Circular Fashion: A Design Management Challenge

Do you remember the last time you bought a piece of clothing, made of recycled textiles?

Or the last time you brought your unwanted clothes to a bring-back depot for them to be recycled?

You don’t? Me neither, and that’s because we have probably never done so.

Instead, we might remember the last time we threw a clothing piece into the garment collection we only wore a few times, either because it is not trendy or in a good quality anymore. This reveals the linear way the current fashion industry operates, which makes it hard for consumers to act differently. Because how can consumers act less wasteful, if clothing is designed only according to trends, seasons and thus with a short life? When reflecting on this, one thing gets clear: Design, as a key function in fashion businesses, contributes enormously to the damage of our planet (Claxton & Kent, 2020). An estimation of the European Commission (2018) says that 80% of the environmental impact of a product is determined during its design phase. Or as McDonough (2014) says: “Human beings don’t have a pollution problem; they have a design problem”. That statement emphasizes that if fashion designers would make pieces smarter from the start, issues like waste wouldn’t be so pressing, as consumers would reuse clothing and enjoy them longer. Because pollution is therefore just a symptom of the design problem, this blog doesn’t focus on the negative impacts of the industry but rather discusses the actual impacts of the designer and what role we, as future design managers can play.

Still, to get a picture about the fashion world and the extent of its design problem: “12 percent of fibres are still discarded on the factory floor, 25 percent of garments remain unsold, and less than 1 percent of products are recycled into new garments” (McKinsey & Company, 2021, p. 65). Thus, we do not have to wonder why we can’t remember our last time buying a recycled piece of clothing. Simply because such does not exist.

To decrease the fashion industry’s negative impact, it has to shift from a linear model to a more circular one. But who does have the power to influence this shift? Is the environmental impact of a clothing piece all within the power of the designer to control?

The role of the designer

In some fashion businesses, the role of the designer is concerned with incorporating aspects like durability, longevity and recyclability in the product. Mostly, however, especially in the fast fashion industry, designers have little to say about sustainability. They have a narrow role which mainly includes researching the latest trends to then transform them into sketches. This means designers are especially concerned with the aesthetic of the fashion design, whereas sourcing teams decide on sustainable materials. Furthermore, studies have shown that designers are seldomly empowered enough to incorporate a more sustainable approach within the design process. This is because their role is often limited to answering design briefs instead of deciding on sustainable design initiatives or influencing the design strategy. (Claxton & Kent, 2020) Interviewees in a study confirmed that by saying: “They’re brave in terms of generating products, but they’re not taken seriously as business people” (Claxton & Kent, 2020, p. 6).

Knowing that, we realize that the 80% of negative impact, determined in the design stage of a clothing piece (The European Commission, 2018), is not all within the scope of the designer’s influence. Designers could have an incredible impact, however, they are lacking recognition regarding their contribution to sustainability and are therefore not included in strategic decisions (Claxton & Kent, 2020). But what needs to change that designers get more involved? And who then has the power to make design an important contribution?

The role of the design manager

At its core, moving towards a circular fashion economy is a design challenge. However, right now, it is much more a design management challenge as there are still many barriers for design to make the change. While designers still have little to say and are not taken seriously as business people (Claxton & Kent, 2020), it is us design managers who have the power to change for the better. But what skills do we as design managers need for a circular system in the fashion industry? And what can we do to leverage design’s contribution and its impact on the positive side?

Include design on a strategic level

Today, business people are more and more required to think like designers. Conversely, designers are required to think like business people (Claxton & Kent, 2020). We as future design managers will exactly bridge this gap and will be responsible for making the design team more aware of certain business aspects, and at the same time, make business people aware of design aspects. This is crucial for a more circular economy because if business people don’t see the value of design’s contribution, it won’t change. And if designer lack certain business knowledge, they will not be able to make certain decisions or develop circular business models which support their products (Claxton & Kent, 2020).

So, on the one hand, we will have to represent design within the organization and foster expanded discussions about design solutions for sustainability. This, to give design a more strategic role in the organization, which is crucial for it to have a greater influence on sustainability issues. (Claxton & Kent, 2020) Strategically involved, design could contribute to intervention plans and help with decision making on a higher level and a broader perspective of sustainability (Sumter et al., 2020).

On the other hand, the designer’s low contribution to sustainability is also due to some skill gaps. As sustainable design concepts are often not integrated into design teams, they lack knowledge regarding sustainable textiles but also supply chains and more circular business models (Claxton & Kent, 2020). However, we as design managers can change that by focusing on how we lead and mentor design teams. If we can integrate sustainability more within the teams, for example by ensuring that design briefs formulate sustainability targets, we can leverage the potential of design for sustainability. Furthermore, we can guide key decisions within the whole design process and support designers to learn new skills so that they can contribute better to a circular approach, especially also on a strategic level. (Claxton & Kent, 2020)

Push for a system focus, not a user focus

Designers are often taught to put the user as the only key player in the focus of their designs to make them successful on the market. But exactly this narrow focus on the user is what makes the fashion industry so wasteful (IDEO, n. d.). This focus disregards what happens beyond the usage of the clothing and by that ignores important stakeholders. This current mindset is one of the reasons why still less than 1% percent of all clothing gets recycled. It gets clear that designing just for the market is not a sustainable approach for the future. The focus must be expanded, and not only include the user, but all stakeholders and the whole system they live in (IDEO, n. d.). Even the environment, which is often regarded as an externality, should be treated as a key stakeholder (Willard, 2019). Because even though it has no human attributes, it can affect fashion organizations and is largely affected by them. Actually, “the environment is our holding company. If it goes out of business, we all go out of business” (Willard, 2019).

