This Week's Obsession: Covett and Circularity

For jeweller Yeena Yoon, sustainability is at top of mind when she is designing new pieces. "I do feel responsible for the way I create things using natural resources.", says Yoon. Her hope is that by working with highly skilled craftsmen with high-quality materials she can extend the life of her fine jewellery for generations.

When Yoon learned about the ReLondon initiative providing circular economy grants, she had a brainstorm to apply for a grant to take her care for production and marry it with Covett's subscription service, which would mean her jewellery would have increased utilisation per circular economy ethos. Yeena won the grant based on her partnership with Covett and we are proud to join her in this foray into improving the circularity of her fine jewellery.

We think of Covett as both a sharing economy and a circular economy business. When an organisation like ReLondon, whose mission is to work with London’s small and- medium-sized businesses to transform the way they do business, translating circular economy principles into business opportunities, provides a grant based on our subscription model, our vision is validated.

Many people ask the question, "What is circularity in fashion?"

circular fashion

According to Common Objective, a network that supports successful, sustainable business, a circular fashion industry is one in which waste and pollution are designed out, products and materials are kept in use for as long as possible, including through reusing and recycling, and where natural systems are regenerated.

For a term that only emerged in 2014 ‘circular’ has rapidly become one of fashion’s most embraced sustainability concepts.

90 fashion brands and retailers from Nike to adidas, Ganni to Reformation, Lacoste to VF Corporation are all signatories to the Global Fashion Agenda’s 2020 Circular Fashion System Commitment. And with interest in the term 'circular fashion' doubling over the period 2014-19 according to Google Trends what does this mean for the fashion industry?

Use mono materials where possible and ensure that products made from multiple materials can be easily disassembled to aid product recyclability.
Assess what substances and materials of concern are used in production that cause pollution and/or prevent recycling then work with suppliers to remove them.
Consider how other waste in the supply chain from garment off cuts to packaging can be captured then reused or recycled through internal processes or working with partner organisations.
Keep garments in use and reuse as long as possible through developing or participating in collection schemes and supporting the development of technologies to recycle used textiles back to ‘good as new’ raw materials.

Covett's focus of circularity is on use and reuse; we add shared ownership as a way to help reduce over consumption and increase asset utilisation. Our services include repair and resale of shares. We even have the capability to redesign through our jewellery partners.