The European market potential for recycled fashion

Recycled fashion is a relatively small, but growing product segment in Europe. Stricter legislation and growing consumer awareness about the negative impact of fast fashion are forcing brands and retailers to adopt circular fashion concepts. Manufacturers from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that can keep up with new technologies and solutions to create fashionable apparel from recycled and recyclable materials will have an advantage.

1. Product description: recycled fashion

According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), textile consumption ranks 5th in terms of environmental and climate impact out of 12 categories of European household consumption (such as food, mobility and housing). The EEA measured these impacts across the metrics of raw material use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and water and land use.

Global fibre production increased to a record 132 million tonnes in 2024, up from 125 million tonnes in 2023, according to Textile Exchange’s 2025 Materials Market report. Fibre production is expected to grow to 19.4 kilograms per person in 2030 (this was 11.3 kg in 2010). European Union (EU) member states generated about 6.94 million tonnes of textile waste, or 16 kg per person, in 2022. Of all this textile waste, 85% was destined for landfill or incineration. Of the 15% of household textile waste that was separately collected, 27% still went to landfill. 

Recycled fashion turns waste into value and can potentially reduce the industry’s environmental impact. The simplest definition of ‘recycled' is ‘used again’. In the fashion industry, this means the reuse of materials and/or finished garments that would otherwise be thrown away.

Recycled fashion is a core concept of the circular economy in the apparel industry. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a circular economy keeps products and materials in circulation through processes of maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacture, recycling and composting.

Recycled fashion refers to garments that:

• Are made (at least in part) from materials that have been converted from waste materials (recycled materials);
• Have been worked on to create a new use (upcycling through remanufacture or refurbishment);
• Have been worked on to allow continued use (repair);
• Have had multiple users (donated, borrowed/shared, rented, resold);
• Have been used multiple times by a user as an alternative to consuming new items;
• Are disassembled and the parts reused and/or converted into new materials; and
• Are composted (after all other reuse options have been considered).

For recycled fashion to maximise its impact, new products have to be designed from the outset to minimise waste and promote reuse. According to the European Commission, up to 80% of a product’s environmental impact is influenced by the design.

For producers, the most important design considerations for products that will be reused long-term through rental, resale, sharing, donation, repair or longer use per user are durability, high quality and timeless design.

Two types of products currently offer the most opportunities for LMIC-exporters to Europe: products made from recycled materials and products that are designed to be recyclable. The quality and sustainability of raw material and chemical inputs are important considerations for producers.

Figure 1: Dutch denim brand Kuyichi collaborated with Turkish denim mill Bossa to create jeans made from 100% post-consumer recycled denim

Source: Photo by Kuyichi

Products made from recycled materials

Recycled textile fibres can be produced from 2 types of waste: ‘pre-consumer’ and ‘post-consumer’. Pre-consumer waste can be fabric scraps from the cutting room and defective garments. Post-consumer waste includes discarded textiles (fibre-to-fibre recycling) as well as materials from other industries, including plastic bottles, fishing nets, food waste and even car tyres.

To claim that a product is made from recycled materials, the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) requires a minimum recycled content of 5%. The Global Recycle Standard (GRS) is stricter and requires a minimum of 20% recycled content for business-to-business certification and a minimum of 50% recycled content to qualify for product-specific labelling.

GRS-certified companies grew from 327 in 2011 to over 14,000 in 2020 then over 34,000 by 2022, more than a hundredfold increase in 11 years. Still, the market share of recycled fibres was only around 7.6% in 2024. The vast majority of recycled material is recycled polyester, made from plastic bottles. Overall, less than 1% of the global fibre market was made up of pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles in 2024.

Until now, brands have disproportionately focused on the use of recycled fibres from alternative sources as a route to circularity due to the difficulties of fibre-to-fibre recycling.

Examples are REPREVE®, a performance polyester fibre made from recycled plastic bottles diverted from landfills and oceans, and ECONYL®, a regenerated nylon made from old carpets and discarded fishing nets. Both fibres have the same performance and quality as virgin fibres. 

Product categories where recycled fibres are used most are those that use a higher percentage of synthetic (particularly polyester) fibres, such as outerwear and swimwear.

Products that are designed for recyclability

The European Commission estimates that only 1% of clothing is recycled into new clothing. The vast majority of what is recycled is ‘downcycled’ into lower-value products, such as wipers, cleaning cloths and insulation materials.

