced are neither
new now are they unknown. However there is
no end at the horizon to improve our world.
Every big change starts with a small step.
This research work deals with the major chal-
lenges and threats created by the fashion in-
dustry, taking circular economic systems as
guiding help in trying to improve socio-envi-
ronmental and ethical problems in this indus-
try. What is more, research in the field of circu-
lar economy systems just recently experiences
recognition, around 2012. Science examines
frameworks for entrepreneurial behaviour in
circular economy. Ellen McArthur Foundati-
on, the pioneering driving institution of circu-
lar economy systems, investigates in all kind
of business activity, trying to push forward the
idea of circularity (Ken Webster, 2017). Ne-
vertheless these existing frameworks are very
broad and not specific to fashion brands with
small organisations. Even more so, it is very
important to point this out as a lot of small
entities, start-ups, can create a big impact and
movements. Thus the aim of this study is to
analyse up to which point start-ups can take
part in this fashion revolution. Moreover, how
circular fashion systems can be implemented
and how feasible is the possibility to act 100%
circular within a start-up environment. To in-
novate and create change within a circular fra-
mework, for reaching development for good
reason.
By nature start-ups are dynamic and flexib-
le, they have the advantage of changing their
strategy, vision, organisational structure very
quickly. This is the reason why this investiga-
tion is highly important; the start-ups of today
are going to be the leading enterprises of to-
morrow. Encouraging and promoting healthy
future businesses results in the creation of a
healthy future world. A world where natural
resources are treated with respect, where the
environment is not recognised as something
external and a community where employees
globally are treated with dignity and respect,
as they deserve to.

8. 8
The question, which arises now whether the market is ready for this transformation? Are there
enough customers interested in extending participating in a new economy, like circular economy?
Meaning product life cycle extension, taking more care of the products and letting go of the ta-
ke-make-dispose attitude (Ken Webster, 2017). It is not just about the business side, both parties,
entrepreneurs and customers, have to work together in creating a new circular economy. This
research will focus on the Parisian market.
Hence there are two main questions to be answered. First and foremost how are fashion start-ups,
mostly fashion brands, going to manage the accelerating pressure of the market and acting social-
ly and environmentally responsibly at the same time. To answer this question in-depth interviews
with industry professionals are going to be conducted. These interviews are going to be separated
in three main categories including, design, sourcing and production. The following circular sup-
ply chain steps are going to be further analysed throughout the thesis.
The design perspective is depicting the first and most important step of the cycle, starting with
circular design changes the entire DNA of a company, designers are the source of creation and
influence our production and all the upcoming steps.
Second the sourcing step. Today’s natural resources are limited as we know, there is no other way
then acting sustainably (Nidumolu et al., 2009), hence picking the right fibres and cultivating
them without using fertilizers and pesticides. However, circular fashion is not just about cultiva-
ting virgin fibres, because these are the ones who are limited. Circular fashion takes sourcing to
the next level, it focuses on material science, meaning researching fibres opportunities in every
material available on our planet. As Micheal Braungart and William McDonough describe it in
their book “Cradle to Cradle”, there is no end at the horizon, every material existing is food, waste
is food. Going with this there is a complete new mind-set of economy and consumption, changing
every single step of the supply chain (Braungart and McDonough, 2009).
Coming to the next step the production process. Production is on the edge of a completely new
age, the third industrial revolution. Technology is restructuring production. Production goes hand
in hand with the previous step of sourcing as well as the design. Production will experience major
changes in the upcoming decades, in terms of new methodologies of fibre recycling or smaller
local production units. Moreover production units have to change towards renewable energies in
the future, all this will be discussed in course of the section 5.

9. 9
Finally coming to the last step in circular fa-
shion systems the service economy. As on big
part of the transformation process, circular
economy offers a new way of thinking about
ownership. Which in turn creates an economy,
where society is extending the life of their pro-
ducts, by reuse, repair and reselling. Not only
does is save a lot of money, it also creates a
better and healthier relationship with your
properties. Subsequently new business models
can be created and services for extending the
life of our products to push economy and the
creation of new types of jobs.
These four categories are going to be analysed
by a literature review and moreover, dissec-
ted by the interviews conducted with profes-
sionals. On the other hand, there is the second
question, mentioned above, if the market is
ready for this change. To answer this question
the consumer side has to be analysed and un-
derstood more deeply. Hence an online survey
with 95 people has been conducted. Partici-
pants conducting haven been questioned ab-
out their consumer behaviour towards apparel
consumption and their openness for new ways
of clothing and consuming.
The customer, market side (Parisian market),
helps to understand the needs and wants of the
market and adjust circular fashion systems to
those. Finally these two groups are going to be
largely analysed, first the business side with
industry professionals and secondly the mar-
ket and the needs and wants.
The findings should particularly help start-up
fashion brands, by giving them a reasonable
framework of the possibilities within circular
fashion systems.

10. 10
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
In the following chapter, major concepts for this research will be dis-
cussed and interrelated with the notions that will be investigated
in this thesis. Starting rather broadly with a theoretical background
on circular economy and give an overview of various challenges in-
volved and solutions proposed. The focus will become more specif-
ic later, centring on the implementation of circularity in the fashion
industry.
THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
“The old story increasingly doesn’t work and it’s no longer a convincing narrative” (Webster,
2017). Circular economy is all about reinventing the wheel, for almost 10 years this concept has
gradually received more attention for providing an alternative change to our linear economy (ta-
ke-make-dispose) today. The “old story”, talks about our economy and world, meaning a linear
system, where materials are majorly linearly used without repurposing, recycling and markets
are saturated and stagnated. Circular economy proposes to end the make-take-dispose philosophy
(Webster, 2017). The environmental threats and the instability of the economy, trigger a change
for keeping essential life quality of humanity constant. The circular economy model suggests a
system of transforming society to increase material efficiency at a decreased environmental cost,
which as a result leads to a system that respects all the aspects of our finite world and creates a
nature inspired system, which works in harmony with the resources available (McArthur Foun-
dation, 2012).

11. 11
ROOTS OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Over the past 50 years our economy, in western countries, has created this system, where com-
panies used virgin materials without restrictions. Nevertheless, the situation changed. Society is
experiencing an evolution of environmental awareness, which created the concept of the circular
economy. The roots of this theory yet are difficult to define. In 1798, an essay came out under the
name of “ Essay on the Principle of Growing Population”. The author Thomas Malthus analysed
how population will overcome our stocks for crops. More and more scientists emerged in that
period of time, writing about the difficulties of population and natural stocks. The second bigger
movement started before 1900 by Adam Rome and his works including “The Journal of American
History”. He initiated the environmental awareness, as we know today, by demonstrating against
pollution and the conserve of natural resources. Subsequently in 1972, scientists focused more
on challenges as finite nature and their risk of depletion. Closing the century with Ernst Ulrich,
in 1998, analysing and arguing that growth and sustainability can coexist and that society can
develop without devastating natural resources.
In the 21st century, scarcity and the rise in prices of raw materials. If it is not because of the rise
of consciousness and awareness, it is the rise of the prices that trigger the change. Moreover, mul-
tiple huge scandals caused customers to think more critically about the huge amounts of chemi-
cals, toxins, fertilizers and fossil energy, which is environmentally and societally not acceptable
anymore. “ Cradle to Cradle”, “The Blue Economy”, “The Performance Economy” and more
publications gave birth to new innovative movements towards circularity. The first time the term
circular economy has been used, was in 1990 in “Economies of Natural Resources and the Envi-
ronment” by David Pearce & Kerry Tumer.And finally, the recent interest in circular economy has
been majorly pushed by the Ellen McArthur foundation, since 2010 (Lacy and Rutqvist, 2015).

12. 12
THE FLOWS OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY
The circular economy concept is recognised as
one of the broadest concepts proposed nowa-
days, to introduce a new industrial model. Li-
kewise other existing models as the industrial
ecology, circular economy gives attention to
flows. These flows can be categorised in subs-
titution flows and mutualisation flows. Subs-
titution flows refer to processes such as waste
and reuse of processes created by other pre-
vious processes. On one hand, mutualisation
flows refer to grouped purchases of material,
collective waste collection etc. Energy effi-
ciency, reuse, recycling are ways to quit to ac-
celerated waste production of our world today.
Furthermore, short supply chains help to cut
intermediaries and easy regional development
as an effect. A major driving force in the pro-
gress of circular philosophy has surely been
the Ellen McArthur Foundation, created in
2010. The first report, “Towards the Circular
Economy”, elaborated in collaboration with
McKinsey consulting group, verified the po-
tential impact of circular economy. This rather
revolutionary research shows the oppositional
concept of a linear economy, where natural
capital is perceived as a major component. It
explains how “nutriments” are preferably the
goods of this system and more so that they are
not damaging the biosphere, when they are
absorbed. What is more, these so called “nu-
triments” can be repurposed, reused, repaired
and recycled. However the main goal is to
change the mind-set of consumption towards
a service economy. Furthermore new ICT, in-
formation communication technologies, fairly
support the implementation of circular ideas
(Gallaud and Laperche, 2016). Giving few
examples as DDM printing, sharing economy,
RFID for tracking products (Webster, 2017).
Image 2, represents the total flows of a cir-
cular economy. An economy constructed on
an unlimited flow of energy coming from the
sun, energy, renewable energy, which converts
material into goods and services. The ultimate
version proposes that there is no waste, ever-
ything is food. Furthermore, money systems
are recognised merely as means to exchange
materials therefore, prices are the represen-
tation of the full costs of executing the job.
Moreover, it shows that the systems are seen
as “living systems”, inspired by nature thus,
these systems are quite complex and dynamic
(Webster, 2017).

