For almost a decade, our work has mobilised action behind a strong vision for a circular economy for fashion and textiles. In 2017, our New Textiles Economy report became a key reference point for the industry. The Jeans Redesign showed that garments can already be made in line with circular economycircular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. principles, with more than 1.5 million redesigned jeans brought to market. Through The Fashion ReModel, leading brands, retailers and platforms are proving the commercial case for circular business models and demonstrating the role of policy in creating the conditions for these models to scale.
Despite this circular economy momentum, efforts, investment and policy are fragmented and at a system level, we have not seen fundamental change.
Textile-to-textile recycling remains below 1%, and more than 80% of the textile waste stream is still incinerated, landfilled, or lost to the environment. Technological disruptions, environmental shocks, resource price volatility and geopolitical tensions are reshaping economies. Supply chains that once seemed stable are fragile, tariffs are turbulent, and sustainability teams and budgets are strained.
“The take, make, waste economic model is not only pushing nature well beyond its limits, it’s demonstrating that the current business model is not resilient enough for the reality of constant change.”
The tempting response is to do more. But more of the same will not fix the system. The industry does not need more proof of concept without a pathway to scale — it needs fewer, bigger bets and a shared direction to orient around.
Catalysing market transformation
To multiply the impact of what is already underway, the fashion and textiles industry needs a clear, shared direction. We are developing the 2040 Agenda for Fashion and Textiles — a blueprint everyone can use, not a patchwork of isolated efforts.
The Agenda will bring together brands, retailers, platforms, manufacturers, policymakers, investors and innovators to define the future system we are optimising for and to diagnose, with precision, the systemic barriers that stand in the way. Co-shaped with the value chain, it will be specific enough to inform capital allocation and strategy, and differentiated enough to reflect the regional realities of a diverse global supply chain and policy landscape. The 2040 Agenda will be published in early 2027.
This is not a refresh. It is a step-change in specificity and shared ambition, designed to focus investment and policy behind the interventions that will make the biggest difference. To bring better outcomes for the economy, climate, nature and people and add up to the system-scale implementation the current crisis demands.
Work is already in progress. The Foundation’s flagship demonstration project, The Fashion ReModel, is a clear example of the opportunity that a circular economy for fashion presents. For instance, in the first year of the Foundation’s flagship demonstration project, The Fashion ReModel, participants have grown circular business model revenues four times faster than their broader revenue, while building business resilience and delivering climate mitigation benefits.
Explore The Fashion ReModel
The Fashion ReModel is designed to demonstrate that circular business models can scale by getting to the heart of a business — its revenue.
The project, working with leading brands, shows we can make the economics work today, while targeting key intervention points to improve commercial viability in the future.
Apply to join our Fashion Network
The same creativity that defines the industry is what will transform it. Join us to help solve systemic barriers and transform the fashion industry from a linear system of overproduction and waste into a circular system of value and resilience.
Support our Fashion Mission
As a not-for-profit organisation, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation relies on philanthropic support to deliver our mission. This funding model protects our independence, enabling us to convene across sectors and champion a circular economy without compromise. Philanthropic partners also allow us to be ambitious and agile, accelerating system-level change in response to global challenges. We actively seek to work with philanthropic organisations that share our ambition to build an economy that works for people, business, and the natural world.