To boost post-consumer apparel recycling, certain challenges need to be overcome, including:

• Underdeveloped collection, sorting and pre-processing;
• Capacities for chemical recycling (such as of polyester) are not advanced enough for scale; 
• Complicated and costly garment disassembly due to trims;
• Use of elastane and (other) fibre blends making recycling difficult;
• Use of unrecyclable components (such as bondings, heat transfers or silicone prints);
• Loss of fibre strength and quality during mechanical recycling;
• Use of toxic dyes and finishes;
• Unclear origin and properties of fibres and fabrics.

The industry is developing innovative solutions to these barriers, but producers can also address many of them through their own design and sourcing choices.

2. What makes Europe an interesting market for recycled fashion?

The EU is the world’s largest importer of apparel. In 2024, it had a population of 449.3 million and imported 34.8% of the world’s apparel by value. The 2nd-largest importer, the United States of America (USA), had a population of 340.1 million in 2024 and imported 15.2%. According to Eurostat data, the European apparel market grew by an average of 3.9% per year between 2019 and 2024.

The EU’s apparel consumption has a huge impact on the environment. According to the European Environment Agency, the average per person impact is 323 m2 of land, 12 m3 of water and 523 kg of raw materials, with a carbon footprint of 355 kg per person per year. According to a 2023 European Impact Assessment Report, member states generated about 6.94 million tonnes of textile waste, amounting to 16 kg per person.

As recycling capacity in Europe is limited, a large share of discarded and donated clothing is exported to Africa and Asia. Much of this waste eventually ends up in landfills. The EU exports 1.4 million tonnes of used textiles per year, a volume that has been stable since 2015, but this figure has nearly tripled since 2000. 

The need to scale up recycled fashion (particularly fibre-to-fibre recycling) in Europe is very urgent. Fibre-to-fibre recycling could reach as much as 26% of gross textile waste by 2030 becoming a self-standing industry worth €1.5 billion to €2.2 billion in profits.

New legislation promoting circular apparel

The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles aims to ensure that, by 2030, textile products placed on the EU market are ‘long-lived and recyclable and to a great extent made of recycled fibres’.

Important measures include:

• Introducing design requirements for textiles, including mandatory minimums for recycled fibre content;
• Introducing clearer information on textiles and Digital Product Passports;
• Providing incentives and support for circular materials and production processes. 

The EU is stepping up legislation to support this strategy. Several major pieces of legislation aim to promote recycling and reuse within the EU:

• From January 2025, EU member states are required to collect textiles separately (EU Waste Framework Directive).
• From 2027, the export of textile waste to countries unable to demonstrate environmentally sound management will be restricted (EU Waste Shipment Regulation).
• From 2028, producers must fund collection, sorting and recycling of their products through mandatory EPR schemes, with fees set higher for less sustainable, harder-to-recycle products (EU Waste Framework Directive).
• The ‘right to repair’ for end consumers (under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation) and an EU-wide EPR policy framework that makes companies responsible for the way their products are disposed of, recycled or repaired (included in the EU Waste Framework Directive).
• The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which will require clothing products to meet minimum sustainability and quality standards. This regulation includes the Digital Product Passport, which provides information at the point of sale about traceability of materials and environmental impacts.

EU brands and retailers adopt recycled apparel 

The European fashion industry is scaling up the use of materials made from recycled inputs rather than virgin materials. Inditex, the EU’s largest fashion retail group, wants to use 100% lower impact materials by 2030. Of the total textile fibres used by Inditex in 2025, 47% were recycled fibres. Between 2020 and 2025, H&M, the EU’s second-largest fashion retailer, increased the share of recycled materials used in its garments from 5.8% to 32%. In 2024, Swedish brand Haglöfs recycled 70% of its polyester and 60% of its polyamide (its 2 most-used materials). 

Consumer awareness about sustainability is also increasing in Europe. Studies show that 46.5% of Europeans buy sustainable fashion items and ever more people see sustainable products as fashionable

However, taking recycled fashion from niche to mainstream requires better fibre-to-fibre recycling infrastructure and solutions as well as effective brand and consumer awareness initiatives. Europe already has many recycling companies and technologies in different stages of commercialisation, from the pilot stage through to commercial production. Capacity for fibre-to-fibre recycling is therefore increasing.