13. 13
IMAGE 2, THE FLOWS OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY (ELLEN MCARTHUR FOUNDATION, 2018)

14. 14
“THE BUSINESS ANGLE OF A CIRCULAR
ECONOMY – HIGHER COMPETITIVE-
NESS, HIGHER RESOURCE SECURITY AND
MATERIAL EFFICIENCY” WALTER R STAHEL
The question arises, how these challenges can
be solved. What are the necessary steps to re-
ach the creation of these systems?
In order to implement the circular ideas into
future economies, major policy changes have
to be created. To reach material efficiency, a
framework of sustainable taxation has to be
developed. This framework might include the
following points. First, renewable resources
should not be taxed, stating human labour as
the primary resource. Human labour is highly
taxed today over 60% of tax incomes is deri-
ved from taxing labour. This is counterproduc-
tive and creates huge problems for the future.
Furthermore, promoting activities, which are
supposed to be value-preservative, likewise
repair, remanufacturing, re-marketing.
These activities shouldn’t be taxed either.
Moreover a credit system for GHG emission
savings should be implemented, where actors
saving are receiving carbon credits for saving
GHG emissions. The reduction of state reve-
nue for promoting these activities has to be
compensated by taxing the consumption of
non-renewable resources and materials, ener-
gies, which create undesired waste and pol-
lution. Taxes of non-renewable resources are
supposed to be collected with a similar sys-
tem as VAT system excitant. However, policy
makers found it rather difficult to implement
these systems, the reasons are going to be de-
picted in the following paragraph (Webster,
2017).
CRITICS OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY
The question arising within the world of eco-
nomists is, if there is sufficient evidence that
circular economy is ready to be implemen-
ted on macro- and micro level. Scientists are
sceptical about various points, in the transfor-
mative process of changing economy towards
circular. Paul Ekins, Professor and Director at
University College London, argues that in or-
der to achieve a functioning circular economy,
smart policies have to be introduced on a ma-
cro economic level. Moreover, it is essential
that governments and businesses work toge-
ther rather then against each other. Professor
Ekins, explains to achieve resource
efficiency as the circular systems project, two
main problems exist at our economies today.
First and foremost, materials are too cheap.
This feeds our overconsumption even more
and creates more saturation within the market.
On the one hand, labour is too expensive. The-
se main challenges can be addressed through
the fiscal system. As an example Finland in-
troduced the first policy to tax carbon emis-
sions. However, policy makers find it very

15. 15
tricky to change and introduce new tax systems. As political careers are rather short term, it is
especially challenging to implement systems, which have a ROI rather on the long run.
How could these policies approaches look like? Ekins highlights that macro economic models
are necessary to back up policy changes; these models are usually rather widely formulated and
complex. He argues that any model on past experiences is not going to be the appropriate guide
for the future. Moreover, policy makers are lacking enough evidence regarding how much it costs
to harm the environment. Policy makers do not have enough information about the evidence of
the costs of harming the environment. In every case scenario there will be winners and losers in a
system. For the sake of transformation process, the losers have to be compensated as well, by gi-
ving them a piece of the pie of the winners. That way the losers will be able to adopt their systems
in the long run, without having the negative externality of losing everything at once.
Additionally, World Economic Forum (WEF) argues that a combination of different policies could
to be effected, to enable the private sector to act in a cost-efficient way. They also explain that
the biggest loser is going to be the fossil fuel industry. Fiscal system has to provide a framework
for the private sector within which it will be able to work. Obsolescence has to be penalised and
investments in education is essential
To sum it up, it is very important for circular economists to find more and more evidence and
concrete solutions for implementing theories into models. Policy makers have to be educated and
proven that our systems urgently need a transformation. There is a consensus that the market is
not going to change economy by itself. Fiscal interference is necessary, therefore, the right mix
of policies has to be created and adjusted to every specific case. The winners of the new system
are going to give a part of their pie to the losers, in order to harmonize the transformative process.
After portraying the dominant circular economy theories, the research is going to specialize on
the fashion industry and the action plan regarding circular fashion systems for start-ups (Youtube,
2017).

16. 16
CIRCULAR FASHION SYSTEMS
This section enters in the world of the fashion
industry. The major challenge of mixing fa-
shion and circular economy together will be in
the centre. Why does especially fashion have
an urgency to change towards circular systems
and how do these systems affect every step of
the supply chain? Moreover, the heart of this
chapter will end with the world of start-ups
and how especially they can add to the fashion
revolution.
Fashion and cirular economy
To begin with, fashion or to be more preci-
se clothing is for everyone. According to the
Maslow Hierarchy of needs, clothing belongs
to a basic human need, psychological need
such as food, water, housing and heating. This
leads to the effect that the clothing industry
demonstrates a global issue, where every hu-
man being might be concerned. Therefore, it
is also not a surprise that this industry has the
potential to face extreme impacts on the pla-
net, might it be positive or negative. Our popu-
lation is rising constantly. By 2030 the estima-
ted population will count 8.5 billion people.
These people will need more clothing. It is no
surprise that the overall apparel consumption
will rise by 63%, from 62 million tons today,
to 102 million in 2030. Its not enough to say
that the fashion industry is the second biggest
waste producer and the fourth polluter in the
world. Environmental and ethical concerns are
very broad and complex. The following points
will depict why the fashion industry has to
change now and that there is no other way to
proceed in the future (Kerr and Landry, 2017)

17. 17
2.1 billion tons of waste are produced per year. This equals to an
amount of 1.6 times more then world can take in.
IMAGE 3, WASTE (ECOLOGIA, 2018)

18. 18
Environmental Impact
According to researchers from Stockholm Resilience Center and Australian National University,
the planet is facing major tensions based on human activity. Referring to their research the planet
already bypassed the operating spaces for climate change, waste, pollution, changes of use of land
and biochemical output. Obviously not everything is the result of the fashion industry, however
it is a major contributor. To clarify where exactly this impact comes from, we must take a closer
look on the following.
• Water Consumption: Fresh water consumption has not reached the boundaries of our planet yet.
However, NorthAfrica, the Middle East and SouthAsia, already struggle with water stress.The
amount of water used by the fashion industry is already high; 79 billion cubic meters, compa-
rable with 32 million Olympic size swimming pools. This volume is going to be increased by
50% by 2030. Mostly by the cultivation of cotton fibre, which need high amounts of water for
cultivation. Cultivation also takes place in China, where water stress is already existent. The-
refore, the question will be soon, if drinking water will be taken for the cultivation of cotton.
• Energy Emission: The amount of CO2 emissions exceeds what is considered to be safe by
20%. Industries emissions are supposed to increase by 60%, 2.8 billion tons per year by 2030.
Locations are particularly concerned as the industry’s primary sector are highly vulnerable
to rising sea levels and climate change, developments in the fashion industry towards less
emissions could lead to better suppliers to the fashion industry and also improve the world
economy. Therefore, the industry has a huge responsibility towards a less polluted world.
Even though processing garments primarily creates the industries impact on energy emission,
the consumers have a huge responsibility too, in using their garments properly. In 3.4, this
topic will be discussed in more detail.

19. 19
• Chemical Use: The world reached a level, where biochemical flows, including phosphorus
form fertilizers and erodible soils already exceed 220% of the safe operating space.The fashion
industry convers 4% with its cotton cultivation and the heavy use of nitrogen and phosphorous
fertilizers. These uses have huge impacts on environment, wasting land into waterways. Mo-
reover, there are inorganic and organic substances, for example mercury and arsenic, which
are discharged in waterways as well. All the pollution in the waterways leads to illnesses such
as toxins in body, cancer acute illnesses. By decreasing emissions, a monetary impact can be
gained, and most importantly society will suffer less from the externalities of chemicals used.
• Waste Creation:Today 2.1 billion tons of waste are produced per year.This equals to an amount
of 1.6 times more then world can take in. The ecological footprint by the year 2030. Supposing
the world take-make-dispose attitude will continue, waste production will be increase by 60%
between 2015 to 2030. One problem remains, the majority of the waste of clothing is still not
recycled. The majority ends up in landfills or is burned, only 20% is recycled. The possibilities
andtechnologies,whichareemerging,nowaregoingtobediscussedindetailinthenextchapter.
• Land Use: The current state of art, in the industry represents a 17% exceed of land use for
cultivating cotton and various other uses. By 2030 the predicted amount of land use in the
fashion industry will be using 35% more forest for cellulosic fibres, as well as grassland. The
dilemma which will be faced in the future is the increase of population and the finite availa-
bility to grow land. By 2030 population will hit 8.5 billion people. Therefore, agriculture has
to grow as well. The growing population will trigger a fight of growing food for population
or textiles. Fashion industries will have to change towards less land intensive options in the
futur.

20. 20
Social Impact
The Fashion in its nature represents a global industry. It is not surprising that approximately 60
million people are employed within the industry. Thus Fashion has a huge responsibility in lar-
ge-scale social change. Moreover almost every third worker in manufacturing in Asian produc-
tion countries is working in the industry. It is clear that the huge impact of this industry to drive
positive developments becomes very apparent. The areas that will be addressed by the industry
will include, labour practices, health and safety, and community and external engagement (Kerr
and Landry, 2017)
• Labour Practices: In 2015 about 10% of the world’s workers where paid under and living un-
der the poverty line of €1.8 per day. Although, the fashion industry is not solely responsible
for solving all the hunger and poverty, it plays a major role as a huge employer and driver
of economic advancement in developing countries. Mostly in Asian countries, less then half
of the factory workers are paid the half of the considered living wage. Nevertheless, Eastern
Europe as well as Turkey are equally considered as low paying countries. As an example,
in India, 51% of factory workers in textile industry are paid less. What is more, there are
huge gender inequality issues, with 52 countries lacking major regulations. Fashion industry
is concerned as well with gender pay gaps, especially because in developing countries like
Cambodia, Pakistan. For instance, 87% of women in Pakistan are paid less then minimum
wage, while 27% of men are paid less then minimum wage. Paying fair wage is a huge
factor in this industry and is globally recognised as a basic issue. United Nations defines
gender equality as a foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. One step
into the right direction would be to implement minimum wages, as discussed by the ILO.
• Health and Safety: The fashion production supply chain exposes workers in factories to health
andsafetyproblems.Startingfromfactoryfiresandchemicalsusedinproductionprocess.Docu-
mentsof1.4millioninjuriesinfactoriescurrentlyexist.Iftheindustryisnotgoingtoimplement
increased safety regulations, the number will increase by 1.6 million injuries by 2030. Nonet-
heless, the industry is already showing efforts towards improve their health and safety regula-
tions. What is more, the total number of increase in injuries is modest with a potential increase
of 7%. The fashion industry could safe €32 billion a year by preventing injuries at workplaces.

