Listen "INDUSTRY UPDATE: Circular business models, like clothing resale and subscription rental, are taking off - but can they ever fully replace today's retail models and deliver the radical sustainability improvements we need?"
Episode Synopsis
Experts and practitioners agree that simply improving upon today's take-make-waste linear business models will not ensure the apparel industry can operate within the planet's ecological boundaries. Instead, a new circular economy is needed and thus new circular business models. Circular business models, like resale and rental, are not actually new. But up until a few years ago, models like these were marginal, primarily employed by second hand stores and charity shops. How things have changed! Today, nearly every major brand has a circularity department working to develop and test these circular models as a means to increase their market share, profitability and sustainability performance. So is this the radical breakthrough we have all been waiting for? And will these models, if scaled, deliver the environmental and social benefits advocates are promoting? To get updated, Michael invited three industry pioneers - Gwen Cunningham, Lead of Circle Economy's Textiles Programme and Switching Gear Project, Jeff Denby, co-founder of The Renewal Workshop, and Sam Gillick-Daniels from WRAP (The Waste and Resources Action Programme) - to weigh in. If you are interested in getting updated on the current state of circular apparel business models and the challenges and opportunities facing them, this episode is for you. This podcast is supported by the Laudes Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and TENCEL™. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.
More episodes of the podcast Big Closets Small Planet
CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Do we need to reimagine growth in apparel? Textile Exchange makes the case.
13/06/2025
CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Ken Pucker is a thought leader and an independent voice. Is anyone listening?
13/06/2025
CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: How much is enough? Can a “sufficiency” approach be applied to textile policy?
13/06/2025
CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: How Elisabeth Peregi, the Kappahl Group’s CEO, views climate action.
12/06/2025
CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Status Update: Will the New York and California Fashion Act bills pass?
12/06/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.