The European Commission’s ReSet The Trend campaign was launched to engage Europeans in the battle against fast fashion and to raise public awareness about the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. Europe is also home to some of the industry’s most active multi-stakeholder initiatives for research and collaboration in circular innovations, including Fashion for Good, the Laudes (formerly C&A) Foundation, the H&M Foundation and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

European recycling innovations that have received EU funding include, among others:

• CISUTAC (Belgium);
• Fibersort (the Netherlands);
• New Cotton Project (EU);
• T-REX Project (EU);
• OnceMore® (Sweden);
• The WhiteCycle project (EU);
• tExtended (Finland);
• PESCO-UP (Finland).

Suppliers that work with European brands and retailers will have access to the latest knowledge and technical innovations driving global trends in recycled fashion.

3. Which European countries offer the most opportunities for recycled fashion?

The European markets with the most potential for recycled fashion are Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and Sweden. They have been selected based on a combination of factors, including:

• Market size, indicated by high apparel imports, import growth and high levels of waste.
• Consumer demand, indicated by sustainable consumer behaviour data.
• Strength of policy-making, indicated by country sustainability performance.
• Feasibility, indicated by textile waste collection rates.

Together, this group of countries imported 60.4% of all EU apparel by value in 2024.

Table 1: Comparison of EU country market potential indicators for recycled fashion

Source: Eurostat, 2026

All 6 countries have strong national policy commitments and proactive public initiatives specifically addressing textile waste and recycling. This is reflected in higher waste collection levels in proportion to waste generated and/or in consumer behaviour. Commitments include extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes and aggressive targets for both post-consumer textile waste recycling and recycled material content in new products.

While Spain and Poland both rank high on apparel imports and textile waste, they have low collection rates. Both countries collect less than the EU average according to available data. Consumer awareness about sustainability issues is also relatively low. However, Poland is one of the EU’s major textile recycling sorting hubs and imports large amounts of textile waste for this purpose.

Germany: The EU’s leading recycler of municipal waste

Germany was the top recycler of municipal waste in the European Union in 2023. With an estimated recycling (recycling and composting) rate of 69%, it has already topped the current EU targets of 55% by 2025, 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035. This is the result of strong government policies, high public awareness about and acceptance of recycling, and a robust household waste sorting system.

Ahead of the 2025 EU requirement for separate collection of textile waste, Germany developed a draft revision of national waste legislation transferring responsibility for textile waste collection from households to municipalities. Already the European leader in textile collection, this may help the country improve its current low rate of recycling into higher-value textiles.

Germany has its own government-run social and environmental certification label called Green Button (PDF), which is displayed on garments at point of sale and helps consumers make more informed purchasing decisions. Green Button certification recognises the Global Recycling Standard as proof of compliance in the auditing process. Certification is an important requirement for suppliers of German brands.

Fibre-to-fibre textile recycling innovations in Germany include:

• Reju (Frankfurt), chemical recycling of polyester textiles into new garment-grade fibre;
• BASF/LOOPAMID® (Ludwigshafen), recycled nylon 6 from textile waste, already used commercially by multiple brands, including Zara;
• matterr (Braunschweig, formerly Rittec), separation and recovery of polyester from blended fabrics.

Brands focusing on recycled and/or recyclable materials include: ARMEDANGELS, pinqponq and VAUDE.

France: A pioneer in Extended Producer Responsibility 

While not the highest in the EU, France's textile collection rate is growing thanks to ambitious policies. France introduced the world's first textile Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme in 2007, making it the most established in Europe. The scheme bans the destruction of unsold textile products and sets ambitious targets: 

• 60% of all textiles placed on the market must be collected by 2028;
• 80% of collected textiles and footwear that cannot be reused must be recycled by 2027.

Supported by almost 48,000 self-deposit collection points (1 per 1,414 inhabitants) and mandatory separate textile collection since 2007, collection rates rose by 12% between 2013 and 2020. However, the rate fell to 32% (2023) as fast fashion volumes grew faster than collection capacity.

Refashion oversees waste management and resource preservation through the collection, recycling and recovery of used textiles. It is funded by 95% of market players. This income funds collection, sorting and processing, eco-design incentives, and repair and reuse programmes, as well as communication campaigns and research and development. The organisation’s Eco design platform offers tools and guides for adopting more sustainable product design. Its Recycle platform connects textile recycling stakeholders.

