How can one imbibe circularity in the fashion industry?

The product – right from its raw material, through its intermediate stages, to the final product – is a part of a loop (a circle) UNTIL the consumer is done with the product and decides to discard it, at which point the loop breaks, and the product is pushed out of the loop.

Circularity is right opposite of this. It is all about putting/using the material back in the loop. The products you make should forever be a part of this closed loop. 

So the big question is, once the customer is done with the garment, what is he/she supposed to do? Throw it out/ discard it? Well, if that happens, the product is being thrown out of the loop which defies the very principles of circularity. We as owners and producers have to take this responsibility of ensuring / thinking of ways in which the product or its material can be used again in the loop. 

We at Unpurl imbibe circularity principles. We make knitting a completely zero waste process, ensuring we use smaller yarn leftover balls in creative ways, so that the hanks purchased are utilised completely. Design plays an important role in this. We put in a lot of thought at the design stage. After the consumer is done with the product, she/he can unravel the yarn, reusing it to make something else or return it to our studio, where we can convert it into a new design product or exchange the old product with a new one at 10% discount price.  (picture of knitting at top) (the other picture below, image source: H&M, Conscious Actions Sustainability Report 2015)