21. 21
• Community and Eternal Engagement: the fashion industry has a huge potential to create a so-
cial impact. If looking at the UN Millennium Development Goals, 0.7% of the gross national
product is planned to commit the world’s wealthiest countries to help and support the develo-
ping countries of the world. When looking at the fashion industries, merely 0.2 % of sales are
spent to commit in Corporate Social Responsibility related activities. In comparision, phar-
maceuticals and mining industries are spending from 0,4% to 1.2%. The fashion industry has
the potential to gain about €14 billion by 2030 in increasing Corporate Social Responsibility
to 0.7% (Kerr and Landry, 2017).
To sum it up the fashion industry has the force in its hands, to create a better management of re-
sources, treatment of workers and in creating an overall clear and correct supply chain. Which
steps should be implemented to reach this, will be discussed in the next points (Kerr and Landry,
2017).
CHANGE THE FASHION INDUSTRY WITH CIRCULAR ECONOMY
The need for change in the fashion industry has been demonstrated in the previous paragraphs,
emphasis here lies more on how to create new paths. The circular economy provides a lot of tools
to work with. Numerous start-ups and companies are creating more and more solutions for this
very complex and attractive industry.
The Environmental impact as described earlier constitutes a huge driver for change. Practices
involved in working on reducing the impact would include for instance, recycling. The circular
economy practices are focusing on eliminating the linear take-make and dispose approach and
replace it with closed-loop solutions. Hence pushing recycling industry and creating an infrastruc-
ture around it represents a major point of change. However, recycling is limited if the composition
of the garment is not designed to be recycled. Most of the garments in the market consist of fibre
blends, meaning there are two or more fibres blended together to create the garment. This creates
great complexity to proper recycling practices for the garment production today. Moreover, recy-
cling consumes huge amounts of energy. This is why future designs should be focusing on 100%
sustainable fibres plus taking into account the composition of the garment, in order to implicate
a further use.

22. 22
As important as the environmental impacts are,
so are the social impacts. Major steps have to
be done to reach an industry with fair condi-
tions. Fair pay for workers and the develop-
ment of skills. Higher safety regulations in the
factories, promoting well-being and moral. An
overall system and legislation for human rights
have to be created, to stop human abuses. In
this respect transparency and traceability im-
provements are necessary. Complete visibility
of supplier’s performance and conditions. The
consumer has to have the information about a
garments full life cycle environmentally and
socially (Kerr and Landry, 2017).
“We need to accelerate the fashion industry’s
transition to a more circular system by increa-
sing the volume of textiles collected, reused
and recycled by 2020,” says Eva Kruse, presi-
dent and chief executive of the Global Fashion
Agenda (GFA). The fashion industry cannot
ignore environmental and social impacts an-
ymore. Those companies investing in circular
systems are going to be the winning ones in the
future. Consulting agencies, Non-Profit organi-
zations, Collaborative Platforms all these orga-
nizations emerging recently, mostly since 2010
the year of the creation of the Ellen McArthur
Foundation, are giving time and energy now to
create a better and more conscious future (Mel-
lery-Pratt, 2017).
“THE GREATEST OF FIRES CAN
BE STARTED WITH THE SMALLEST
SPARKS”
FREDERIK WIKHOLM.
This research will main focus on the “smallest
sparks”, which are referred to as start-ups. The-
re are numerous reasons why these small ent-
ities can bring huge transformation to economy
and society and why it is essential to push start-
ups to flourish further in the future. Start-ups
play a key role in the innovation process. Sus-
tainable enterprises are being created by brin-
ging new ideas to the market. What is more,
in comparison to large companies start-ups
are developing ground-breaking innovations,
which radically change the state of art. Large
companies are most likely to invest in innova-
tion, however, it is majorly a controlled risk,
whereas start-ups invest in their 1 to 10 chance
that their idea hits. Additionally, start-ups cul-
ture contributes largely to the creation of jobs.
Between 1977-2009 in the USA, roughly two
to three million jobs were created yearly. Large
companies have not contributed to net new jobs
(Cohan, 2011).

23. 23

24. 24

25. 25
Design
Image 4, textile (Haynes, 2018)

26. 26
CIRCULAR DESIGN
This section will provide an overview of the circular design perspec-
tives, which exist today. Moreover, an in-depth analysis of the best
practice examples of two companies will be presented. These com-
panies are Patagonia, a well-established company with a variety of
circular systems implemented and Calla Haynes, a designer brand
from Paris implementing circular mind-set to change the future of
fashion.
“DESIGN STARTS WITH A CHANGE OF MIND-SET” TIM BROWN, CEO OF IEDO
This urge of change in mind-set goes back to the early industrial revolution. McDonough and
Braungart the authors start in their book Cradle-to-Cradle with an interesting imagination on how
our world would look like, if the world had not had the damaging period the industrial revolution.
In any case, the shapers of the industrial revolution have not necessarily intended to harm human
beings and nature or create waste and pollution; they have merely tried to leverage the opportuni-
ties and technologies at the time.
One major dray-horse of development has been the textile industry in England. In early 1700,
the textile industry has been one of the fastest developing sectors. Going from peasants farming
and craftspeople into a mechanized factory system with water frames, spinning mules and so on,
within less than 70 years. This technological development was highly exponential at that time.
The effects seen in every industry today of poor products, waste and pollution are not the fault of
customers and companies manufacturing these systems. The vast of these problems are the result
of unintelligent design. The challenge of redesigning the way of designing products in our world,
will probably bypass our life-span (Braungart and McDonough, 2009).

27. 27
DESIGN TODAY
Decisions made during the design phase are responsible for 80 to 90% of the environ-
mental and economic costs (Close The Loop, 2017).
Design becomes more complex since more factors influence design. Economical, environmental
issues, customers and market and a lot more pressure points to have to be take into consideration
in designing products of the future. The picture below shows the fashion supply chain and all its
steps. A Fashion Designer has to be aware of the supply chain of our fashion systems and un-
derstand the constraints of it. Design starts by choosing a material until the decisions as to what
happens after the garment has been used (Close The Loop, 2017).
FRAMEWORKS TO WORK WITH
Organisations such as the Ellen McArthur Foundation and Cradle-to-Cradle, create frameworks
to work with, in an attempt to push for circular systems. One of these existing frameworks, is the
Circular Design Guide created by the company IDEO in Cooperation with Ellen McArthur Foun-
dation. Tim Brown, the CEO of the company, believes that future designers are likely to start their
careers already well-versed in circular design, he compares it to the first generation of designers
who grew up with computers. He also believes that it takes a major shift away from creating for
end-user to creating for bigger systems and multiple users.
Circular Design Guide offers a wide range of worksheets, which can be downloaded for free.
The guide starts with understanding the process of the supply chain and the effects of designing
a holistic system. Secondly, it continues with defining goals, realising opportunities. Thirdly, the
making process is commenced, in which ideas are finalised and put into a circular business model.
And at last the release process, giving a framework to successfully launch the idea (Circularde-
signguide.com, 2016).

28. 28
Moreover, the Cradle-to-Cradle platform offers equal opportunities to learn how to design cir-
cularly. It offers a free short course to get inspired and provides an overview on circular design
(McDonough and Braungart, 2010).
These are examples on how future design can work within circular systems. It is a challenging
task to break down the different aspects of a designer’s process. Design should be about creative
expression for a clear goal and in a certain frame. However, design has to also nurture creativity.

29. 29
PLATFORMS AND FRAMEWORKS TO WORK WITH
Close the loop is a platform, which created a framework for circular fashion systems. It is cate-
gorised into five different types of designer brands in fashion: design to last, design for rebirth,
design to minimize waste, design to reduce the need for rapid consumption and design with new
technologies in mind (Close The Loop, 2017).
• Design to last: designer has the choice to choose materials that last long and to make custo-
mers want to care about their garments. Timeless design is one part of designing for sustai-
nable purposes.
• Design for rebirth: The question which fabric to use is essential in designing clothing. Howe-
ver, deciding which fabrics to use might be a challenging task, as every fibre has its very own
environmental impact.
• Design to minimize waste:At the production process, the cutting stage 10-20% of fabric lands
on the floor. Zero waste design is concerned with elimination of what? Moreover, there are
initiatives in the industry, which are already using these leftover fabrics, and recycling them,
more will be discussed within the research work.
• Design to reduce the need for rapid consumption: There are several methodologies to extend
products life. Letting customers participate in the production process, makes customers sa-
tisfied and bound to the product and the brand. Thinking of the brand TOMS, who donate the
same product, which has been sold to a person in need. Customer experience makes a diffe-
rence, service oriented models are key in the future. Customer engagement and appropriate
communication through social media.
• Design with new technologies in mind: Technologies enable a lot of improvements in terms
of energy and water consumption or chemical use. To save energy and transportation regar-
ding production units local production or work on demand might help in the future. Digital
printing methods consume less raw material use and optimization. As well as laser cutting
methods (Close The Loop, 2017).

