Reflection on the Circular Fashion Coalition
September 5, 2024
Over the summer Laura Novich and I co-hosted the Circular Fashion Coalition, a group of 40 organizations all working on or towards circularity. There were big and small brands, collectors, sorters, material innovators, digital passport providers, professors, students, consultants- a huge mix representing many corners of the fashion circular economy. The expertise in the (Zoom) room was inspiring. Every session I learned new perspectives and walked away with new names to google.
Laura and I believe in the value of creating a space for people with diverse perspectives and similar goals to discuss, debate and learn from each other. That is the goal... creating community and expanding our understanding. If you meet a new vendor, a new client or your next hire, even better. (Some business match-ups did happen!) There are other circular economy groups out there with different goals; for ours, we are holding the space for shared learning and continuous and expansive community building.
My favorite moment in this coalition was our Crowdsourcing Help exercise. Two individuals volunteered to share a challenge they were facing and then we opened it up to everyone to help them solve these challenges. The outpouring of ideas and offers of introductions was my favorite 10 minutes in the whole 12 hours of coalition meetings. The group clearly trusted each other and welcomed the opportunity to share what and who they knew.
Below are a few quotes from our participants, to give you a sense of what they got from the experience:
The Circular Fashion Coalition has proven to be an invaluable experience. We are thrilled to be a part of such a robust cohort of individuals/organizations who all share a common goal. With thought provoking conversations, and networking opportunities, the Circular Fashion Coalition is a great resources for anyone involved in the apparel sustainability space. - Shailah Maynard from SEW VALLEY (a local manufacturing hub)
The Circular Fashion Coalition gives a holistic and approachable view of the circular economy through an apparel lens. Every session is an opportunity for deeper learning and connection to a new facet of circularity through expert interviews, relatable commentary, and thought-provoking conversation with a broad group of like-minded industry change-makers. I leave every session feeling informed, and inspired.- Kellen Hennessy from The North Face
Joining the coalition has expanded my knowledge of the possibilities for making fashion circular. Through collaboration, professionals can share thoughts, lessons learned, and ideate on new solutions using their expertise. - Amy Rauen from RTV ReturnToVendor (a material innovation company)
What I loved most was the openness, friendliness, and non-competitiveness. It makes me feel like I'm in grad school again. - Melissa Mazzeo from Merry Go Rounds (a children's resale shop)
Being part of the Circular Fashion Coalition has expanded our team's view of circularity and opened up a whole new set of opportunities for us to put circularity into practice. The connections that we have made with other organizations are invaluable. Where else would we have the chance to really get to know so many great people, all of them committed to circularity in fashion, and to learn from and challenge each other? The link to the Untangling Circularity podcast season means that we get to take deep dives together into big questions and serious challenges, and we get to connect with people who often have the answers! - Kedron Thomas from University of Delaware (and also a co-founder of mechanical recycling venture ReSpool).
With all that said, Laura and I are launching a new circular coalition cohort in the fall focused on practical circular business models; we want to get into the nitty gritty with circular businesses to understand how they work. How do they operate? How does the money flow? How do they market? This topic will be the focus of our next The Untangling Circularity Podcast season as well as the focus of our coalition. Actually, the podcast is the main topic of discussion at each weekly coalition meeting.
The coalition will be a similar setup to our first coalition: we'll be meeting for 8 weeks (1 hour per week), building community, cross pollinating, diving into topics, and inspiring new thought processes and future change. This circular economy coalition is open to ANYONE (businesses, nonprofits, academics, consultants, individuals, researchers, students) making it happen in the circular economy, trying to make it happen in the circular economy, or wanting to learn how to make it happen in the circular economy! We'll be launching the new cohort in October of 2024. The fee to participate is $650 with a sliding scale based on what participants can afford. Most importantly, we want people to join who are passionate about these topics. For more information and to sign up, click here.
So far our participants include: big brands, small brands, resale software, resale shops, remanufacturing experts, repair software + operations, collectors/sorters and academia. Some are 2nd time attendees from the 1st coalition and some are brand new.
We look forward to continuing to build this community and can't wait to dig in again, starting in October.
Don't hesitate to reach out with questions,
Cynthia (+Laura!)
ps. Thank you to our first coalition members for making it a great success- we so appreciate your presence and contributions. (These are all LinkedIn links FYI): Recurate Wilson Griffin Tulin Dzhengiz Brian Adams Lisa Sciannella Madison Mavis Helpsy® RTV ReturnToVendor Amy Rauen William Calvert Adam Baruchowitz Archive Meredith Blechman Carmen Gama MAKE ANEEW Constanza Gomez Sortile Peter Whitcomb TERSUS Solutions Cameron Williams Kellen Hennessy The North Face Chris Newton Matoha Instrumentation Ltd. Melanie Mok Debrand Green Tree Textiles Recycling Serge Lazarev Casey Plasker CIRCULARLY Sagi Solomon The Again Co. Kedron Thomas Kelly Cobb Rachel Ceruti Reclypt Anne Warren Elisa Johnson Linda Lane Corrado Homeboy Threads Marianna Sachse Jackalo (Techstars '23) Kaitlyn Allen MendIt®, Inc. Julie Crowe Willoughby Caroline Priebe Driftless Goods Brian Iezzi Ayana Ames Am.A-line Collections Grace Han Faherty Brand Andrea Reyes Buddy Teaster Soles4Souls Everlane Michi Fried Katina Boutis Rosie Kovacs Stephen Kelly Cobblers Direct Victor Medeiros Zoe Rowswell Kate Walmsley Tern Eco Shailah Maynard SEW VALLEY Danielle Azoulay Melissa Mazzeo Merry Go Rounds Suz Okie (Facilitator extraordinaire!)
