“It is estimated that 350,000 tonnes of textiles goes to landfill in the UK every year at a staggering value of £140 million.”

Valuing Our Clothes, WRAP

I N T R O D U C T I O N

CIRCULAR ECONOMY WARDROBE TASK

Each card has a CEW Task.

These tasks aim to help you explore your wardrobe and consumer habits, discuss with your friends what you learned and how it might change your ideas about fashion, design and consumption.

C I RC U L A R ECO N O MY WA R D RO B EThe main destination for used textiles collected in the UK for re-use and recycling is overseas markets.

According to the Valuing Our Clothes report

published in 2014 by WRAP, it is estimated that

£30 bi l l ion of clothing is hanging in our wardrobes

unused. The UK is exploring recycling systems that

enable texti les to be captured and reprocessed

back to raw materials or oi l and made back into

clothes keeping resources in use for longer.

This is a set of resource cards for texti le and

fashion students and designers to be used as

inspiration for embedding sustainable practices

in their own design work or identifying their own

research topic. Here is a diagram of the topics

fol lowing a ‘closed loop’ process.

ABOUT LYNN WILSON

Lynn Wilson is a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust fellow.

Lynn spent a month in Japan in 2015 researching technology, design, retai l and heritage trends that could contribute towards a sustainable, circular economy fashion industry.

“I always say, I am the consumer I am trying to change. I have not always understood the negative impact of my own passion for fashion consumption although I make, buy well and love a designer charity shop find.”

Read the ful l report: www.wcmt.org.uk/users/lynnwilson2015

FIBRE REPROC

CESSING

TECHNOLOGY

LEARNING

FROM JAPAN MANU

FACTURING

DESIGN

RETAIL

1

2

3

4

T E C H N O L O G Y

“In 2002, Teijin Limited along with apparel and sportswear manufacturers that shared a commitment to enabling a circular economy started a closed-loop recycling system named ‘Eco Circle’ based on our one-of-a-kind chemical recycling technology.”

Teijin Limited

THE TEIJIN ECO-CIRCLE™

Teijin Limited has been working with schools in Japan since 2010 on return systems for polyester school uniforms that can be recycled and made into new products. The technology can also be used in fast fashion and sportswear such as football strips called Eco-Circle™.

CEW TASK

Read the clothing labels in your wardrobe.

How many clothes in your wardrobe are made from polyester or are mixed fibres?

Count how many different f ibres your clothes are made from. Do you know which ones are natural and which are synthetic?

T EC H N O LO GY FO R A C I RC U L A R ECO N O MY FA S H I O N I N D U ST RYTeijin along with other Japanese companies such as Toray Industries Inc. and Jeplan Limited are global leaders in closed loop systems and technologies for material processing.

Polyester used to make clothing is cal led polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which is also used in the

manufacture of plastic bottles. New chemical technology can process used plastic bottles into uniforms,

sportswear and fashion.

1

2

3

4

SCHOOL UNIFO

RMS

schools collec

t uniforms

TEIJIN

collect uniform

s from school

s

TEIJIN TECHN

OLOGY

New chemical

technologies c

an process

used polyester

clothing and p

lastic

bottles into ya

rn for new unif

orms,

sportswear and

fashion.

MANUFACTUR

ER

makes new clo

thing from

the recycled y

arn

D E S I G N

“80% of a product’s environmental impact can be determined at the design stage.”

ellenmcarthurfoundation.org

JAPANESE DESIGN

The kimono has long since been considered a zero waste garment due to its design and construction methods.

It is traditionally constructed from woven si lk strips that are hand sewn to be easily disassembled for laundering and repair.

CEW TASK

Examine some of the garments in your wardrobe.

Can you tel l how they have been constructed? 'Have they been machine or hand sewn/knitted?

Can you think of any design/material or care choices that wil l improve the longevity of the garment?

If you have any vintage garments (50 years+) what design elements of the garment have meant that they have lasted this long?