30. 30
CASE STUDY: PATAGONIA
Categories (close the loop framework): Design to last, Design for re-
birth, Design to minimize waste, Design to reduce the need for rapid
consumption
Patagonia’s mission statement is ‘Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business
to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.’ Patagonia is a company based in
California, which has been founded to create climbing tools. The main activity of the brand today
is clothing for climbing, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly-fishing, paddling and tail running. Pa-
tagonia values are strongly concerned with the environment. One per cent of the sales are donated
to hundreds of grassroots projects environmental groups all over the world (Patagonia, 2016).
Patagonia is one the most quoted and mentioned examples of sustainable apparel in the world.
Considering environmental challenges is at the core of their business. Patagonia managed to op-
timise a lot of processes in their value chain equally acting profitable and least harmful for the
environment (Circulardesignguide.com, 2016).
IMAGE 5 , PATAGONIA HISTORY (PATAGONIA, 2016)

31. 31
Design
“I love clothes but have never cared about fashion” argues the current creative director of Pata-
gonia. This statement very much reflects Patagonia’s philosophy towards design. Patagonia is
designing with the right materials, making sure they are made in the least harmful way. It starts
with the fabrics; the fabrics have to fulfil the sustainable aspect. Therefore, the design process
takes sometimes very long, as using new sustainable fibres and fabrics innovations is a long pro-
cess. Moreover, Patagonia invests a lot of time in quality security. This however, causes Miles
Johnson choices of the Designers to be very restricted, due to the thoughtful philosophy. The aim
for the future is to create more versatile clothing and extend the life of the garment even more
(Patagonia, 2016).
Sourcing
Regenerative organic farming. CEO Rose Marcario argues that regenerative organic farming in-
cludes any agricultural practice that increases soil from baseline levels over time. The aim is to
create resilient ecosystems and communities over time. The clothing sector currently uses 16%
of the pesticides globally solely for the cotton production. This causes fertilisers, pesticides and
mono-cropping to create farmland that does not holt nutrients and effects of stagnant crop yields.
Patagonia developed an organic supply chain however; this is only the first step to adopt a holistic
regenerative system thinking within the company.

32. 32
Patagonia has a range of different circular fibre propositions,
which were implemented over the past decade, some of which
are recent while others have been worked on for decades (Pata-
gonia, 2016).
IMAGE 6, HEMP HOODY PATAGONIA (PATAGONIA, 2016)

33. 33
Fibre: Description
Hemp Natural Fibre. No pesticides and fertilizers or GMO seeds. One of the most durable
fibres. Patagonia uses exclusively organic hemp.
Organic Cotton Organic cotton, supports biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, improves the quality
of soil and requires less water. The downside of organic cotton is the higher costs
,time consumption and the extensive knowledge and skills needed.
Recycled Nylon Patagonia has uses recycled Nylon for the past 5 years. Incorporating Nylon in
Patagonia lessens the dependence of petroleum as a raw material source.
100% Recycled Down Recycled down is used from duck and goose down and reclaimed from cushions
and bedding. Patagonia served as an example for recycled downs and was followed
by other companies therefore, recycled down is developing.
Recycled Polyester Patagonia started with recycling plastic bottles in 1993. Today recycled soda bot-
tles and unusable manufacturing waste and worn out garments are used.
Recycled Wool Recycled wool dates back hundreds of years. Patagonia is recycling wool, which
helps to reduce land use for sheep grazling. It contributes to less air, water and soil
pollution.
TENCEL Tencel is a branded lyocell fiber, that is extracted from the pulp of the trees. The
production process is based on an almost 99% recycled loop process, where the
solvent used to create the fibre is eternally recycled. More in detail 5.2
Reclaimed Cotton Reclaimed cotton. Patagonia is closing the loop by saving cotton scraps by factory
floors from TAL Group to reuse and can be reclaimed to new garments.
Table 1, Summary of fibres used by Patagonia (Patagonia, 2016)

34. 34
Production
Patagonia is working with factories, mills to ensure the quality products they are offering. Several
standards are set: Factories are not owned by Patagonia. Nevertheless, there is a close relationship
with the factories. The code is based on the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in order to
secure every level of the supply chain. Patagonia is also part of FLA, Fair Labour Association;
this organisation provides equal transparency regarding the supply chain.
Patagonia implemented a Fair trade collection, “Fair Trade Fleece Collection”, to support fair
wages; salaries and working conditions. A percentage of the sales are returned to the producing
factory.
Service
Another aspect of Patagonia’s circular fashion vision is the website WORN WEAR. This on-
line shop has been created to provide reuse, repair and resell opportunities. Patagonia launched
a platform where customers can sell, buy or repair their clothing online. This platform nurtures
the conscious use of our garments and underlines the circular vision of closing the loop in the life
cycle of a garment (Patagonia, 2016).
IMAGE 7, PRODUCTION PROCESS (PATAGONIA, 2016)

35. 35
LESSONS LEARNED
Design Sourcing Production Service
Fashion does not equal
clothing. Clothing is the
focus. Design, to create
sustainable clothing with-
out harming.
The strategy is to use a mix
of different sustainable op-
tions. On one side recycled
materials such as recycled
wool, down nylon etc. are
used.
Factories and mills
are producing Pata-
gonia clothing.
Close relationship
with factories.
Service economy represents an
important aspect to the circular
economy, Patagonia imple-
mented a Platform for the three
R’s (Resell, Reuse, Repair)
Designing slow, to ensure
quality.
Additionally, organic cul-
tivation is used for natural
fibres as cotton and hemp.
The codes of produc-
tion are in accordance
with the International
Labour.
WORN WEAR, the platform is
a first step towards more con-
sciousness and appreciation of
garments.
Innovation is key, new
sustainable fibres are con-
tinuously researched and
new fibres added to their
conscious selection.
One cellulosic fibre is used
TENCEL, lyocell from
the company Lenzing.
Patagonia is part of
the Fair Labour Asso-
ciation
To connect people, there is a
part where people tell there
stories with the garments.
Design restricted by limit-
ed sustainable option used.
Sourcing is restricted to
sustainable options. It
takes more time and is
more expensive.
A fair trade collection
has been implement-
ed.
Repair kits are offered online.
Table 2, Lessons Learned from Patagonia towards circular systems

36. 36
CALLA Haynes
IMAGE 8, RECYCLED CARPET BOUCHAROUITE PROJECT (HANYES, 2017)

37. 37
CASE STUDY: CALLA HAYNES
Categories (close the loop framework): De-
sign for rebirth, Design to minimize waste
An Interview with Calla Haynes, a Parisian
Designer, has been conducted. Calla is actively
participating in the waste minimization in Pa-
ris, by collecting fabric leftovers from luxury
houses and reusing those to create artisanal car-
pets.
„Most importantly,
designers can save
money and create new
business opportunities
with acting circular“
Calla Haynes, 2017
Calla Haynes is a Canadian fashion designer,
based in Paris, and known for her extraordinary
colourful and joyful prints. She has graduated
from Parsons School of Design and worked for
several French luxury brands such as Rochas
and Nina Richi. In 2009, she launched her label
CALLA. She has collaborated with several es-
tablished brands, such as Chloé, Carven, Eres
and Bruno Pieters for honest by.
Her recent projects however, tapped into a dif-
ferent field of industry. She collaborated with
Berber Craftswomen from Morocco, follow-
ing the Boucharouite handcraft. Boucharouite
emerged in Morocco, using old cloths to create
carpets. The inspiration for this project came
from fabric leftovers of her collections. The
carpets are created out of Calla’s leftover fab-
rics. Re-inspired by her own collection left-
overs she created new textile designs to collab-
orate with artisanal in Morocco.
Her intuition led her to act in a circular way.
Calla and her namesake brand have been on the
market for almost a decade now. The clothes
are produced and majorly sourced from Eu-
rope. Calla explains that since the beginning it
has been very important to her to produce close
to where she lives, that way it is easier to build
a relationship with the producers. One major
issue, which has been bothering her through-
out her career working for luxury houses, that
huge amounts of waste of fabrics are thrown
away after each collection. She argues that on
average, there is a 30% surplus of materials left
over by luxury brands after producing a collec-
tion (Haynes, 2017).

38. 38
„I was left with a very large stock of fabric and
wanted to find a meaningful use for it.“ Calla
Haynes, 2017
I’m happy that not only does the project repurpose
fabric (avoiding waste, avoiding landfills), it
supports artisans, female artisans, and helps in the
preservation of their craft.“ Calla Haynes, 2017

39. 39
Her intuition led her to act in a circular way. Calla and her namesake brand have been on the maket for almost
a decade now. The clothes are produced and majorly sourced from Europe. Calla explains that since the be-
ginning it has been very important to her to produce close to where she lives, that way it is easier to build a
relationship with the producers. One major issue, which has been bothering her throughout her career working
for luxury houses, that huge amounts of waste of fabrics are thrown away after each collection. She argues
that on average, there is a 30% surplus of materials left over by luxury brands after producing a collection
(Haynes, 2017).
Lessons learned:
Design Sourcing Production Service
Rug inspiration, cre-
ating colour stories
from looking at left-
over fabrics
From the stock of ma-
terials 2009-2014
Produced in small
villages 150km from
Marrakesh
-
Working in a limited
frame is inspiring
Natural fibres
Finalisation from wa-
vers, who also add to
the design aesthetic
From Italy, France
and Japan
Table 3, Summary of lessons learned form Designer Calla Haynes
CONCLUSION, IMPLEMENTATION OF CIRCULAR DESIGN (HYPOTHESIS 1)
Change in mind-set is the first step to change creation in our world, if mind-set is set for change, change is
inevitable (IDEO, Circular Design Guide, Cradle-to-Cradle Guide).
Designing with frameworks helps for keeping global picture set, as design touches all steps of the value chain.
This restricted framework is even more inspiring for designer = challenge creates positive excitement.

40. 40

41. 41
Sourcing
Image 9, Cotton Filed (2018)

42. 42
CIRCULAR SOURCING
This section will provide an overview of the importance of sourcing
for sustainable business models. Thus, it will give an overview of the
current fabric market and the challenges, which it must overcome.
Moreover, it will provide an in-depth analysis of the fibres of the fu-
ture, using the circular mind-set. Lastly, it will give some examples of
companies offering circular fibre options.
Deciding which materials to use for the creation of a garment is essential. This question has
become more and more complex especially when considering the use of fibres, which cause the
least possible harm (Farley Gordon and Hill, 2015). The complexity can be explained by the high
impact of fibre production on the environment. Huge amounts of water, waste, pollution, pestici-
des, chemical dyes and the like, are big parts of the fashion industry today. The world is rapidly
growing and so is the amount of clothing made. What is more, population is estimated to count
8.5 billion people and apparel consumption will rise by 63% to 102 million tons by 2030 (Kerr
and Landry, 2017).

