Let’s ‘Power Up Sustainable Fashion Business’! This was the theme we explored at Fashion Summit (Hong Kong) on 26 November 2024, where Redress held a panel discussion on ‘Circularity Opportunities for Asia’.
Dr. Christina Dean, Founder and Chair, Redress, who moderated the panel, asked the participants, “How do we turn what is basically a nightmare into an opportunity? As we are here in Asia, we're sitting on an enormous pile of textile waste and resources, being the production base of the world, housing emerging markets, we’re seeing consumption hit the roof.”
William Wie, Manager, Sustainable Customer Solutions Company, Wenzhou Tiancheng Textile Co. Ltd, shared that it was not the customer’s job to sort waste, but rather the industry’s. “In the past, we handled many types of pre-consumer waste, cutting 50 to 60 tons per day. But nowadays with the development of innovation and investment in chemical recycling, we are able to take, sort, and recycle different garments for brands. There is no doubt they would like to increase the demand for recycled materials due to legislation.”
Rod Henderson, President, TAL Apparel Ltd, emphasised that the textile industry is moving forward on circularity, with consumers being pushed into buying circular products. “Think about computerisation and its impact on how we cut fabric. There's waste reduction happening in that process. We're also driven heavily by trying to save costs.”
Ngoc Ha Thu Le, Redress Alum from Vietnam, and Founder of sustainable fashion brand XAVAN Studio, shared, “One of my most important decisions [as a designer] is using deadstock fabric. With Vietnam being a manufacturing hub in Asia, we have plenty of that. I stumbled across a new and precious material called Thindown from Italy, which is a more responsible version of down feathers. I would never have been able to access that kind of fabric because of the MOQ (minimum order quantity) and pricing, but I got it very cheap because it was deadstock sitting in the storage of some fabric vendors. When you are starting as an independent designer, you don’t have a lot of funds, so you have to go to where the waste is. Someone’s trash is another’s treasure.”
The insights shared at the Fashion Summit underscore the vital role of collaboration in transforming the fashion industry. As we navigate the challenges of textile waste in Asia, we remain committed to our mission of accelerating the transition to a circular fashion economy. By empowering designers and consumers alike, we can redefine the narrative around fashion, ensuring that what was once viewed as waste becomes a valuable resource.
Thank you to all our esteemed panelists for sharing their industry insights onstage with us at Fashion Summit. Here’s to creating a circular future for fashion together!