Traditionally, the fashion industry has been all about take, make, waste. Take resources, make a garment and then create waste—both during the production process and after the consumer discards the item. Rinse and repeat until closets are bursting and landfills are packed with castoffs.
For an alternative, fashion can look to the natural world for inspiration. Plants and animals have systems that inherently prevent waste. While it may not be as innate for manmade industries to do the same, creating more circular paths for garments can lessen waste and the overall footprint of the fashion industry. However, currently a mere 9 percent of human behavior is circular.
One of the individuals paving the way towards a more circular fashion industry is Karla Magruder, who has had a 35-year career in textiles. She worked at Textile Exchange, and founded Fabrikology International in 2013. Most recently, in 2019, she created Accelerating Circularity, an organization that brings together companies across the supply chain—from fiber makers to brands—to study and advance circularity. Carved in Blue’s latest Blue Cast podcast episode brought together Karla and Lenzing’s Tricia Carey for a chat on how fashion could better close the loop.
Read more on Carved in Blue.
This article is one of a series on Rivet from Lenzing’s Carved in Blue denim blog. From conversations with the experts behind the mills that make some of the world’s most-wanted denim to the global brands bringing novel denim made with TENCEL™ Lyocell and Modal to the market, Carved in Blue shares the stories of those whose roots run deep with denim. Visit www.carvedinblue.tencel.com.
