New guide helps fashion brands cut waste and emissions

A new resource has been created to help fashion designers and industry leaders integrate circular design principles into their business models.

The ‘Refashioning Accelerating Circular Product Design at Scale’, guide was developed by RMIT University and funded by Sustainability Victoria through the Victorian Government’s Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre.

Designed to help the fashion industry reduce its environmental footprint, the guide was created in partnership with Country Round Group, circular design expert Courtney Holm, and sustainability expert Julie Boulton. It was launched this week at the Melbourne Fashion Festival.

It comes as the fashion industry faces mounting pressure to reduce its environmental footprint and offers actionable strategies for brands to make circular choices throughout the product lifecycle from design and production to consumption and recirculation.

Alice Payne, Project lead and Dean of RMIT’s School of Fashion and Textiles, said the guide challenges traditional design thinking with practical steps to enable change.

“This guide provides a systematic approach to implementing circular clothing design in a way that all organisations can implement, regardless of their size,” said Payne.

“Based on extensive research with the industry, we’ve created practical steps businesses can take to improve the circularity of their outputs.

“Although other circular design guides are available, the guide is unique in providing a systematic methodology that enables designers to both ‘slow the flow’ and ‘close the loop’.”

For more than a year, the RMIT team worked with eight product and design teams across four brands within the Country Road Group – Country Road, Trenery, Witchery and Politix – to test and refine the guides in a commercial context.

Matt Genever, Chief Executive Officer for Sustainability Victoria, said the guide is an example of how effective cross-sector collaboration can generate impactful results in the transition to a circular economy.

“By fostering partnerships across sectors, Sustainability Victoria enables meaningful change that moves beyond theory and into real, actionable solutions,” said Genever.

Erika Martin, Head of Sustainability for Country Road, said working on the guide’s creation has started the Group on a journey towards a common understanding and approach to circular design across its brands.

“This project delivered a clear vision for circular design, and leveraged the expertise in the industry, academia and our own business,” said Martin.

“The opportunity to help create guidelines based on real life feedback and challenges and not just academic theory was a key driver for our involvement, alongside our commitment to building a better future.”

For more information, visit: refashioning.org/download/