Eileen Fisher Foundation launches educational textile waste platform to promote circular economy
The Eileen Fisher Foundation (EFF) has launched HEY FASHION!, a digital platform curated by Pentatonic that refines the complex topic of textile waste into tangible actions to initiate change. The platform contains comprehensive content backed by key industry insights and research.
HEY FASHION! exposes textile waste issues while conveying the financial, environmental and social opportunities that textile circularity can offer. EFF's larger mission is to prove to the fashion industry the benefits of confronting the climate crisis, urging other brands, foundations, innovators, waste collectors, and consumers to get involved in moving circularity forward.
The platform provides key tools, advice, and information to assist the transition to circularity. Key takeaways educate industry entities on how to drive tangible action, avoid greenwashing, and mitigate risk; influencing improved decisions toward net-zero ambitions. Such content prepares companies to be successful leaders in sustainable fashion during a time of new legislation and rising consumer pressure.
HEY FASHION! aims to kick start a global conversation on how to contribute to a carbon-neutral future by scaling textile recycling infrastructure, promoting underutilized technologies to prevent textiles from going to landfills, and making changes regarding clothing consumption.
"As the leader of an apparel company, I feel an urgency to address the challenges the industry faces regarding textile waste, overconsumption and circular design," states Eileen Fisher, Founder of EFF. "By inviting Pentatonic to research the current state of circularity, my intention is to facilitate meaningful collective action that moves the industry forward."
A large barrier to the fashion industry engaging in a circular system is translating the overwhelming amount of research into feasible actions. Pentatonic's circular consulting team and textile experts provide a clear 8-step action plan:
- Scale sorting
- Invest in recycling
- Make less, buy less
- Work together
- Design to last, design to recycle
- Define and standardize
- Leave fossils in the ground
- People, planet, profit
"HEY FASHION! is brought to you by individuals who have been implementing solutions in the last decade. It is built in collaboration with many dozens of contributors who build the technologies, solutions, and infrastructure for net-zero fashion every day," states Johann Boedecker, founder and CEO of Pentatonic. "Our content, while backed by rigorous research, will seek to nevertheless be engaging, intelligible and most of all practicable."
HEY FASHION!'s full-scale educational tools will deliver content to all stakeholders including designers, manufacturers, brands and retailers, investors, regulators, and consumers. The platform will include spaces for discussion, connection, and action.
The research to date will be available for free in a variety of formats on HEY FASHION!'s website. HEY FASHION! is in early conversations with additional donors and foundations to expand scope and scale to reach a wider audience.
