Circular Fashion Expected to Be a Top Focus for 2020

Many people are kicking off the new year by setting resolutions. And while many resolutions end up being short-lived, Vogue is challenging people to look closer at values—specifically, what they buy and wear—and how their choices can make a long-term impact on the environment.

Textile recycling and closed loop processes aren’t new, but more and more companies and designers are putting the pressure on consumers to buy higher-quality items with a feasible end use and to avoid throwing textiles in garbage bins or landfills so they can be responsibly recycled into new garments.

Vogue predicts that for 2020, there will be more companies with closed loop processes and a more sustainable fashion industry.

Vogue has more:

The key word for Vogue’s January 2020 issue is values. Interpret that as you may: monetary, ethical, sentimental. Every definition relates to the big picture: that fashion needs to reassess its value system, and quickly. We have to change the way money is invested and spent; we have to shop with brands whose values reflect our own; and we have to change the way we assign value to what we buy and wear.

Let’s start by working backward, because I think that last part is actually the most important. In fashion, the inverse of value might be disposability: If your T-shirt costs less than your Starbucks latte, you probably won’t think twice about throwing it out when it rips. Value isn’t just about price, of course; you might cherish a $50 vintage dress more than a designer bag. But therein lies the difference: You value the dress because it’s rare, or because it’s by a certain designer, or simply because it has a story. It may even be more valuable now than it was 30 years ago. Your old T-shirt, on the other hand, is hardly a treasure—and who would want it, anyway? It’s stained, it’s got holes, it’s no longer bright white.

Read the full story here.