ASOS and Centre for Sustainable Fashion launch circular design guidebook

The 112-page resource will help designers, students and fashion brands design and create fashion products that support the circular economy.

Since 2018, ASOS and Centre for Sustainable Fashion began collaborating to provide ASOS designers with education on circular design. ASOS launched its first proof-of-concept for circular design, called the ASOS Design Circular Collection, in September 2020.

The guidebook contains a detailed breakdown on ASOS’ nine circular design strategies: Innovative materials, recycled materials, minimised waste, zero waste, remanufacture/upcycling, durability, versatility, mono-materiality and disassembly.

All nine strategies support the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s vision of a circular economy for fashion.

Simon Platts, Responsible Sourcing Director at ASOS, said: "Launching this guidebook together with CSF means we can help accelerate the transition to circular design across the entire fashion industry, critical to achieving the sustainability we all want to see.”

Professor Dilys Williams, Director, Centre for Sustainable Fashion, said: "This guide builds on a long-term partnership between ASOS and Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion, aiming to change the direction of fashion.”

“The aims are bold and ambitious, it's about valuing nature - our only source of wealth - and making that economically viable and valuable."

“Designing and developing product uses skills, including ingenuity and imagination, to improve a situation, but unless it improves life, it isn't good design.”

ASOS has announced four key goals to be achieved in 2030: Be Net Zero, Be More Circular, Be Transparent, and Be Diverse.

The fashion giant has committed to embracing circular systems that focus on extending the life of garments and conserving fashion resources. By 2030, ASOS plans to have 100% of all products and packaging to be more sustainable or made of recycled materials.