A more transparent supply chain and individual traceability for every item: the strategic partnership with retraced represents another important milestone in the Marc O’Polo sustainability strategy.
Sydney-based social enterprise Circular Centre have partnered with Australia’s largest Denim Retailer General Pants Co. to launch Australia’s Largest Denim Redesign Project & Competition, calling on designers and fashion students to join the movement.
The competition encourages participants to use reclaimed denim and create Ready-to-Wear designs for their chance to be showcased in one of General Pants Co. flagship stores. The first-place designer unlocks an internship at General Pants Co. to work side by side with some of Australia’s leading designers in this space. The first three winners selected will also receive a bespoke package of CircStretch, the world’s first non-toxic home compostable stretch fabric from Circular Centre.
Over 1,000 pieces of reclaimed denim donated for the competition stemmed from a 2019 General Pants Co. initiative, ‘Denim Amnesty’, encouraging customers to bring in their unwanted denim to help reduce landfill waste.
Sydney-based Entrants can book in via HUMANITIX to come collect some free denim for the Competition.
“Being environmentally conscious is a responsibility for the present and for the future. Each year in Australia, unwanted textiles are sent to landfill, which is why we launched Denim Amnesty,” says Sacha Laing, CEO of General Pants Co. “We’re now calling on Australian designers and fashion students to grab our reclaimed denim, or use their own, and be part of a growing movement looking for circular ways to manage unwanted clothing that might otherwise be considered waste.”
The textile waste diversion initiative is one of many streams available at Circular Centre to capture and reuse denim. The Service saves all “unwearable” clothing and textile homewares from landfill and from being shipped overseas, since both waste diversion options will still result in creating more carbon emissions and pollution.
“We keep 100% of donated textiles out of landfill and 100% in Australia to create job opportunities for our disability enterprise partners and help develop innovative manufacturing and entrepreneurial circular supply chains,” says Alison Jose, Circular Centre’s Director. “Circular Denim is one of 20 streams that diverts and redistributes denim for reuse and redesign.” Alison says “We also ask designers to return any cut-offs plus to add our QR code with their “new” garment so once its finally unwearable their customer can return it. We loop it back to become products like carpet, underlay and acoustic panels. Rivets are melted, and good zippers and trims go to Worne.world, a start-up reselling fashion hardware.”
Alison has trained her first disability enterprise team at Achieve Australia in Newington who sort, dismantle, re-package and distribute 100% of the collected waste along the Circular Centre’s Australian streams. “Our fantastic team is trained to help us divert all denim; the good, bad and ugly,” says Alison.
The First Prize winning designer will be awarded a one-week paid internship at General Pants Co. working with their experienced design team at Sydney HQ plus an $800 General Pants Co. voucher. Second Prize winner will receive a $400 General Pants Co. voucher. Third Prize Co. will receive a $200 General Pants voucher.
