Fashion trade bodies, the British Fashion Council (BFC) and the UK Fashion and Textiles Association (UKFT), have teamed up with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on a ground-breaking partnership with the aim of accelerating the UK to a leading circular fashion economy.
The alliance, co-chaired by UKFT CEO Adam Mansell and BFC CEO Caroline Rush, will be known as the Circular Fashion Innovation Network (CFIN). The network, which brings together innovators, investors, academics, and other stakeholders, will be housed under the BFC’s Institute of Positive Fashion (IPF).
The BFC and UKFT have jointly provided £ 1.8 million to CFIN to operate the network, foster community building, speed up knowledge sharing with members and industry, and launch necessary industry-led research.
Oxford Economics 2022 estimates that the fashion sector is worth £ 29 billion to the British economy and that new clothes consumption in the UK is higher than that of any other nation in Europe.
The network is attempting to address the critical issue of unsustainable trash production through an “action-oriented forum” by combining high consumption and low usage.
Richard Price, CEO of Marks & Spencer clothes, Helen Connolly, CEO of New Look, Helen Dickinson, and Chanel are members of the network’s advisory board. Representatives from the UKRI, NGOs, and academia are present with them.
The Advisory Board’s responsibilities include concentrating on the network’s vision, receiving updates from the Working Groups, and addressing scalability across the UK. The action-driven road map for the network will be created in compliance with applicable competition laws and other laws and regulations.
The CFIN is the first industry-led programme of this kind supported by UKRI. Its Working Group leads will report to the UKRI programme board, making it central to UKRI’s £ 15 million commitment to supporting an innovation-led approach to circular fashion.
