The Ethical Fashion Xchange (TEFX)
- Tanya Richards
- May 20, 2021
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 18, 2023
Process Design Innovation for I:CO Designed & Written by: Tanya Richards
DISCOVER
Market Context
“Each garment is worn less before being disposed of and this shorter lifespan means higher relative manufacturing emissions.”
‘’It is said that “almost 60% of all clothing produced is disposed of within a year of production ending in landfill or incineration.”
“It has been estimated that less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled within the clothing industry, with around 13% recycled for use in other areas.”
References:
Nature Climate Change,(2018),The Price of Fast Fashion, Volume 8, page 1 <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-017-0058-9>
DEFINE
Current Clothing Recycling Initiatives
H&M has offered garment recycling since 2013 and has collected 44,000 tons of unwanted clothing and textiles during that time. Customers can drop off unwanted garments of any brand or condition at all H&M retail locations.
Not only can you turn in used clothing and other textiles for recycling at H&M stores, but the company will even use some of the products it recycles for future Conscious Collection pieces. Customers get 15% off their next purchase.
References:
Conclusion
From looking at the fashion recycling initiatives of a few other brands such as; Levi’s, The North Face & Eileen Fisher, is that they are usually only prepared to recycle if it’s their own old stock which they receive back.
The Challenge
To address that brands are only primarily interested in embarking on an ethical fashion recycling system if they can get their own materials back.
This needs to be the focal point of TEFX and needs a firm marketing strategy to get brands on board, with a minimum set percentage of fabric that is the mandatory requirement that brands can expect to receive back every quarter, from TEFX.
All design and manufacturing initiatives using the recycled fabric, need to be planned in advance for said set percentage of expected fabric, plus any additional fabric.
DEVELOP
Business Aim
To create a realistic and efficient UK fashion recycling exchange scheme, where customers who regularly buy fast fashion items, wear them a few times and then quickly discard them, provides these customers with an opportunity to earn points, which build up over time into credit, off their favourite brands who use this platform, by donating their clothing back to the brands they originally brought from.
Objectives
To inspire fashion brands to get on board and design a conscious range of fashion merchandise using donated fabric to reuse and turn back into marketable ‘recycled & Reworked’ clothing.
To monitor and communicate back to customers on the progress of the platform's carbon footprint.
To stimulate excitement around corporate social responsibility.
To make brands feel empowered to create positive change in the world
Goals
To direct the flow of traffic from unconscious consumers to conscious ones, where customers will be guaranteed an honest and fair price for their donated branded goods.
To create valuable sustainable impact on the planet.
DEVELOP
Challenge. 1
Getting the general public to use this platform instead of eBay where they can collect nectar points for fashion related items 1pt for every £1 spent, and also ‘potentially’ customers could get back more of their money from a recently purchased item.
Solution. 1
Loyalty Program
Rule of Thumb for Example purposes ONLY:
For every 10 donated goods in total across any brand that uses the Xchange scheme, will instantly receive a £5 credit e-voucher back to spend on any brand under The Ethical Fashion Exchange on ethical merchandise only.
Terms & Conditions
vouchers are in increments of £5
Vouchers are to be used on in-store ethical merchandise only
Redeem credit vouchers online only via email
Must not be used in conjunction with any other promotional brand offer at any given time
Challenge. 2
Using size as a means of classifying against fabric quantity.
Let’s say you have a lady who is a size 6 and has a jumpsuit against a lady who is a size 20, for the same ‘Group Type’, using this method it would mean that the smaller lady gets more points - which is not fair.
Solution. 2
Focus solely on brand, item age and material type.
This allows customers to be reimbursed voucher points based on the nature of that garnet at the time of donation, rather than individual circumstances.
Challenge. 3
That the more prestigious brands with the higher price points at retail selling price, should be paid out more voucher credit, for customers to spend on their recycled/ethical design lead merchandise, then say high-street brands.
Solution. 3
The Ethical Fashion Xchange scheme would create personalised e-vouchers for brands to customise to provide their own customers with discounts that match their own price points for their recycled range of merchandise.
For example: if a customer was to buy Gucci and donate it to the scheme, when it originally costs £450 Sterling, Gucci after designing their recycled range, would provide their donors with e-vouchers of lets say £100 for every 10 donated goods.
Challenge. 4
Eliminating the idea, of a customer only being able to purchase with their TEFX credit the same garment back that they originally submitted for recycling. This was set in place to manage the distribution of recycled materials so there’s enough to go full circle. This would not work because it’s too restrictive and inconvenient for the customer who may want to purchase something completely different with their credit to what they originally donated.
Solution. 4
Providing customers with the option to purchase anything they want from ANY brand who uses the TEFX scheme, but it must be an item from the brand's specially designed ‘recycled & reworked’ range.