43. 43
IMAGE 11 DEVELOPMENT OF FIBRE PRICES (LENZING, 2017)
IMAGE 10, WORLD FIBRE CONSUMPTION (LENZING, 2017)

44. 44
The pie chart below represents the fibre con-
sumption categorised by types of fibres. The
pie chart highlights that the consumption of
fibres in 2016 was heavily based on synthetic
fibres with 63%; cotton and cellulosics repre-
sent 24% and 7% respectively.
The next graph shows the development of the
price of polyester, cotton (Baumwolle) and vi-
scose. The price of cotton for season 16/17 has
been increasing due to the high demand for
the fibre. In the last 5 years cotton stocks have
dropped to a low level. The average price for
cotton in 2016 according to Cotlook A-Index
has been USD 74,3 cent per kg. Viscose has
had a gradual increase, probably due to the
cotton shortage. Moreover, the polyester price
is continuously low, due to the changes of the
availability of petrol (Natürlich Positiv, 2017).
Fibres are heavily dependent on raw materials,
cotton plant, and oil for polyester and wood
for viscose. However, several dependencies
might be more or less difficult to handle in the
future, such as the dependency of cotton on
land fields for agricultural and other reasons.
The amount of land fields on our planet is li-
mited.As explained, the population is growing
so is the consumption of clothing. This cau-
ses a problematic in the future for cotton pro-
duction, as land fields will be more and more
limited, hence population will have to decide
either to grow food or cotton, for the ever gro-
wing population on this planet (Zauner, 2017).
Cotton production has been pretty constant for
the past years and is expected to stay constant.
However, cellulosic fibres are a growing mar-
ket with a yearly percentage of growth 4.3%
year 2016 (Natürlich Positiv, 2017).
The next part of this section is dedicated to a
review of the variety of fibres. Additionally, it
will show the impacts of each fibre and sum up
with some alternative options.

45. 45
FIBRES TYPES
As an introduction the table will show an overview of the different types of fibres:
Natural fibres Manufactured fibres
Plant Animal
Regenerated cellu-
losic fibre
From synthetic
polymers
Cotton Wool Viscose Polycondesate fibre
Flax Silk Modal Polyester
Hemp Cashmere Lyocell Nylon
Jute Mohair Alginate fibres Polymer fibre
Ramie Acetate Acrylic
Sisal Triacetate Polypropylene
Banana Elastodiene PVC
Pineapple Regenerated protein
fibre
Triexta fibre
Orange Casein
Soya bean
Biodegradable poly-
ester fibre
Poly, lactic acid
(PLA)
Table 4, Overview Types of Fibres (Fletcher, 2014)

46. 46
IMAGE 12, MERINO SHEEP (QUEENSLAND, 2018)
IMAGE 13, COTTON PLANT (BENISON MEDIA, 2018)

47. 47
NATURAL FIBRES
Cotton
Cotton is a natural fibre, widely used in the
fashion industry and especially suitable for
T-shirts, jeans and underwear.
Advantages: Cotton is very light and at the
same time strong, absorbent, it is non-allergic,
easy to drape. Cotton can be recycled with and
without chemical use. Chemical cotton can be
recycled into lyocell or viscose.
Disadvantages: In the process of cultivating,
cotton demands a lot of water. This is particu-
larly problematic in water-scare regions, whe-
re cotton is often grown. Additionally, in cot-
ton plantation huge amount of pesticides and
fertilisers are used. The fabric is not easy to
dye; therefore, heavy chemical processes are
required. The spinning process for instance, is
greatly energy intense (A New Textiles Econo-
my: Redesigning fashion’s future, 2017).
Wool
Wool is an animal product, most commonly
derived from sheep. Essentially wool is used
for jackets, suits and knitwear.
Advantages: Warm, breathable, dyes easily
and durable. Could be a secondary product
from food production. Wool recycling is rela-
tively simple as a result of the long fibre cha-
racteristics.
Disadvantages: Expensive to create, due to the
amount of land needed. Furthermore, sheep’s
discharge methnane, greenhouse gases. To
clean the wool from pests etc. a lot of chemi-
cals are needed. Bleaching methods are used
from time to time thus, resulting in wastewater
(A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning fa-
shion’s future, 2017).

48. 48
SYNTHETIC POLYMERS
Synthetic fibres are produced from oil and
make up 63% of the total fibre consumption.
General advantages and disadvantages of
synthetic fibres are:
Advantages: No agricultural land needed,
little water use and easily washable and dry.
Disadvantages: Using non-renewable re-
sources. Highly energy intense to produce.
Through the washing process plastic microfi-
bers are washed out, and end up in the ocean.
Non-biodegradable (A New Textiles Econo-
my: Redesigning fashion’s future, 2017).
Polyester
Polyester is the most used fibre in the world,
making up 55% of the total production. Often
used for sportswear and womenswear.
Advantages: Strong, resistant to crease, easy
to drape and soft. Polyester has a compara-
tively lower price positioning. Dyeing is
easier then cotton. With chemical recycling
methods, polyester can be recycled to virgin
fibre.
Disadvantages: During the production pro-
cess heavy metals are implemented
into the fibre, which has carcinogen effect
when inhaled (A New Textiles Economy: Re-
designing fashion’s future, 2017).
Nylon
Nylon is, similarly to polyester, based on
petrochemical feedstock. It can be used for
shirts, dresses, underwear, raincoats, socks,
and sportswear.
Advantages: The fibre is very strong, elastic,
easy to drape and wrinkle-resistant. Nylon
can be recycled.
Disadvantages: Nylon production emits
greenhouse gases. Compared to other syn-
thetic fibres, nylon has an even higher energy
consumption (Fletcher, 2014).

49. 49
CELLULOSE FIBRES: PLANT BASED
FIBRES
Viscose
Often called Rayon, viscose is extracted by the
cell walls of a plant – cellulose, which again is
derived from wood. Common woods used are
fast growing woods such as beech and bam-
boo. It is commonly used for shirts, nightwear
and dresses (Fletcher, 2014).
Advantages: Viscose was initially created as a
manmade version to replace silk in a cost ef-
fective way. Like silk, the fibre is soft and easy
to drape.
Disadvantages: Solvents used to create visco-
se are highly toxic. High pollution and was-
tewater are the resulw. Nevertheless there are
newer techniques, where chemicals are reu-
sed up to 90%. Additionally, dyeing requires
equally high amounts of energy, water and
chemicals (A New Textiles Economy: Rede-
signing fashion’s future, 2017).

50. 50
CIRCULAR FIBRES
Now that a number of the common fibres have been presented, the
question, which fibres are, the most circular fibres must be consid-
ered. And are there innovative fibres which can replace common
rather than polluting fibres in the future?
The methodology to approach this question has been analysed and researched by organisation,
companies, marketing agencies, the European Union and several more. However, there are a
number of tools, which have been widely used to address this question. One tool is the LCA – life
cycle analysis. This methodology is not without its problems such as the boundaries which are set
by the researching unit, vary a lot and often reflect a simplified reality rather than the accurate. An
example would be MADE-BY a non-profit organisation which ranks fibres in the market accor-
ding to six parameters Greenhouse gas emissions, human toxicity, eco-toxicity, energy, water and
land use (Fletcher, 2014). Nevertheless, for this research a comparative methodology is going to
be used. Collecting information from different sources and reflecting on it critically. A simplified
comparative analysis is applied, where fibres are going to be represented according to their func-
tional and environmental effects. Three promising fibres have been chosen to be discussed here,
because of their sustainable and eco-responsible characteristics for the future.

51. 51
Lyocell
The raw material for lyocell is wood, cotton
scraps. Lyocell is used for dresses, blouses,
jeans and T-shirts.
Advantages: The fibre is very light, soft and
strong. Additionally, it is very skin friendly,
an optimal moisture transporter and restricts
bacteria to a minimal level. Lyocell has been
created to minimize the harming of the envi-
ronment during the production. Solvents used
to create the fibre can be up to 95% recycled
over and over. The company Lenzing imple-
mented this closed-loop process, which is go-
ing to be explained in more detail at section 6.
Disadvantages: Energy intense production,
lyocell creases easily (A New Textiles Eco-
nomy: Redesigning fashion’s future, 2017).
Recycled Fibres
1% of the total textiles pro-
duced for clothing is recycled.
87% of materials for clothing
end in land fields or are inciner-
ated (A New Textiles Economy:
Redesigning fashion’s future,
2017).
There are two major types of recycling; me-
chanical and chemical breakdown of gar-
ments. The mechanical is mechanically ope-
ning the fabric, which means that the yarn
loses a lot of its quality, because it cannot be
reproduced in the same length. The second
type, chemical breakdown, uses polymers to
reproduce virgin fibres. With this methodo-
logy the quality does not lose value. Natural
fibres can only be recycled with the mechani-
cal method. Synthetic fibres can be recycled
both ways (Fletcher, 2014).
Recycled Polyester
Polyester is created out of petroleum, which
is considered a non-renewable resource that
damages the environment. Nevertheless,
when thinking of recycling polyester, it is
highly well suited because it can be transfer-
red to a virgin fibre without losing any quality
after the recycling process. Polyester recyc-
ling uses PET, plastic bottles that would go
to the land fields otherwise (Fletcher, 2014).
One example would be Patagonia, they use
fleece, to recycle it into polyester. Patagonia
is a major promoter of recycled polyester,
collaborating with a Japanese company, who
created a closed-loop recycling system (Pata-
gonia, 2016).

