This investment in these pilots follows the foundation’s 2017 request for proposals. Last December the corporate foundation of international retail chain C&A earmarked nearly $1.8m for grants, noting that circular business models can change the direction of business relationships so that customers become suppliers of material and suppliers become customers of material.

The new partners will complement other industry efforts around a circular fashion industry that include Fashion for Good, Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Make Fashion Circular, and Global Fashion Agenda’s 2020 Circular Fashion System Commitment, says C&A Foundation.

The five pilot initiatives are:

Creative Circular Economy Business Models: London Waste and Recycling Board and QSA Partners

A London-based initiative that will provide one-to-one support to four retailers and lead each company through an established process for developing circular business models. Three retailers will then pilot a circular business model by the end of 2020 and commit to permanently bringing these offers to market by May 2021.

The Circular Activation Project: Circle Economy

A Europe-based initiative that aims to uncover operational barriers to circularity and build a circular innovation process to be piloted by six brands or retailers by October 2020. A multidisciplinary team will guide brands through the process, increasing their capacity to overcome barriers towards implementation of re-commerce and renting/leasing circular business models. Lessons learned will be used to develop a suite of offline activation tools for use by brands and retailers.

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