Informing end-consumers about products that contain substances on the EU REACH Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) list has been a legal requirement in France since 2023. France has also introduced a voluntary Environmental Cost labelling system for clothing, which it launched in October 2025. This gives each product a score based on its environmental impact across its lifecycle. From October 2026, if brands have not published their own score, others may do so on their behalf.

Fibre-to-fibre textile recycling innovations in France include:

• Circ (Saint-Avold), hydrothermal recycling of poly-cotton blended textiles into cellulose and polyester inputs. Backed by the French government and the EU, with Inditex and Patagonia as investors. Zara already uses its recycled materials. Commercial plant construction was scheduled to start in 2026 and is expected to be operational in 2028;
• Carbios (Clermont-Ferrand), enzyme-based bio-recycling of polyester textile waste back into garment-grade fibre. In 2024, Carbios unveiled the world's first garment made from 100% enzymatically recycled textile waste. The first industrial plant was expected to be operational in 2026.
• Weturn (Paris), closed-loop recycling of unsold products and production offcuts from fashion houses into new traceable, European-made yarns and fabrics.

Brands focusing on recycled and/or recyclable materials include: Circle Sportswear, Picture Organic Clothing, Faguo, Nénés Paris, Ekyog, 1083 jeans and HOPAAL.

The Netherlands: Europe’s circular fashion capital

The Netherlands aims to have a circular economy by 2050 and is rolling out ambitious policies and incentives to achieve this. Under the Policy Programme for Circular Textile (2025-2030) and the EPR for Textiles scheme (2023), targets for 2030 include:

All textile products sold on the Dutch market will be made of at least 50% sustainable materials, of which at least 15% will be post-consumer fibre-to-fibre recycled content. In addition, 75% of textiles sold on the Dutch market need to be collected and prepared for reuse or recycling. Of this 75%:

• At least 25% must go to reuse (second-hand) (15% must be reused within the Netherlands);
• At least 50% must go to recycling (at least 33% of this must be fibre-to-fibre recycling).

The Netherlands is home to a strong community of industry support organisations centred mainly around sustainability issues. Amongst them is Fashion for Good, a global platform for sustainable fashion innovation and an accelerator for circular fashion start-ups. The organisation connects sustainable innovators with brands, retailers, manufacturers and funders. 

Its 2024 Innovation Programme selected 10 innovators, 3 of which are recycling technologies. The organisation has also created the world’s first interactive museum dedicated to sustainable fashion.

Fibre-to-fibre textile recycling innovations in the Netherlands include:

• Wolkat(Tilburg), mechanical recycling of post-consumer textiles into new yarns, fabrics and products. Wolkat controls the entire recycling supply chain, from collection and sorting to spinning and weaving. It processes over 25 million kg of textiles per year.
• CLS-Tex, closed-loop recycling of used clothing into raw material for new yarns, fabrics and garments using HTEX technology.
• SaXcell (Enschede), chemical recycling of cotton textile waste into regenerated lyocell-quality fibre. Its fibres are now available for commercial use through a partnership with Birla Cellulose. 
• CuRe Technology (Emmen), chemical recycling of all types of polyester back into virgin-quality rPET, including coloured, mixed and contaminated waste. The company is currently scaling from pilot to industrial level under Project SPRINT in partnership with 3 Dutch universities.

Brands focusing on recycled and/or recyclable materials include: MUD Jeans, Kings of Indigo, G-STAR and Kuyichi.

Italy: A long history in fibre recycling

The Italian government invests in stronger separate collection systems and new plants for recovery, reuse and recycling. Italy was one of the first EU countries to make separate textile waste collection mandatory. It introduced this requirement in January 2022, 3 years ahead of the EU deadline. A draft EPR decree was created in April 2025, but the final legislation has not been passed yet.

The textile region of Prato has been recycling wool since the mid-nineteenth century. Today, the district produces over 35,000 tonnes of recycled yarn and around 100 million metres of recycled fabric every year. Around 28,000 tonnes of this yarn (around 80% of total fabric production in the district) come from regenerated fibres recovered from pre- and post-consumer textile waste. Nearly half of the world's exports of carded wool fabrics come from Prato.