52. 52
IMAGE 14, LOOKBOOK MARGARET & HERMIONE (MARGARET & HERMIONE, 2018)

53. 53
Advantages: Reuses raw material existing les-
sens the dependence of raw material. Recycled
polyester does not loose on quality when recyc-
led.
Disadvantages: Highly energy intense. Today
the problematic lies in the high costs for recyc-
ling (Fletcher, 2014).
Recycled Nylon
Like polyester, nylon is made out of petroleum.
Advantages: Compared to polyester nylon is a
more durable fibre. Can be recycled to 100%
high quality virgin fibre. A lot of opportunities
to recycle, fishing nets, plastic bottles and so
on. Lessons dependence on raw material for the
producer.
Disadvantages: Nylon is slightly harder to re-
cycle then polyester and highly energy intense
(Patagonia, 2016).
A Viennese based brand called Margaret &
Hermione, offering swimwear and sportswear,
uses this fibre. The basic material comes from
fishing nets, which are floating in the sea. The-
se nets are collected from the ocean and proces-
sed into fabric. Each step in the supply chain
is fully transparent (MARGARET AND HER-
MIONE, 2018).
One way to recycle Nylon is by taking plastic
PET and creating virgin fibre out of that.
A company doing this is called Econyl. Econyl
is based in Italy and collects Nylon 6 from the
sea from over the world. The Nylon 6 is sent to
a waste treatment center in Slovenia. The waste
mostly comes from the USA, Egypt, Greece,
Pakistan, Thailand, Norway and Turkey.
Econyl works together with:
Healthy Seas, an organisation collecting (Vo-
lunteers) the waste from the bottom of the sea,
from Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Greece
and Croatia
Net-Works, a social initiative, which motivates
coastal communities in the Philippines and Ca-
meroon to collect fishing nets (Econyl, 2017).
Other fibres that can be recycled:
Cotton, Viscose, Silk and Wool

54. 54
FRUIT FIBRES
45% of fruit that has been produced for con-
sumption ends up being thrown away. There-
fore, one solution for using fruit by-products
would be to create fibres. With new manufac-
turing developments, zero-waste and vegeta-
ble alternatives have become commercially
more viable lately.
Orange Fibre
Advantages: Orange fibre is a by-product from
the food industry. The sustainable use of was-
te is a core principle of the circular economy.
Orange fibre is very lightweight and soft and
has a silky touch.
Disadvantages: Thus far one Italian start-up is
selling orange fibre on the market. Orange fi-
bre’s most recent collection has been from the
fashion luxury house Salvatore Ferragamo,
who created a capsule collection for ss17. It
has just started to commercialise and is relati-
vely high price at the moment (WGSN, 2017).
Banana Fibre
Banana plant stems are equally wasted.
Eco-textile company Offset Warehouse, has
collaborated with an NGO in Nepal to find
artisan working and collaborating in order to
create a fair wage and future for the fibre. The
material is well suited for jackets, skirts and
trousers.
Advantages: Meaningful use of waste, rather
strong material, various types of possible uses.
Disadvantages: Not really established in the
fashion textile industry yet (McEarchran,
2015).
Other fruit fibres:
Leather replacements:
Pinatex: gained from pineapple waste.
Fruitleather Rotterdam: using strawberry was-
te
Vegea: wine leather, using grape waste
(WGSN, 2017).

55. 55
HEMP
Average fibre production
(kg) per hectar
Cotton 300-1100
Hemp 800-1150
Wool 62
Hemp is a natural plant fibre, also called cannabis hemp.
Advantages: Hemp grows very rapidly, naturally controlling weeds and pests, it is subsequently
considered as low impact agriculture. The table above shows that for the plantation of hemp,
more than the double of quantity can be used compared to cotton. What is more, hemp naturally
improves the structure of the soil and does not need high amounts of water.
Disadvantages: The cultivation of this plant has been banned by many countries. Even though
hemp does not contain the psychoactive constituent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and therefore,
has no narrotic properties. Moreover, the processing of hemp is highly energy intense, as the fibre
is rather strong, it takes effort to make it a yarn (Fletcher Page, 2014).
Soybean fibre
Soybean is a fibre, which is a sort of regenerated material from protein.
Advantages: The source can be soybeans, or animal like milk. Research and developments to this
fibre create a light and silky structure for the fibre. Soybean fibre could be a potential replacement
for Petrochemical-based synthetics and also cashmere. In China ‘vegetable cashmere’would help
to reduce the grazing of fragile grassland, caused by the cashmere goats.
Disadvantages: Soybean fibre is currently rather costly, approximately 30% more expensive than
organic cotton (Fletcher, 2014).
Table 5, Hemp comparison

56. 56
LESSONS LEARNED:
In choosing circular fibres, there will be a lot
of positive aspects on environment, ethics etc.
However, there is no zero waste or no pollu-
ting fibre. And this has to be communicated
with honesty.
“There is no perfect solution, it’s not ex-
isting, so we are coming to a multifac-
eted solution which would be a little bit
more of artificial natural fibres, perhaps
a new way of producing synthetic fibres
but out of natural synthetic and there is
a big deal on consuming less and differ-
ently, that the biggest deal and then of
course also recycling” Lutz Keller, 2017
Apart from that, a brand can be proud of thin-
king circular and can be natural about it. Ho-
nesty is key for the sustainable fashion future.
Here all the fibres presented and summed up
according to their impact
Conclusion, implementation of Sourcing (Hy-
pothesis 2):
• After the design decisions, functions,
aesthetic etc. of a garment picking the
right fibre is essential.As discussed in
the design part, circular design is limited
by the limitations of picking less harm-
ful fibre today in the fashion industry.
• The impact of the fibre itself during its
cultivation and processing does not inclu-
de all the
• aspects, which has to be taken into consi-
deration. Production process, blends, and
after use = washing garments have to be
calculated too.
• Therefore fibre decisions constitute a
complexity in itself.
• The most important is that brands are clear
about their impacts and try to take action
by using less harmful options
• Brands who are aware and conscious
should be transparent about their choices
an communicate their impacts and contri-
butions openly.

57. 57
Here all the fibres presented and summed up according to their impact

58. 58

59. 59
Production
Image 15, TENCEL PRODUCTION (Lenzing, 2018)

60. 60
CIRCULAR PRODUCTION
This section will give an over-
view of fashion production
steps. It will show the problems
today and give a short introduc-
tion to the different impacts in
each step. Furthermore, a case
study with the circular fibre
producer Lenzing Group will be
analysed. The section will end
with an outlook for potential
future production, supporting
circular ideas.
The fashion industry holds one of the most
complex and lengthy manufacturing chains.
Starting with this base, one can imagine that
a holistic change of this industry causes huge
challenges to the implementation of circu-
lar fashion. Major forces lying behind the
change can described as economic, structural,
legislative and cultural. Especially produc-
tion represents a huge hindrance for circular
change. The reason behind that can be attri-
buted to the huge investment needed to adopt
the change. Huge production units mean that
huge constructions and investigations need
to be done, for the sake of creating a holistic
system transformation.
However, before starting a transformation,
soft changes have to be managed. A soft
change would mean, the way of thinking
needs to be changed much earlier than merely
changing some processes within a company.
The major change mechanisms in the textile
industry are led by NGO’s, consumers and
policy makers. These three have to work to-
gether and with each other before other ma-
jor systems changes can happen. In the 90s
NGO’s for example have put huge pressure
on companies like Nike and Gap to develop
regulations for working rights. Additionally
the European Commission developed integ-
rated pollution prevention control (IPPC) in
2003, to reduce or even prevent impact. Mo-
reover, REACH, a program designed by the
European Commission, has been built to im-
prove the current legislation of current che-
mical substances. REACH is particularly im-
portant for the textile industry, as the nature
of this industry is highly global, accordingly
regulations and support from policy makers
is essential. Furthermore, corporate structu-
res, CSR, corporate social responsibility can
bring transformations in a sense that pressure
from competitors being circular can lead to
positive change. Such as sustainable luxury
brand Stella McCartney, Patagonia or Refor-
mation. To sum it up major mechanisms are
mostly lead by three actors; corporate, legis-
lative and NGO’s (Fletcher, 2014).

61. 61
CURRENT PRODUCTION – CIRCULAR PRODUCTION
The current production process in the fashion industry looks as follows (Fletcher, 2014):
As described above, fashion production is considered one of the longest supply chains and subse-
quently also very complex. Each and every step involved has different environmental and social
impacts to be considered when producing consciously. Let us have a short overview on the pro-
duction steps and their impacts.

62. 62
Spinning, weaving and knitting
The mechanical processes spinning,
weaving and knitting; these steps are
causing major impacts on energy use,
solid waste production, dust and noise.
All the three processes include the use
of lubricants (spinning), oils (knitting)
and size for weaving. These additives
are washed out at the end of the process
and create waste, as they are not biode-
gradable.
Recommendations:
Using biodegradable lubricants. Using
recyclable sizing agents. Search for new
technologies such as seamless knitting,
where a whole garment is one entire pie-
ce, this is very efficient in terms of waste
creation.
Fabric Finishing
The finishing process includes the pre-
paration of the fabric to be dyed or prin-
ted. This step is known to cause the most
environmental impacts. The major rea-
son for that is the huge amount of water,
energy and chemicals and effluents used.
Bleaching
Naturally, colours are off-colours. Thus,
bleaching is necessary to prepare the
garment for dyeing or printing. Most
commonly in Europe hydrogen peroxide
is used. This method is regarded as fairly
energy-intensive.
Recommendations:
Suppliers can be asked to combine blea-
ching and sourcing to save chemicals,
energy and water. Biological treatment
of wastewater rather than discharge.
Dyeing
There are three major ways of dyeing.
Fibre, Yarn or fabric. The dyeing pro-
cess includes a lot of resource use such
as water, energy, chemicals and efflu-
ents. Colours may very in their intensity
of the impact on the environment in the
dyeing process however, it is hard to tell
if the after use might not modify the total
impact differently. A lot of steps have al-
ready been taken to improve dyes, legal
restrictions on the use of toxic chemical.
Technical innovations in dyeing include
low water dyeing, dye bath reuse and
pad-batch dyeing to name a few.
Recommendations:
Suppliers introduced water- and ener-
gy-efficient measures, look for suppliers
who avoid dyestuffs and use biodegrada-
ble alternatives. Suppliers who use reuse
techniques of dyes and water.

63. 63
Printing
It is contemplated as one of the most com-
pound fields of production. Textile printing
utilizes colour paste based on a dye or a pig-
ment. Moreover, thickening agents and chemi-
cals are used in the process. Various methods
are applied in textile printing are flat screen,
roller transfer and inkjet, those have diverse
needs for inputs.
Recommendations:
For screen-printing, waste can be reduced by
minimizing print paste losses and by washing
the screens and belts with reused rinsing wa-
ter. In addition, changing the PVC- and pha-
talate-free printing formulations, which do
not contain aromatic solvents, damaging the
environment. For digital printing, the selected
pigments or dyes are electrostatically pushed
on the textile. Searching for suppliers who are
most efficiently using print paste, to maximize
resource efficiency. Transfer printing is a dif-
ferent way of printing, using less water than
ink or screen printing. For ordinary printing
250kg water is required for a transfer of 2 kg.
However, this technology is majorly suitable
for synthetic fibres.
Cut-make-trim (CMT)
At the very end textiles have to be cut and
sewn into garments. The CMT stage is ma-
jorly situated in low cost countries, where
workers manually sew together and finish the
garments. Therefore, this stage is dealing with
huge ethical challenges. It is called the ‘mobi-
le’ industry as manufacturers move from one
country to another, searching for the lowest
production opportunities. The public attention
towards big companies like Nike, for workers
violations started in the 90s, where NGO’s put
huge pressure on these companies. NGOs in-
tensively started to create norms and standards
for regulating labour conditions. One example
is the Clean Clothes Campaign, which sets up
conditions for choosing employment freely,
adopts no discrimination and child labour po-
licy at work, freedom to associate, reassurance
of living wages to be paid, no excessive hours
to be contracted, decent working condition to
be adopted and established employment rela-
tionships.
Recommendations: Even though a huge num-
ber of codes exist for securing the working
conditions of labour, problems still exist. It
needs more than the codes and policies. Im-
plementation has to be 100% transparent wit-
hout any doubt, future production should be
monitored more strictly and developed and
implemented even further.
Now that a short introduction of the fashion
supply chain has been presented. Innovations
and alternatives do exist however, they are far
from being perfect. The next case study will
analyse an Austrian company, which is one of
the world leaders in circular fibre production
of cellulosic, plant-based fibres. This example
will show that change needs a huge amount
of time and money as well as good intentions
(Fletcher, 2014).

64. 64
CASE STUDY: LENZING GROUP
This case study will analyse the circular characteristics of Lenzing
Group as a company and will focus in detail on the production pro-
cess, taking this as a Best Practice example towards circular produc-
tion.
In the course of this research. A visit at the production field Heil-
igenstatt, Austria has been made. The visit included a company
presentation by the production manager Mr. Hatztl, furthermore, a
complete visit and explanation of the production with all the steps
included by the Process manager. And lastly, a recorded interview
with the managing director Mr. Zauner was conducted.
LENZING GROUP
Lenzing Group is the world market leader in global textile and non-woven industry, supplying
high quality, botanic cellulose fibres. The headquarters of the company is located in Austria, and
has production sites worldwide. The company is the only fibre producer selling all three cellulose
fibre generations, viscose, modal and lyocell trademarked at TENCEL.
There are two production sites in Austria; the one in Heiligenstatt represents the second existing
production, producing TENCEL. This production unit solely produces TENCEL and REFIBRA,
a new implantation of the Lenzing Group, a circular fibre that is created out of recycled cotton
waste and mixed with wood pulp. The company has integrated sustainability entirely into their
supply chain. Throughout the circular framework, this is going to be analysed and explained
(Lenzing.com, 2017).

65. 65
“Sustainability has two levels, on the one hand a
company has to act sustainable in a way to protect
environment and ethics and on the other hand
sustainability means in being profitable in a long-
term perspective. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to
continue our business and contributing to a positive
change in the textile industry and the world.”
Bernd Zauner, 2017

66. 66
DESIGN
Lenzing Group has created and launched TENCEL about 20 years ago. The company designed
a new way of production. The aim of TENCEL has been to create a new type of fibre similar to
viscose, however, with a less environmentally polluting process. This new system has been de-
signed in a completely regenerative way, in reusing up to 98% all the solvents used during the
production process (Lenzing.com, 2017).
SOURCING
Its primary raw material of Lenzing is wood. Sixty per cent is bought from suppliers and 40%
comes from their own (40%) production. The purchasing of the wood is certified by FSC wood
control and PEFC. These organisations certify and ensure that wood is not purchased illegally,
from forest with conversation value etc. Zauner argues that Lenzing have had pressure from
NGO’s towards using fair wood, however, Lenzing has never had problems with disrespecting na-
ture. He equally explains that NGO’s have an important role in pressuring big companies towards
sustainable change for the future (Lenzing.com, 2017).
IMAGE 16, TENCEL THE FIBRE OF THE FUTURE (LENZING AG, 2017)

67. 67
IMAGE 17, TENCEL PRODUCTION PROCESS (LENZING AG, 2017)
PRODUCTION
The TENCEL production process. The wood is used as a raw material for cellulosic fibres from
Lenzing Group. The first stage of the production begins with the wood transformation to pulp.
After this stage the circular process starts; the pulp is cut into small little pieces and the pulp is
finely dispersed in a concentrated N-Methylomorpholine N-oxide (NMMO) and dissolved. Then
the solution is pressed through spinning machines into a spinning bath. The water excess is eva-
porated to a solution of cellulose. Here, the recovery of the NMMO takes place. After pressing
through the solution, cellulose is derived in form of fibre. Finishing agents are used to improve
running gliding properties. These are fully biodegradable. A dying step is not in every Lenzing
production. Long lasting dyes are used, where pigments are not sun sensitive. This production
represents a completely closed loop process. The organic solvent NMMO is recovered with 98%
(Lenzing.com, 2017).

68. 68
“Without the recovering technology of the solvents,
this technique would not be profitable at all.” Bernd
Zauner, 2017
SERVICE – CLOSING THE LOOP
So what happens with Tencel products after use? A lot of companies are acting sustainable; howe-
ver, still do not have a specific strategy on what will happen to their products after use. Lenzing
is already thinking about these challenges and introduced new fibre, with a circular approach
(Lenzing.com, 2017).
• Refibra, is a recycled fibre, created of cotton waste from the fashion industry. To be pre-
cise the waste comes from the concern INDITEX, in the process of cutting clothing, cot-
ton waste is created which is subsequently used by Lenzing to create a new fibre. The pro-
duction process is the same as for TENCEL, however, the pulp consists of a mix of cotton
waste and wood. The fibre has been introduced in 2016, and is therefore, very cost inten-
sive. Lenzing will therefore, raise the prices for all the fibres. According to Zauner, the
goal is also to take waste of the consumers in the future (Innovation for Balance, 2016).
• What is more, during the production process by-products are the result such as ace-
tic acid, furfural and xylose. The total yield is further increased by selling these products.
• Additionally, renewable energy sources are major players in acting sustainably as a company.
In the bar chart (Image 18) one can see that Lenzing percentage of renewable energy compa-
red to the world standard is very high.
• Last, TENCEL, modal and viscose are manmade natural fibres therefore, biodegradable!

69. 69
IMAGE 18, TENCEL RENEWABLE ENERGY (LENZING AG, 2017)
CONCLUSION, IMPLEMENTATION OF SOURCING (HYPOTHESES 3):
The production industry has huge adjustments to make in the future. It is a challenge, as huge
investments have to be taken. Moreover, these adjustments force policy makers, corporations and
NGOs to work together intensively. However, companies do invest and innovate as seen in the
case study example. Summing up the points, which definitely have to be considered in terms of
circular production:
• Mindset: The designer has the responsibility to not only create but to choose how the product
will be produced. Again everything starts with design. It is easier to create a new system total-
ly based on circularity then redesign an old system, as highlighted by the example of Lenzing
for TENCEL.
• Sourcing and production go hand in hand. The raw material put into the production should be
prepared to be easily processed in the production, in order to create circular systems. Moreo-
ver, the raw material sourced has to be sustainable in a way that does not harm the environ-
ment by extracting or cultivating.
• In the production, each and every step should be checked to save energy, pollute less water,
emit CO2 etc. Recycling systems should be created, such as Lenzing for TENCEL solvents.
• For energy input, renewable energy should be used to act circularly in the long run.

70. 70

71. 71
ServiceImage 19, Recycled Carpet (Haynes, 2018)

72. 72
SERVICE
The current supply chain looks as
follows. Circular fashion systems
are based on eliminating the ‘After
Use’ stage. And replaced by a clos-
ing the loop stage.
Service or equally called closing
the loop, is about finding solutions
to not throw clothing into the trash
bin anymore. So let us talk about a
few options.
IMAGE 20, FASHION INDUSTRY TODAY (ELLEN MCARTHUR FOUNDATION, 2017)

73. 73
BIODEGRADABLE TEXTILES
One good start is to design and use textile,
which are coming from nature and can be ea-
sily returned to nature. These products are cal-
led biodegradable. There are still some open
questions to answer especially where exactly
and under which circumstances textiles will
be decomposed. However, it is a good start to
create a natural cycle.
Easily decomposable fibres:
Cotton: Decomposed in one week
Wool: 1-5 years time
Bamboo: up to 1 year
Hemp: One week
Silk: One month
Synthetics are non-decomposable. They take
up to 200 years. Need to be recycled.
REDESIGN AND UPCYCLING
Creating something new, from old, used tex-
tiles. One great example is the start-up “Les
Recuperables”: A start-up from Paris, using
waste of the textiles industry to create new
collections. Another option is to use waste of
the textile industry earlier. Pattern cutting of-
ten creates waste. Designers can intervene and
take the waste from this step.
IMAGE 21, CIRCULAR FASHION INDUSTRY (ELLEN MCARTHUR FOUNDATION, 2017)

