Our Circular Fashion Pledge - The Future of Sustainable Fashion

Y.O.U Underwear is going circular! We’re so proud to be one of 60 brands who have just pledged to implement circular business practices in 2020. 

What is circularity in fashion?

Circular fashion systems can take three different forms.  

• Industry level:

This is all about recycling old garments and feeding them back in at the start of the manufacturing process, as a recycled raw material.

• Re-pairing and up-cycling:

This is all about finding ways to make garments stay in the useful stage for as long as possible, whether by repairing, or transforming them into something new! Did you know that extending the life of clothes by just 9 months can their water, carbon and waste footprints by as much as 20-30%?

• Composting system:

This is all about ensuring clothes will decompose into the soil, rather than linger in landfill sites for years on end. After the garment has reached the end of its life, it can be returned to the ground in the form of compost.

Why is this so important?

An estimated 350,000 tonnes of clothing go into landfill in the UK every year, but these used clothes could be put to much better use if more brands introduced circular initiatives. Used clothing is one of the most sustainable raw materials there is! Circular fashion is all about finding ways to keep these materials in the useful cycle for as long as possible, through recycling, re-use, and/or composting.

Circular processes can help to combat the culture of waste that the fashion industry currently relies on, in order to drive profits (which comes at the expense of the environment and some of the world’s most vulnerable people).

What have we committed to?

The 2020 Circular Fashion Pledge focuses on three main areas, and we’ve promised to develop at least one of the following initiatives:

1. Enable take-back or resale: By the end of 2020, to launch at least one method or partnership to enable our customers to send-back or resell their used items.

2. Increase recycled content: By the end of 2020, increase the total percentage of certified recycled content or scrap fabric by 10 percent in our top 5 selling items.

3. Design for durability: By the end of 2020, increase the use of non-blended materials, and/or modularity and repairability in our top 5 selling items.

The full list of Founding Brand Signatories can be found on the Pledge’s website. If you’re a sustainable brand looking to improve your impact, it’s not too late to sign up! The goal is to each 1,000 signatories this year.

Here at Y.O.U, we’re proud to be 90% of the way there already. Our comfortable and stylish cotton underwear is made from GOTS Certified Organic Cotton, which is already much better for people and planet than its conventional counterpart. We can’t wait to incorporate circular processes into our business model, to become even more sustainable! Watch this space.