Common Threads: Accelerating Circularity in the Fashion Industry

As the fashion industry faces increasing pressure to reduce waste and rethink how garments are produced, used, and discarded, integrating circularity within a new fashion brand is becoming a non-negotiable. 

This panel, hosted by Kae Katz, founder of the London-based textile recycling studio FibreLab, brings together practitioners working directly with fashion waste streams to explore how circularity can move beyond theory and into everyday design practice. 

Joining the conversation are Rosette, founder of Revival London, a sustainable fashion brand transforming discarded textiles into contemporary garments for a cleaner and cooler planet, and Deborah Lyons, co-founder of Last Yarn, a social marketplace designed to help designers discover, buy, and resell surplus fabrics. 

Together, the panel will discuss different entry points into circular fashion systems, from redesigning existing garments to redistributing unused fabrics that might otherwise go to waste and how those can fuel future product development. The conversation will unpack the realities of sourcing materials, the barriers to scaling upcycling practices, and how industry perceptions around surplus and “waste” materials are evolving. 

The session will conclude with guidance on how students can engage with the brands working in circular fashion, including opportunities for internships, collaboration, and hands-on learning within this rapidly evolving sector. 

'Pattern Perception', Lily Dixon, 2025 BA (Hons) Textile Design, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL