“Anthesis is delighted to be a part of the Circular Fashion Summit and this report. Having a clear definition of what constitutes circular fashion and an indication of the vast market size this new opportunity represents will help galvanise the sector around this singular yet multi-faceted concept.”
Susan Harris
Technical Director
The new ‘Year Zero’ circular fashion report for 2020 has been published following the 2020 Circular Fashion Summit. The report brings together industry leaders and sustainability experts to deliver an insightful and actionable outlook on the future for circular fashion.
Anthesis’ Technical Director, Susan Harris, contributed to the report by sharing her circularity and sustainable apparel expertise and insights. Susan emphasised the urgency for the fashion industry to take action in line with the decisive decade and the importance of unifying around a central definition of circular fashion and a direction for the industry.
Read on to find out more about the Circular Fashion Summit, as well as key takeaways and links to the Year Zero report.
Circular fashion in a fast-changing world
Acknowledgement of the necessity for systemic change to ensure a sustainable fashion industry is spreading rapidly across the world. Like many other sectors, the global impacts of 2020 have caused major disruptions to the fashion industry, mandating a new urgency in redesigning and digitising fashion for sustainability and towards a circular economy. Circularity pledges in fashion are largely being driven by the Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), with action-oriented targets and industry commitments to support companies in reaching their circularity targets.
This October saw the digital delivery of the Circular Fashion Summit amid the Paris Fashion Week. Designed to connect stakeholders in moving the agenda forwards for a circular economy in fashion, this summit was followed by the delivery of a new report, labelled ‘Year Zero’. The report highlights a collaborative project of data collection and knowledge sharing for circular fashion, which was supported by Anthesis.
What is the Circular Fashion Summit?
The Circular Fashion Summit is a global gathering of industry leaders who want to champion positive change in the fashion industry. The CFS was envisioned at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit of 2017, where the GFA called on the industry to take action on circularity via the 2020 Circular Fashion System Commitment. This commitment to circularity led to the creation of the first summit in 2019, held during Paris Fashion Week and attended by stakeholders across the fashion value chain.
The event is officially partnered with the United Nations and was created as a means of initiating measurable action to help push forward the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 2020 Summit took place via virtual reality headsets and was attended by leaders in the fashion industry, including presidents and CEOs of the five major global Fashion Councils.
“Circular fashion is about moving away from a linear model of take, make, dispose and moving towards a new, regenerative model that can help us meet the UN Sustainable Development goals and revolutionise our consumption and production patterns to achieve a more sustainable world.”
Susan Harris
Technical Director
Key takeaways from the Year Zero report
The ‘Year Zero’ circular fashion report, a collaborative effort between Vogue Business, PwC, Lablaco, Anthesis and others, aims to provide insights and predict the potential of a digitised circular fashion industry. It highlights that despite expecting market volatility and sensitivity over the next 12 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the industry could amount to a $5.3 trillion opportunity.
The report explores five key fundamental themes that are essential to activating a more circular fashion industry:
- Defining the concept of circular fashion
- Recognising the size and opportunity of the circular fashion industry
- Reviewing the consumer demand for sustainable brands and the impact of Covid-19
- Analysing the current science & technology solutions driving the transition
- The UN Sustainable Development Goals and the CFS goals for the next 12 months
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