manager_1 New boutique A Circular Store is located in Brooklyn, New York. This is not your typical thrift store. Although all of the clothing is pre-owned it is clear that the merchandising is more contemporary and conceptual. This is not your typical vintage shop filled with a variety of worn and aromatic clothes. It’s a place that focuses on thoughtful curation, attention to detail and careful curation. Any garment can be tailored to order with its tailoring, mending, and alterations services. It was founded in partnership by Madewell and ThredUP.
The future is in your hands
It could be the store of tomorrow, where decarbonised dressing can be as legitimately combating climate change as the fashion industry.
Because of the nature of the supply chain and the natural resources needed, the carbon cost of creating new garments will continue to have a negative impact on the environment. The annual production of over 100 billion garments is alarming. Add up the land, water, chemicals, biodiversity losses, and greenhouse gas emissions, and you get a disturbing picture. The fashion industry would cease making clothes, so there would still be clothing for the global population for many decades.
Alternatives to fast fashion are becoming more popular as the carbon cost of garments becomes more important to consumers. Retail is changing at a slow pace, and brands with minimal or no impact are getting more attention.
Textiles that are cleaner
Although it is impossible to eliminate global production and stop garment manufacturing, there are programs that allow brands and textile factories to collaborate in creating cleaner textiles. Clean by Design is a program of the Apparel Import Institute that improves energy, water and chemical usage in textile mills. The average reduction in energy, water, and chemicals consumption is between 10-20%.
A Circular Store uses statistics about fashion waste to show how to create a circular wardrobe. These stats are incredibly impactful and make the store a great spot for Instagrammable moments. The fashion industry has been operating with a linear and disposable model for too long. Our store is designed to be the future of fashion. It will have a circular layout in which retailers are able to design for longevity while consumers can shop for resale. We hope that customers leave the store inspired and equipped with the knowledge to make a more sustainable fashion choice for their wardrobes. “We believe that retail and resale collaboration is a necessary next step to achieving our vision for a circular fashion future for fashion,” says Erin Wallace, VP of Integrated Marketing, thredUP.
