The Circularity Masterclass is an educational platform that offers a comprehensive knowledge base for students to gain a fundamental understanding of circularity and the main challenges within the fashion industry. The content has been developed by industry experts together with Zalando and GFF, and covers topics such as materials, design for circularity, production, quality control, delivery, garment end-of-life, waste streams and more. Accompanying the project is an extensive list of resources to inspire further exploration of these concepts through films, books, reports, audio interviews and podcasts with industry experts.
The program is offered as a free extracurricular activity. It culminates with a competition for students to demonstrate their understanding of circular design theory. Submissions will be judged by the GFF team, Zalando and industry experts in 2025, and a winner will be chosen from each participating university.
Zalando and the Graduate Fashion Foundation expand the Circularity Masterclass to six universities across Europe, training students in circular and sustainable fashion design. The program includes expert-led content, resources and a competition to foster innovation and address gaps in circularity knowledge within the fashion industry.
Designing for the future of fashion
The program is designed to address a gap in the fashion industry, which shows a lack of education on circular and sustainable fashion design, and limited knowledge on these topics among existing fashion professionals. The Circularity Masterclass not only addresses this challenge, but also encourages students to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, key to fostering an industry where circularity is an integral part of the design process.
“With this initiative, we are empowering the next generation of designers to drive transformation in the fashion industry by embedding sustainability and circularity at the core of their design practices,” says Daniel Enke, Director of Public Affairs and Social Impact at Zalando.
The project merges theoretical and practical aspects along with real-life case studies that support the student's understanding of the current linear system of fashion and the circular economy. Nearly 80% of students who participated in the pilot program expressed a desire to continue exploring circularity in their careers.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to harness the expertise of fashion industry leaders to inspire and educate students about the importance and relevance of circularity. “The industry is changing rapidly and today’s fashion students are tomorrow’s industry leaders,” he says. Nicola Hitchens, GFF Director and Head of Special Projects and Communications.
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Fiber2Fashion News Desk (RM)
