Circular Fashion News / June 11: Rental and resale funding, Traceability for recycled materials, UK consumers supportive of EPR fees
Your weekly edit of what has happened in the circular fashion space. Last week, rental and resale players raised significant funding rounds, and traceability solution for recycled fibers was piloted.
Welcome to reading a weekly recap of circular fashion news! Some of last week’s highlights in the circular fashion industry included:
A new guide for measuring and managing circularity in the fashion and textile sector was released
A new study revealed UK consumers being supportive of EPR fees for clothing
French textile reconditioning startup Reekom raised $4.9 million in funding
Luxury accessories rental company, Vivrelle, raised $62 million in funding
Recover™ and TextileGenesis piloted a traceability solution for recycled materials
Refiberd, an AI-enabled textile material detection startup, was announced as the winner of the Trailblazer 2025
New guide for measuring and managing circularity in the fashion and textile sector
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) launched a Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) sector guidance for the fashion and textiles industry.
The guide provides a comprehensive methodology for measuring and managing circular performance in the fashion and textile sector. It aims to help companies measure how circular they are, how they can improve circularity, and how those improvements impact business and sustainability goals.
The tool includes:
A 7-step process to assess circularity
Industry-specific guidance for brands, manufacturers, recyclers, and retailers
Alignment with upcoming EU regulations
Guidance on tracking social and regenerative impact
→ Download the full guide here
New study: UK consumers are supportive of EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) fees for clothing
According to a study by WEFT and QSA Partners, the majority of UK consumers are supportive of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) charges on clothing to increase recycling and promote sustainable fashion.
UK shoppers were ready to pay a modest fee of £0.50 per clothing item, while a £1.00 charge on higher-priced garments (above £40) would also be acceptable. In addition, transparency emerged as a critical factor, with over 80% of respondents favouring a clearly displayed charge at the point of sale.
The study consisted of ~2,000 UK shoppers.
→ Read more
→ Read the full study
French textile reconditioning startup Reekom raises €4.5 million
Reekom focuses on reconditioning and remarketing fashion items for third-party brands. The company currently processes 30,000 items each month, performing quality control, cleaning, ironing, minor repairs, and product photography for the products.
Now they have raised €4.5 million in funding to create a new industrial-scale reconditioning centre in France. The new location will raise Reekom’s monthly processing capacity to 100,000 items by 2028.
Luxury accessories rental company, Vivrelle, raises $62 million in Series C
The US-based luxury accessories rental company, Vivrelle, has raised $62 million in Series C funding from the venture capital firm Protagonist. Vivrelle has been profitable since its launch in 2018.
The founder and CEO, Blake Geffen, noted that with the funding, they aim to scale operations, expand inventory, and leverage emerging technologies, including AI.
Rent the Runway Q1/2025 results: Revenue slightly down, net loss up, small growth in active subscribers
US-based rental player, Rent the Runway, released their Q1 2025 results:
Revenue was ~$70 million, whereas in Q1/2024 it was $75 million
Net loss was ~$26 million, whereas in Q1/2024 it was ~$22 million
Active subscribers grew to 147,157, whereas in Q1/2024 they were 145,837
Last year, the Urban Outfitter’s owned rental company, Nuuly, crossed Rent the Runway in active subscribers. Now, Rent the Runway is focusing on growth. Last year, Rent the Runway made the decision to focus on improved inventory, and during Q1/2025 they launched 36 new brands and over 1,000 new styles, with a plan to continue the expansion in other quarters of the year.
Recover and TextileGenesis pilot traceability of recycled materials
Recover™, a producer of recycled cotton and cotton-blend fibers, has collaborated with TextileGenesis™, a traceability platform, to digitally track its recycled waste materials across the entire textile value chain.
TextileGenesis Fibercoin™ technology was used to generate digital tokens for every kilo of Recover’s recycled material, creating a verified chain of custody. The goal of the pilot was to demonstrate how digital traceability can validate recycled content, drive supplier participation, and support regulatory compliance. When it comes to current traceability solutions, Recover has existing physical trackers and GRS certification, and the Textile Genesis traceability solution is meant to complement these.
Following the industry pilot, Recover aims to collaborate with TextileGenesis on implementing a full traceability solution for Recover’s recycled fibers.
Refiberd, an AI-enabled textile material detection startup, was announced as the winner of the Trailblazer
Refiberd was announced as the winner of the Trailblazer 2025 program during the Global Fashion Summit by Global Fashion Agenda.
Refiberd is developing an advanced sorting technology that combines hyperspectral imaging with artificial intelligence to precisely identify the fiber composition of textile fibers. The correct data on material composition is crucial, especially for resellers and recyclers. Earlier this year, Refiberd was also announced as the winner of the CFDA x Ebay Circular Fashion Fund.
Global Fashion Summit 2025 took place in Copenhagen – Global Fashion Agenda’s yearly summit was held last week, and circularity had special focus throughout the program. You can read a recap of the summit here.
Re/Done has appointed a new CEO – Re/Done, a US-based fashion brand that started with deconstructing and remaking vintage Levi’s into modern fits and silhouettes, has appointed Phillip Prado as their new CEO. Prado has previously worked at Calvin Klein, Burberry, and Gucci.
Spanish fashion rental company, Trent, opens a store in Barcelona – Trent, an online fashion rental platform founded in 2022, has opened a physical store in Barcelona.
Selfridges is building circularity to be a core part of the in-store shopping experience – ReSelfridges offers resale, repair, and rental at Selfridges department stores. In the London store, repairs are done in collaboration with Sojo and The Handbag Clinic, and rental is powered by Hurr. The ReSelfridges concept is available in all four department stores in the UK.
Decathlon expands its circularity efforts in India – French sports goods company Decathlon is expanding its circularity efforts in India. Currently, they offer services such as buybacks (in 50+ stores), secondhand (in 90+ stores), and repairs (in 95+ stores). In total, they have 133 stores in India, so these circularity initiatives are rolled out widely.
Circular fashion resource: HeyFashion – HeyFashion is a platform dedicated to elevating the issue of textile waste in the fashion industry, founded by The Eileen Fisher Foundation and Pentatonic® in 2022. The site features “Legislation Tracker”, which reports on the state of the EU and the US legislations related to textiles, as well as reports and guides for solving the textile industry’s waste crisis.
Short documentary: “The Circular Garment Documentary” – This document by EURATEX opens up the design and production process for circular garments. The documentary explores recycled materials and circular design, with a focus on the clothing designer’s perspective.
Article: Changemakers in fashion: Thami Schweichler, founder United Repair Centre by Fashion United – An interview exploring the story, strategy, and social impact of clothing repair company United Repair Centre. Currently, United Repair Centre carries out around 50,000 repairs annually, works with 25 brands, and surpassed the €1 million revenue mark last year. In the interview, Thami opened up the founding story of the company and highlighted that repair plays a key role in the circular transition of the fashion industry.
Upcycling brand: Etta Studio – Beautiful brand creating products from unwanted garments. Etta Studio also offers a lifetime fixing service and will take back any products at the end-of-life and upcycle them into new pieces.
Upcycling brand: Melissa Munro – An upcycled brand creating classic, versatile, modern designs from secondhand men’s shirts and blazers.
That is all for now, let’s hear again next week! In the meantime, let’s continue the discussion in the comments, LinkedIn, or Instagram <3
xx Tiina
I'm a huge believer in EPR and it's exciting to see accessories succeeding in the rental space!