74. 74
RECYCLE TEXTILES
Natural fibres such as cotton and wool, can be
recycled mechanically however, quality losses
are quickly a problem. In the process, the fibre
is damaged and the length is shortened and the-
refore, harder to recycle into high quality fibres.
On the other hand synthetic fibres are much ea-
sier to recycle and gained popularity within the
sports and outwear industry.
The biggest challenge represents the high num-
ber of blends on the market, which makes the
process of recycling rather difficult.
Technology might help in the future to sort out
this problem. By RFID-Tags, we could solve
this issue. Another option proposed by an orga-
nisation called Worn Again, a start-up; it pro-
poses a methodology to separate cotton from
polyester.
ORGANIZE COLLECTION AND TAKE
BACK SYSTEMS
There are diverse options today as a customer
chosoes from, to extend the life of garments.
Companies like H&M, PUMA, The North
Face, propose take back boxes where you can
drop off clothes after use and even get a reduc-
tion.
LENGTHEN THE REUSE PROCESS
The user has the decision in their hand to pro-
long the life of its garment. Multiple brands
like Flippa K promote a classical image of the
female aesthetic. Moreover, the brand proposes
their own second hand page as well (Close The
Loop, 2017).
CONCLUSION, IMPLEMENTATION OF
SERVICE (HYPOTHESES 4):
Companies and customers are more and more
conscious about the effects of the consumption
of clothing and taking little by little steps to
better the consumption of clothing and to come
closer to closing the loop.
• Resell, Recycle or Repair, three principles
which should be kept in mind for brands
for the future.
• The options are not limited, there are
examples of methods, which can be used,
but especially this step in the process of the
value chain is not yet very developed and
innovations are highly welcome.

75. 75

76. 76
QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
This research has been conducted to analyse circular systems for fashion start-ups. To limit and
analyse more in detail, the Parisian market has been chosen. Paris represents a high potential
market, as the city itself is considered as the capital of fashion. The qualitative data has been
collected through a survey and interviews with various industry professionals on circular fashion.
The interviews are focused on the business side, how circular fashion systems can be developed
for start-ups. On the other hand quantitative, survey, is analysing the customer side, if the market
is interested in ‘circular’clothes. However, in the survey the expression ‘sustainable’clothes have
been used.
DESIGN AND HYPOTHESIS
The question of feasibility of the implementation of circular systems and how to implement circu-
lar systems for start-ups resulted in the following hypothesises for this research. The first part of
this research has been concerned with the implementation of circular systems for fashion brands.
The hypothesis appeared on the first part can be summarized with:
H1) Circular design systems can be implemented successfully in the fashion industry.
H2) Circular sourcing systems can be implemented successfully in the fashion industry
H3) Circular production systems can be implemented successfully in the fashion industry
H4) Circular services (closing the loop) systems can be implemented successfully in the fashion
industry
For the market analysis, Paris has been chosen as a market to analyse. The following hypothesis
has been constructed.
H5) Parisian population are interested in sustainable clothes
H6) There is a market potential in Paris for circular fashion start-ups
H7) Parisian population are interested in recycling, repairing, reselling activities

77. 77
METHOD
The methodology is separated into two parts. The first part, theoretical part is including qualitative
data, handling the hypothesis 1-4. For answering these hypothesis a literature research has been
conducted and three interviews. One interview has been conducted with Calla Hanyes, a fashion
designer, who implemented circular systems into her design thinking. The second interview has
been conducted with Lutz Keller, an expert in fibre, marketing and fashion trends. The third
interview has been conducted with Bernd Zauner, the managing director of Lenzing TENCEL
production. The three interviews cover specialists in design, sourcing and production. Two of the
interviews (Lutz Keller and Bernd Zauner) have been recorded and the transcription will be found
in the annex. Calla Hanyes interview has been conducted per mail and can be found in the annex.
For the second part of the research, the market analysis, an online survey has been conducted with
95 people from Paris. With a population of 2.206.488 and a confidence level of 95% and a margin
error of 10%, a sample size of 95 people has been calculated for the survey. Google forms, has
been used as a tool for creating the survey. The form has been created online and published on
social media channel Facebook. The data base and additional information to the survey will be
included in the annex. The survey has been conducted to analyse the sentiment towards circular
systems in Paris.

78. 78
GRAPH 1, PURCHASING FREQUENCY (HERGET, 2018).
GRAPH 2, PURCHASING BUDGET (HERGET, 2018).

79. 79
RESULTS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS
Demographic data
Within the survey customer shopping habits
have been demanded. According to the survey,
one can see that the Parisian population is buy-
ing most likely few times a month within the
age category of 18-24. Moreover, from 25-34
is buying most likely also few times a month.
Parisians between 35-44 are most likely to
purchase few times within 6 months clothing.
Within the category of 45-54, population is
equally buying few times per month or few
times within 6 months. The general tendency
is going towards rather high consumption ha-
bits between, buying few times a month and
buying few times within 6 months.
Interpretation: The tendency is going towards
that the two ‘younger’ age groups (18-24 and
25-34) are purchasing more frequently ma-
jorly every month at least once. Whereas the
‘higher’ age group 35-44 are purchasing less
frequently majorly every 6 month and few
times a year. However to the contrary 45-54
buy equally every month and every 6 month.
Having a closer look on the consumption ha-
bits, one can analyse that in the age group
between 18-24 Parisians are likely to spend
between 50-300 euros on clothing per month,
whereas about 100 euro per month is domi-
nating. A similar situation is recognisable for
the age group of 25-34, however they are most
likely to spend up to 50 euro per month. 35-
44 varies between spending 500 euro and up
to 100 euro per month on clothing. The last
age group 45-54, answered in the previous is
harmonious with the answers above, they are
consuming up to 300 euro per month and buy-
ing rather frequently weekly or monthly.
Interpretation: Between 25-34 are most like-
ly to spend 50-300 euro and combined with
the frequency of the previous analysis, they
are the highest spending group on clothes.
35-44 buy less in quantity however buy most
likely for 100 or 500 euro per month. 45-54
buys more frequent then 35-44 and spend less
around 300 euro per month.
Implementation: Marketing strategies have to
be catering the different behaviours of various
age groups. The market 18-24, is likely to buy
high frequency at lower costs, circular stra-
tegies should focus on design for rebirth and
design to minimize waste. Thus frequency of
purchases could be slightly compensated. The
market between 35-44 catering design strate-
gies to design to reduce the need for rapid con-
sumption and design to last, as this age group
buys less and at a higher quality. Age group of
45-54 can operate a mix of reducing the need

80. 80
Graph 3, attributes when purchasing clohtes (Herget, 2018)

81. 81
PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
What attributes are important when purchasing
clothing, are greatly important to understand
the future design practices and create business
strategies tailored to the market needs. As the
column chart above shows, aesthetic and ethics
are ranked on the two first places according to
their importance when shopping. Quality is po-
sitioned equally as very important. Moreover,
price, fashion and functional aspects are consi-
dered as important.
Interpretation: These results are reflecting that
Parisian consumers are putting most of their
eyes on aesthetic, ethics and quality. This might
seem rather evident, as fashion business is bu-
ild around aesthetics. However ethics is equally
ranked very important, this might be explained
with the rise of consciousness in society, espe-
cially in greatly diverse markets, such as the
Parsian. Moreover quality is seems very logical
too, as Parisian market is known for being the
capital of Fashion, Parisian population is highly
conscious about the quality of garments. Lu-
xury and designer brands can be found easily,
the access to these types of goods triggers the
effect of common quality standards. Fashion
trends and functional clothing are important
but not the priority.
Implementation: Circular design has to focus
on these aspects. Finding a combination of
aesthetically attractiveness and high quality
are essential. A solution might be slow fashion,
designing for long-life: classical designs with
high quality.

82. 82
Graph 4, level of interest in sustainablilty (Herget, 2018)
Graph 5, level of interest in sustainablilty per age (Herget, 2018)

83. 83
Graph 6, purchasing frequency sustainable clothes (Herget,2018)
Graph 7, sustainable budget (Herget, 2018)

84. 84
SUSTAINABLITY
MARKET ANALYSIS
As this research is analysing the
implementation of strategies
around circular fashion, let us
have a closer look to the aspects
of sustainability in the market.
These graphs show the interest
by age group, the purchasing
frequency and budget spend by
Parisians.
The interest by age group can be analysed that
the age group between 35-54 ranked sustaina-
bility in average compared to the other who
ranked sustainability as important in the pre-
vious graph, will be analysed now.
The Parisian people answered up to 70%, that
they are slightly or not interested in sustaina-
bility aspects when shopping clothes. Compa-
risons show that age groups between 35-54 are
more interested in sustainability than younger
generations.
Moreover it can be seen that even though re-
spondents who are highly interested in sustai-
nability, have a rather high purchasing behavi-
our, purchasing buying up to 64%, few times
per month. The rest is split to 14% few times
per 6 month and 14% few times per year. Mo-
reover, sustainability interested respondents
spend about 50-300 euro per month on clothes.
Interpretation: Parisians are more interested
from 35-54 on, on sustainable aspects when
shopping. What is more, the consumption is
rather independent on the aspect that Parisians
are interested in sustainability. However the
amounts spend on clothing is rather high, the-
refore one can result that quality garments are
purchased, which would suit with the previous
analysis of importance on quality.
Implementation: Sustainability is therefore a
niche aspect for deciding on clothing, howe-
ver as seen in the previous graph, ethical is-
sues on the contrary are ranked very high. In
terms of consumption is greatly frequent and
high, even in the group of sustainable clients,
start-ups, brands might focus their circular
concepts on proposing sustainable option
such as recycling opportunities of or reselling
opportunities in store. That way the frequent
shopping habits can be balanced with creating
cycles. Moreover another strategy for the sus-
tainable fashion market, would be high quality
garment classical garments which last long, as
about 40% of the market is spending 300-500
euro or more for garments per purchase.

85. 85
Graph 8, reasons for buying sustainable (Herget, 2018)
Graph 9, favorite ways of shopping (Herget, 2018)