This route allows brands to expand their range of merchandise to cater towards the fashion conscious, as well as guaranteeing that if customers are directly back to their stores only, there is a higher chance of customers buying other ‘normal’ merchandise too, which will more than likely be donated back to TEFX eventually after being worn, continuing the cycle.
The Solution
The Ethical Fashion Exchange (TEFX)
Customer Process
As a customer, you sign up and make an account on the online exchange platform, create a profile and then complete a ‘donation submission form’ where you input the information of each item (yes several items are allowed on one submission form) along with pictures of receipts or a screenshot of a bank statement to state the value of the product you are recycling.
The above information along with a few product questions to build up a picture of the garments worth, will then be evaluated by the admin team behind the platform, so they can then assign a ‘usage deduction fee’ to each garment (this is the ‘current market value’ of used fabric)
After, just drop your donated goods off at one of the drop-off recycling clothing banks. Find your nearest bank here.
Once your goods have been processed through the recycling facilities available at I:CO, a sum total of points are then added to your user account with a breakdown of how many points you got for each garment, and your credit is then released.
The material donated to The Ethical Fashion Exchange system, then goes into a large sorting facility where it is then redistributed back to all the brands who have had customers donate under their brand name. If you submit from H&M it will go back to H&M.
The material types/weights and quantities are then sent to the brands Head Office design department. Designs are released 6 months in advance on the website to stay up-to-date with seasonal fashion.
Material is then delivered to the brands own manufacturing units, and The Ethical Fashion Exchange Process, ends here. From this point onwards it is up to the brand to merchandise and market the garments they create from the recycled material we helped to provide them with from customers' original donated merchandise.
Customers with credit are then eligible to purchase anything from any brand under The Ethical Fashion Exchange.
The more you donate, the more points you collect which get turned into ‘credit’ which you can redeem and spend on in-store only recycled & reworked merchandise, by your chosen favourite brands who use TEFX.
Disclaimers:
No items older than 20 years (unless in immaculate condition).
All garments must have proof of purchase receipt attached to submission ?
All receipts can be uploaded via a photograph taken using a smartphone.
Donated goods must be either; clothes, shoes, bags for women and clothes, suits, ties and shoes for men. No jewellery.
Materials can include…?
Must have a branded label
The current condition of your donated items needs to meet the following criteria here.
You are able to add funds to your purchase with your own money, if you find that you run over your credit limit.
Credit vouchers (from either collecting points or from the loyalty program), are to spend on in-store only recycled & reworked merchandise.
DELIVERY
Business Model
A monthly subscription fee from each brand who uses the platform.
CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility
Heavy focus on transparency with regular update statistics on the progress of the platform such as;
How many donated goods (day/week/month/year)
Top 10 donated brands
The average value of credit given to a customer
A breakdown of aspects relating to the carbon footprint
Benefits for Brands
Free material back (cost of purchasing fabric marked against the cost of the subscription fee)
Corporate Social Responsibility
More retail footfall where customers may browse & buy more items
What the Brands/Clients Receive for signing up?
Customisable Credit Voucher templates
Instant CSR Association
Incentives for Customers
Free for anybody to join and use
Earn points to shop with your favourite fashion brands
Get credit vouchers to buy new reused designed merchandise.
Submit regular donations and opt for our loyalty program to receive EXTRA credit vouchers - just for being a regular user of TEFX
Our top ranked shoppers/donators can expect to receive prizes and cool experiences from our specially selected brand endorsements.
Requirements from Brands
Must have;
Manufacturing facilities
A design department
Means of merchandising
A quality control surveyor
A designated courier service throughout the UK.
The Points System
Based on a fixed rate % depending on the following criteria;
Type of merchandise (for quantity of material)
Brand Price Bracket at RRP (to give a customer a fair price)
The age of the merchandise (affects the lifespan of the fabric after reuse or recycling)
Type of material it’s made from (as some materials are easier to process than others).
List here the different types of materials, customers are allowed to submit for donation to the recycling scheme, these materials that are accepted will be subject and dependant on the type of fabric recycling facilities available at I:CO https://www.ico-spirit.com/en/services/
Classifying Merchandise Type
Examples;
4 Price Groups
Group A : Expensive £££££
Group A : Upper Standard £££
Group A : Standard ££
Group A : Cheap £
More points are given the more expensive the item, via brands using their own customisable vouchers that TEFX supplies.
6 Clothing Age groups
(1- 5) (5-10) (10-15 Vintage) (15-20)
More points are given the newer the item and fresher the material as a result.
Examples;
Group Type A;
Jumpsuit
Sari/religious wear
Suit
Dress
Large coats
Group Type B
Trousers
Long skirts
Long cardigans
Medium coats
Group Type C
Jackets & short coats
Jumpers & short cardigans
Oversized tops
Group Type D
Standard top
Waistcoats
Vests
Shorts
Group Type E
(Footwear)
Everything under one
Group Type F
(Baby & Children’swear)
Everything under one
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