Circular Economy Week – Repairing Our Relationship with Stuff: Textiles in Focus

On 20th October 2025, Fashion-Enter Ltd’s Creative Director, Beth Davy-Day attended a textile breakout session, as part of the launch event for Circular Economy Week 2025, titled: “CE Week 2025 Launch Event – Circular Innovation, Local Action”. Hosted by ReLondon in London here she reflects on the ideas presented and how they can be incorporated into FEL’s business model…

It was energising to see so many different sectors come together, from textile designers and manufacturers, to repair networks, policy-makers and circular economy practitioners, all under the banner of “repairing our relationship with stuff.”

A Broader Context

This event is part of Circular Economy Week 2025, which runs from 20th to 26th October and is designed to highlight how the circular economy contributes to economic growth, green jobs, resource efficiency and net-zero transitions. 

At the launch event, panels, breakouts and workshops explored how circular innovation can be operationalised in local communities and across industries. 

The Textile Breakout: Key Take-aways

In our breakout session, we looked at textiles through a circular-economy lens: how to extend the life of garments and fabrics, how to build repair and reuse into design and supply chains, and how to catalyse collaboration between sectors.

Some of the standout ideas and themes included:

• Repair as a system, not an afterthought: Repair and maintenance are not just add-ons but should be built into how textiles are designed, sourced and distributed. This helps keep material flows active and valuable.
• Cross-industry learning: Seeing how other sectors (for example electronics, built-environment, high street reuse) tackle “stuff” helped to spark ideas for textiles, the shared challenge of keeping materials in circulation means many learnings are transferable.
• Local action, global ambition: While our focus was London-based, the session emphasised global relevance—the supply chains of textiles are international, but repair, reuse and circular systems often start locally.
• Collaboration is essential: It became clear that no one actor can do this alone, designers, brands, repair networks, local authorities, waste & reuse systems all need to interlink for circular textiles to scale.
• Mindset change: Beyond technology and systems, we looked at how consumer attitudes, organisational culture and business models need to shift to make “stuff” last longer, be maintained, and avoid premature disposal.

Why This Matters for London

Given that London is a global fashion and textile hub, and that the textile industry is resource-intensive, waste-producing and under pressure to innovate, the discussion is timely. Organisations such as ReLondon are targeting textiles as a focus area within the circular economy. 

By integrating repair, reuse and circular design, London can lead in transforming textile flows: fewer materials extracted, less waste generated, more value retained in products and skills.

Additionally, the high-street, local business and community dimensions were strong in the session: smaller businesses, third-sector initiatives and local authorities all have a role to play.

Personal Reflection

From my standpoint, being part of this breakout session, the energy was genuinely collaborative and hopeful. It was refreshing to see people from very different parts of the textile ecosystem (and beyond) ready to share, question and commit to new ways of working.

One of the most inspiring moments was when participants swapped stories of small-scale repair or reuse projects. It reminded me that big systems change often begins with modest acts, mending a garment, designing for disassembly, rethinking waste as resource.

As we move forward, I see clear opportunities to bridge what I do at Fashion-Enter with some of emerging ideas from this session. Whether that’s forging partnerships, piloting repair-oriented collections, or supporting local skills and networks, the challenge is exciting.

Looking Ahead

The session felt like a starting point, not an endpoint. Some of the “next steps” that emerged include:

• Mapping existing repair/ reuse networks in London’s textile ecosystem and identifying gaps.
• Experimenting with business models that integrate repair/maintenance and rental/resale rather than linear sale-and-discard.
• Creating platforms for sharing best practices between sectors (textiles, built environment, electronics) to accelerate circular transitions.
• Engaging consumers more actively in repairing, up-cycling and choosing longer-lasting textiles.
• Supporting manufacturers and designers to build circular thinking in from the start: material choice, modularity, maintenance, end-of-life planning.

Final Thoughts

Attending this breakout session was a fantastic reminder of why events like CE Week matter: they bring disparate strands together, facilitate new networks, surface fresh ideas and push us from talk to action.

As we define our relationship with “stuff” especially textiles, I’m feeling optimistic that London is poised for real change. But it will require sustained effort, bold collaboration and a willingness to reconsider what product life means in a world where resources are finite.

I’m excited to carry this momentum back into my work and look forward to seeing how the ideas we shared develop into tangible action.