The kimono is a

per

fec t example

of zero waste

design

Eas y deconst r

uc ting for l au

ndering

Dam aged pane ls c an be re pl aced r at he r t h an whole g arme nt

M ade wit h n atur al f ibres

Full y rec ycleable

H and sewn

Z E RO WA ST E D E S I G NWhat can Japanese traditional design methods teach us?

R E T A I L

“We believe that the concept of fashion does not only refer to clothing but also encompasses a comprehensive set of values that form our overall lifestyle culture including such aspects as food, housing and services.”

japanfashion.or.jp /english/

RETAIL TRENDS

There is an estimated £30 billion of unworn clothing in the UK wardrobe.

Traditional dress hire, such as ki lts and special occasion wear, is a common service in the UK. In Japan it is a weekend pastime to hire kimonos and dress up with friends, celebrating national culture and accessing clothing that isn’t worn every day. Weight loss/gain and fast fashion are often attributed to clothes being left unworn in the UK. J a p a n es e ret a i l e r s a n d b u si n es s es a re d eve l o p i n g n ew m o d e ls of f as h i o n co nsu m pt i o n t h at co u l d b e co p i e d o r d eve l o p e d i n t h e U K .

CEW TASK

Do a wardrobe audit.

W h at p e rce nt a g e of yo u r w a rd ro b e h ave yo u wo r n l es s t h a n 5 t i m es?

Wo r n m o re t h a n 3 0 t i m es?

Co nsi d e r a n d w r i te a l is t of w h at i te ms yo u fe e l yo u n e e d to ow n a n d w h at i te ms yo u m i g ht w a nt to re nt i n t h e f u t u re.

R E TA I L T R E N D S CO N T R I B U T I N G TOWA R D S A C I RC U L A R ECO N O MYLice Fashion Rental Harajuku, Tokyo. Clothes can be rented as a one off or monthly through a membership scheme.

FASHION

RENTAL

Rent one-off

or monthly

NEW

RETAIL MODE

LS

‘SUSTAINABLE

FASHION’

Branded shop

ping areas

within fashion

able

shopping dist

ricts

MUJI

Redyeing and

selling

returned cloth

ing to

reduce waste

FASHION

LEASING

By post

www.air-close

t.com

H E R I T A G E

“The drying area for the cloth used to be a closed, ‘top secret’ area so that people could not see what patterns were in season. Now it is important to show the public the process and encourage everyone to support the company.”

OKUJUN Company Limited

Sort silk cocoons

Boil in a vat

Soften and mold in to a sack

Dry in the shade

Spin the thread without twisting, this can take 2-3 months

Use the diligently spun thread for horizontal and vertical way

Wrap the thread on the board

Set the pattern

Tie the threads to prevent the dye sticking

Dye and beat

Weaving loom

THE VALUE OF HERITAGE

The heritage and origin of a product is considered to be its’ ‘provenance’.

Transparency in how and where a texti le or garment is designed and made can be an excellent way to engage consumers in what they are wearing and help them make considered choices that mean they don’t discard clothing so quickly.

CEW TASK

Take a garment from your own wardrobe and explore its origin and provenance.

How easy is it to f ind out exactly who and where your garment was made?

What sustainable initiatives are your favourite fashion brands committed to or members of ?

How do they demonstrate their commitment on your clothing labels or their website?

THE YUUKI - TSUMUGI STORY

MADE IN JAPAN

T R A D I T I O N A L M A N U FAC T U R I N G The Japanese fabric Yuuki-Tsumugi is a woven length of silk cloth which has been the preferred fabric of choice for the finest kimono producers for 2,000 years. It has Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity status.

O R I G A M I G U I D E

“Circular Economy Wardrobe is all about zero waste. Why don't you make some zero waste kimonos out of these cards?”

Lynn Wilson

FO L D I N G I N ST R U C T I O N S FO R A Z E RO WA ST E K I M O N O

A

A

B

B

B

A

Fold Line Cut Line

STAGE 1

A - Cut along the dotted lines

B - Fold the card in half

STAGE 2

A - Fold the front outside panels towards the centre fold

B - Fold the back outside panels in and up

STAGE 3

A - Wrap the flaps to the back

B - Fold down the collar