Italy is home to Aquafil S.p.A., which manufactures ECONYL®, the world's leading regenerated nylon fibre, made from waste materials such as discarded fishing nets, carpet flooring and industrial plastics. Around 2,000 brands worldwide use ECONYL®. In 2025, Aquafil developed a new capability to separate nylon from elastane before the regeneration process, addressing one of the major technical barriers to recycling blended textiles.

Brands focusing on recycled and/or recyclable materials include: Diesel, Rifò and OVS.

Belgium: A top performer in overall waste management

One of the most densely populated parts of Europe, the Flanders region in northern Belgium aims to be zero-waste by 2050. Reuse has long been a focus for the region, which has a large network of government-subsidised local second-hand (‘kringloop’) shops. In 2024, sales of second-hand clothing rose by 32% at these shops in a single year.

More than three decades of ambitious waste-reduction policies have made Flanders one of the world leaders in waste collection and processing. Around 75% of residential waste in the region is reused, recycled or composted.

In 2022, Belgium had the highest amount of household textile waste per person in the EU, at 6 kg.Textile waste is one of six priority waste streams in the country's household waste plan. In 2022, industry stakeholders set up Circletex: a voluntary organisation to help prepare for future mandatory EPR. Full EPR legislation for textiles has not been passed yet.

Vanotex is a mechanical recycling plant that has been in operation since 1975.

Brands focusing on recycled and/or recyclable materials include HNST, Stanley/Stella and Go As U.R.

Sweden: Europe’s ‘greenest’ country

Swedish end-consumers are among the most sustainability-conscious in Europe. According to research from the Boston Consulting Group in 2024, 66% of Swedes are actively trying to reduce their consumption, and 51% regularly recycle, compared to the European average of 39%. The region also has many sustainable fashion brands, focusing on high-quality sustainable materials, waste minimisation and transparent supply chains.

The use of recycled fibres is becoming the new standard for many Swedish brands and the percentage of recycled content is increasing. Outdoorwear brand Houdini has been making recycled garments since 2006 and states that 100% of the fabrics it uses are recycled, recyclable, renewable, biodegradable or Bluesign certified. 85% of its 2025 collection was fully circular.

The Swedish government has set ambitious goals for sustainability across all sectors. Sweden introduced an EPR for textiles in 2022, which came into full effect on 1 January 2025. Swedish targets include a 70% reduction in the weight of discarded textiles by 2028 (rising to 80% by 2032 and 90% by 2036), and at least 90% of collected textile waste needs to be prepared for reuse or material recovery from 2028 onwards.

Södra (OnceMore®) and Circulose (formerly Renewcell) are both Swedish companies that produce pulp from cellulosic textile waste. Cellulosic textile waste can be used to make new textile fibres. Södra has grown from semi-commercial to full commercial production and is currently expanding capacity. Circulose reached commercial scale but filed for bankruptcy in 2024 before being acquired and relaunched under new ownership.

Swedish brands focusing on recycled and/or recyclable materials include: H&M, ASKET, Boob, Nudie Jeans, Houdini, Fjällräven and Swedish Stockings.

The United Kingdom: Europe’s top fashion shoppers

The United Kingdom (UK) is one of the top importers of apparel globally, with a market share of 4.3%, including 4.6% of the knitwear (HS code 61) and 4% of the woven garments (HS code 62) markets. In 2022, UK household expenditure on clothing was €1,120 per person, more than any of the top 10 EU importers of clothing.

According to WRAP's Textiles Market Situation Report 2024, UK consumers generated 1.45 million tonnes of unwanted clothing and textiles in 2022. Of this, 711,000 tonnes (almost half) were thrown away in household bins or general waste.

The UK has not introduced a mandatory EPR scheme for textiles yet. In October 2025, the EU's revised Waste Framework Directive entered into force. It requires all EU member states to have operational textile EPR schemes by April 2028. However, as the UK is no longer part of the EU, it does not apply directly. UK brands that sell into EU markets will, however, need to follow national EPR schemes as they come into force across EU member states in 2027.

Worn Again Technologies is a UK-based company that develops chemical recycling technology for polycotton textile waste. In March 2026, it started up a new recycling plant in Winterthur, Switzerland, marking an important step towards commercial scale.

Brands focusing on recycled and/or recyclable materials include Rapanui, Neem, Fanfare, M&S and Finisterre.