As design managers, we need to push design teams to shift from a user to a system mindset. What we practice in our studies like complexity and stakeholder mapping and circular thinking are all methods to understand the relations between different actors or parts of a system (Sumter et al., 2020). We can bring in this way of thinking and together with designers, learn to consider the entire system. This for example by learning about life cycles and building feedback loops (Sumter et al., 2020). One example from the textile industry is the company Steelcase, which managed to build feedback loops within their system to address the issue with downcycling of textile waste. However, the main barriers were traditional recycling practices, which didn’t incorporate a fitting infrastructure for textiles (The Guardian, 2013). We can conclude that even if garments were designed for recyclability, they would not have a positive influence unless the entire system was considered, and supporting infrastructure was in place. Therefore, pushing for a system focus rather than a user focus is key.

 Foster collaboration for a systemic change

Shifting from a linear to a circular approach in the fashion industry requires as already mentioned a systemic change and thus collective effort. To get a more complete view on the real issue, getting experts from different disciplines on board to collaborate is crucial (mistra future fashion, 2019). As design managers, we have the duty and power to collaborate across disciplines, within or outside the organization. Within the organization, structural barriers can often be a reason why design has a limited contribution. Even though designers often work in cross-functional teams, collaborating across these silos still presents a barrier for them to engage more regarding sustainability issues. (Claxton & Kent, 2020) That’s where we can act as a bridge and increase the influence of designers by improving the way they collaborate in cross-functional teams. For that, we have to show the difference design can make in terms of sustainability and articulate this to stakeholders to gain buy-in and new opportunities for design (Claxton & Kent, 2020).

Beyond that, we need to foster collaboration between stakeholders, identify and form partnerships along the entire value chain (Sumter et al., 2020). Why this is crucial to enable a systemic change, gets apparent again in the example of Steelcase. Building up the needed infrastructure for textile recycling was only possible by a joint effort. By collaborating with different partners within the industry and with agents from every step within the supply chain, they managed to address this systemic problem of textile waste (The Guardian, 2013).

Engage users on circularity

According to McKinsey & Company (2017) “more than three in five consumers said environmental impact is an important factor in making purchasing decisions” (p. 65), which shows that consumers do care. On the other side, however, consumers are mostly still associating products, which are labeled as recycled, repaired, or upcycled, negatively. In particular, they think that recycled or second-hand clothing is not hygienic. Overcoming such prejudices poses a big challenge when engaging with consumers and is why it is currently difficult to adopt circularity on a larger scale. To address this challenge, consumers which are not born into this idea of sharing and reusing need to be educated and encouraged in order to adapt. (McKinsey & Company, 2021) This is why, for example, Patagonia is integrating circular collections besides the usual collections to help consumers get used to the idea of circularity (McKinsey & Company, 2021).

The adaption of new circular business models therefore also changes the relationship to the consumer and only works, if designers or design managers can engage them on circularity (Sumter et al., 2020). This means, as a design manager, we still should focus on the user’s perspective in a way that we consider the holistic experience of the user during the design process. If we manage to do that, consumers are not only supported in the purchase and usage phase, but also the take-back or recycling phase (Sumter et al., 2020). While guiding the whole product creation process, we can incorporate discussions and brainstorm on how we can achieve consumers’ acceptance and engagement for new circular models.

Written by Leandra

 

References:

Claxton, S. & Kent, A. (2020). The management of sustainable fashion design strategies: An analysis of the designer’s role. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122112

Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2017). A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning fashion’s future. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/publications/A-New-Textiles-Economy_Full-Report_Updated_1-12-17.pdf

IDEO. (o. D.). Mindsets. Circulardesignguide. Abgerufen am 26. März 2021, von https://www.circulardesignguide.com/mindset

McDonough, W. (2014, 20. Februar). Design to Make the World Better Than It Was Before. William McDonough. https://mcdonough.com/design-to-make-the-world-better-than-it-was-before/

McKinsey & Company. (2021). The State of Fashion 2021. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Retail/Our%20Insights/State%20of%20fashion/2021/The-State-of-Fashion-2021-vF.pdf

mistra future fashion. (2019). The Outlook Report 2011 – 2019. http://mistrafuturefashion.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/the-Outlook-Report_Mistra-Future-Fashion-Final-Program-Report_31-okt-2019.pdf

Sumter, D., de Koning, J., Bakker, C. & Balkenende, R. (2020, Februar). Circular Economy Competencies for Design. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1561/htm

The European Commission. (2018, 13. Dezember). Sustainable Product Policy. EU Science Hub – European Commission. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/research-topic/sustainable-product-policy

The Guardian. (2013, 20. Mai). Steelcase „closes the loop“ on textile waste. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/steelcase-closes-loop-textile-waste

Willard, B. (2019, 1. März). 5 Reasons Why “Mother Nature” is a Key Stakeholder. Sustainability Advantage | Resources for Sustainability Champions. https://sustainabilityadvantage.com/2019/02/28/5-reasons-why-mother-nature-is-a-key-stakeholder/#:%7E:text=For%20years%2C%20companies%20have%20treated,is%20not%20a%20body%20%2F%20person.