Circularity, and circular design, plays a vital role in building a more sustainable, less wasteful future for fashion - and the world in general. We need circular design to avoid waste, keep materials in use for as long as possible, make the most of our natural resources, and keep the man-made resources that already exist in the loop for more than one lifecycle.

At Untouched World, we’re strong proponents of circularity and were shortlisted for the 2024 Drapers Sustainability Awards for the Best Circularity Initiative. Our commitment to transitioning to the circular economy is not just a brand choice, it’s a pledge to the generations that follow. But what does that look like in practice? Let us walk you through some of the ways in which we implement circularity in our design and manufacturing.

Rubbish Socks

Just like we found a use for our fabric offcuts, we also sought out a solution for the leftover knitwear pieces from our production runs that we had been collecting over time. The solution we landed on? Rubbish Socks. After cutting the leftovers down into smaller pieces, we send them off to our Wellington spinner. There, they are shredded into tiny fibres and turned into new yarn for a second life.

We then use this yarn to make our Rubbish Socks which are, of course, anything but rubbish when it comes to quality. The recycling process is completely water- and dye-free so the beautiful earthy marled tones are derived entirely from the colours of the offcuts – they’re one-of-a-kind. The exclusive blend of raw merino fibre, recycled fibres and some nylon added for durability makes each pair comfy, cosy, and long-lasting, with the added bonus of saving scraps from landfill.

Textile repurposing with ImpacTex

For any scraps and offcuts that we cannot personally reuse, we work with Auckland-based ImpacTex (formerly UPPAREL) to close the loop. They operate a no-landfill system and turn textile waste into a new material called ReTex which can be used to make useful products including homewares, packaging, and even signage.

Making dyes from food waste

Circularity inherently breeds collaboration. What is waste for one industry can be treasure for another. That’s why in 2023, we embarked on a circular collaboration with local artist Ari Terehova to create our Botanica Scarves, hand dyed with fruit extracts. The 100% wool scarves were dyed – in a chemical-free process - using waste powder created as a by-product of the health and beauty industry. The grape and blackcurrant extracts, which create beautiful tones, would have gone to waste had they not been used for natural dyeing.

Zero Waste Kids

When you are making clothes from large pieces of fabric, it involves cutting the individual panels out that will be sewn together. Those individual pieces have different angles and curves so they fit to the body. This means when you’re cutting them from cloth with straight edges, you will always have some offcuts left over, even when you place the pattern pieces (templates) on the fabric in a way that creates as little waste as possible.

It's our aim to generate zero waste wherever we can, so we challenged our team to see whether they could create something special from the pieces of fabric we have left over. After months of careful design problem solving and playing what we’ve dubbed ‘fabric Tetris’, our Zero Waste Kids collection was born. The small size of the offcuts makes them perfectly suited for our children’s pieces, so the little ones in your life get to enjoy the same, high quality, durable natural fabrics you do, and we get to make the most of every inch of fabric and prevent waste from going to landfill. The limited nature of the fabric we have available to make our Zero Waste Kids collection also means that the pieces are made in exclusive small runs so they’re just that extra bit more special.

Mending Mondays

Circularity isn’t just about using waste that’s been created, it’s about avoiding it in the first place and keeping things in circulation for longer. That’s why, on the first Monday of every month, we host Mending Mondays at our Christchurch store, an opportunity for our customers to bring in their cherished pieces for expert repairs in-store. Stay tuned on our journal for a deep dive into our repairs services soon.

Reusing our polybags

We recently explored the journey we went on to find a more environmentally positive solution for our polybags. After much research, we landed on POLLAST!C polybags made from ocean-bound plastic pollution. We’re thrilled we can help reduce plastic pollution, but to maximise their lifespan and reduce our impact even further, we put a programme in place where our stores collect them and send them back to HQ for reuse.

Notes from the design room

Circularity is very much a practice, but it’s also a culture, and one that we encourage in our design rooms. To give you some insight into what a culture of circularity looks like at our HQ, we spoke to a couple of members of our design team.

“One of my favourite things about working here is that we all work together to create the best possible path for our garments, ensuring quality is key and impact is minimal. With the design process, we strive to achieve the best result possible. We think in terms of ’less is best’, without compromising on design and quality. We are very lucky to have an incredibly talented knitwear programmer, along with some of the best technology to make this happen.” – Moira, Designer

“We are continuously looking at ways to make the best use of our fabrics, and our fabric yields reflect this. We take the width of the fabric and fit our patterns like a jigsaw puzzle. It is very rewarding. You can be more creative with the limitations you are given.” – Robyn, Designer

We’re proud to promote a culture of circularity that encourages our designers to continue to innovate and progress our circular design efforts. Together, they produce big results. In 2023, we saved over 1 tonne of waste yarn from landfill, and we’re aiming towards a goal of zero textile waste to landfill by the end of 2024.

Curious to learn more about circularity? Read our circular economy explainer on the journal.