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Article – Next up on the catwalk: Making London a global hub for sustainable fashion

Ahead of London Fashion Week, ReLondon’s textiles lead Rachel Singer shares how London’s local authorities, community groups and businesses working across the fashion supply chain can play their part in driving the transition to a just, low-carbon and zero waste fashion sector.

We know that cities can and must play an essential role in driving action to address the climate crisis, particularly by cutting the 45% of global CO2e emissions that come from the materials and products that we make, use and consume every day.

On a global scale, the fashion and textiles industry is the fifth highest producer of greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for up to 10% of global emissions — more than aviation and shipping combined. Here in London, clothing accounts for a quarter of the emissions associated with the consumption of goods in London.

As one of the world’s most iconic fashion capitals, London has a unique opportunity to step up and set the trend globally by championing new ways to design, make, use (and reuse) clothing.

To kickstart this transition, we’ve analysed London’s relationship with clothing across the capital’s entire fashion supply chain through our landmark report, London’s fashion footprint. This research found that Londoners each buy an average of 48 items of new clothing per year – almost a weekly purchase – while at the same time discarding an average of 44 items annually; 40% of which end up in the bin.

This rapid make-wear-toss pattern comes with a significant price tag – including an average of £1,100 spent annually on clothing by Londoners, plus the generation of a whopping 2 million+ tonnes of CO2e emissions per year.

But there are solutions within our grasp. Interventions that promote clothing reuse, repair, resale, remanufacturing and recycling hold the potential to drastically reduce London’s fashion-related footprint. Further, these solutions can also help support Londoners experiencing financial hardship during the continued cost-of-living crisis.

At ReLondon, we’re working together with The Greater London Authority, the One World Living theme of London Councils’ climate programme and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to develop a Pan-London Textiles Action Plan. This plan will outline a programme of activities that will help to drive innovation, nurture creativity and boost economic opportunities across the city – all helping spearhead the transition to a just, low-carbon, and zero waste fashion sector.

The action plan includes initiatives such as ReLondon’s recently launched ‘ReWear’ grant programme which aims to support London-based businesses whose business model reduces the need for making and buying new garments through activities such as rental services, repair offerings, and resale platforms. Learn more here and apply by 16th September at 11am.

If your organisation is interested in getting involved in the action plan and supporting the city’s efforts to make things well, use clothing for as long as possible, and reuse and recycle discarded textiles locally, please reach out to discuss opportunities to get involved. Learn more about the action plan and get in touch here.

Rachel Singer is the textiles lead at ReLondon. Learn more about our work on driving a circular economy for fashion and textiles in London.

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