ASOS partners with London College of Fashion on circular fashion pilot

Online fashion giant ASOS is partnering with London College of Fashion's Centre for Sustainable Fashion on a pilot training programme on circular fashion for its designers.

The bespoke course created by the centre will engage ASOS designers in pioneering circular design techniques and best-practice, meaning its products can be designed in a way that considers their whole lifecycle.

As part of the programme’s initial pilot, which starts this month, 15 members of ASOS’ design team will progress through a series of half-day workshops, discussions and drop-in sessions, where they will explore concepts, case studies, and practical applications of circular design with researchers and designers from the CSF team.

The results of the course will then be used to refine training and resources on circularity throughout the business. Its design director Vanessa Spence said the aim of the pilot was to ensure ASOS designers had "the knowledge and skills they need to put sustainability and circularity into practice."

"It’s a vital step on our journey to designing products with circularity in mind right from the start, which will ensure that they are made responsibly, remain in use for as long as possible once they’re sold, and don’t cause unnecessary waste at the end of their lives,” Spence added.

Dilys Williams, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion and Professor of Fashion Design for Sustainability at London College of Fashion, UAL added: “It’s vitally important that dynamic and forward-thinking companies such as ASOS innovate from a critically-informed perspective. Good design involves understanding and valuing all elements that come together in making and enjoying fashion."

The move by ASOS follows a pledge to deliver the training as part of its 2020 Circular Fashion Commitments, which were signed at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit in conjunction with Global Fashion Agenda.