Figure 2: The European market for recycled and reused apparel is growing

Source: Photo by Luba Glazunova on Unsplash

4. Which trends offer opportunities or pose threats in the European recycled fashion market?

Supply chain transparency is becoming a baseline expectation 

Not long ago, suppliers who could provide detailed information about their materials stood out from the competition. Today, it is expected as standard more and more often. New EU legislation means it will soon be a legal requirement.

Fashion Revolution's Fashion Transparency Index 2023 found that 51% of major brands publish targets on sustainable materials, but fewer than half define what they mean by 'sustainable'. Policies on textile waste and recycling were among the topics brands were least transparent about.

The EU's Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (ECGT) applies from September 2026. It bans general claims such as 'eco-friendly' or 'sustainable' unless supported by clear evidence. Claims about a product's environmental benefits, including recycled content, must be specific and include the exact percentage of recycled fibres used. Regulators are already acting:

• In the Netherlands, the Dutch consumer authority (ACM) found that H&M was using labels such as 'Conscious' and 'Conscious Choice' without explaining what sustainability benefits they offered. H&M was required to remove or revise these claims and donated €500,000 to sustainable causes as compensation.
• In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority raised concerns in 2022 that some products in the 'eco-friendly' ranges of ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda may have contained only 20% recycled fabric. In 2024 all 3 brands signed formal commitments to clearly display the percentage of recycled fibres and to only use the word 'recycled' for products made mostly from recycled materials.

The European Commission has also warned that using recycled PET bottles to make textile fibres can be misleading. Those bottles could have been recycled back into new bottles indefinitely, once turned into textile fibres, that closed loop is broken.

From 2027, all textile products sold in the EU will need a Digital Product Passport (DPP) containing verified information on fibre composition, recycled content, origin and environmental impact. Brands are already starting to collect this data from their suppliers. In the Netherlands, Modint (a trade association) has been working with GS1 and Dutch Circular Textile Valley to prepare the sector, running practical DPP pilot projects with companies.

Several tools are available to help companies respond to these requirements. These include the following.

• bAwear is a lifecycle assessment (LCA) tool. It allows companies to calculate their environmental footprint, even with limited data. It is aligned with upcoming EU requirements, including the DPP and CSRD. For example, Zeeman used bAwear to assess a recycled fibre sweater and found it achieved 73% lower CO₂ emissions, 95% less energy use and 92% less water use compared to a standard sweater.
• REMOkey is a label and communication tool for textiles made with recycled materials. It uses the bAwear score as the basis for its impact calculations and helps producers communicate results clearly through product labels and digital pages, showing water, CO2 and energy savings.

Suppliers should be aware that products made from recycled materials may be at least partially exempt from certain chemical restrictions, including PFAS, APEOs and some flame retardants. However, this exemption requires suppliers to verify and document the recycled origin and percentage of materials, and, in the case of PFAS, to demonstrate the source of any fluorine present.

Figure 3: Denim is a pioneer category for recycled material and circular concepts

Source: Forward in Fashion

Growth in recycled and circular fashion is driven by value and quality

Consumer interest in sustainable fashion is growing across Europe. However, this does not always translate into purchasing decisions. Mintel research illustrates the gap: in Germany, 49% of consumers said sustainability was important when shopping for fashion in 2023, yet only 25% had actually bought more sustainable clothes in the past year. Mintel's 2025 UK report identified the same pattern. Recycled and circular products therefore need to compete on the same terms as any other product.

The circular fashion market in Europe is growing. According to research by the Circular Fashion Federation and KPMG, the combined value of circular fashion sectors in Europe is projected to reach €31.3 billion by 2030. Resale is the largest segment by far. It is expected to grow from €15.9 billion in 2024 to €26 billion by 2030. The repair market is also growing, from €2.7 billion in 2024 to a projected €3.7 billion by 2030. Rental is still very small, making up around 0.3% of the global apparel market.

These business models lengthen product lifecycles and encourage reuse as an alternative to buying new. This has the potential to reduce demand for new garments, particularly in the premium, performance and outdoor clothing segments. However, as more mainstream brands enter the resale and rental market, durability and quality are more and more being designed into collections. This creates new opportunities for suppliers who can meet these requirements.

FT Journalistiek carried out this study in partnership with Giovanni Beatrice on behalf of CBI.

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