Levi’s and Madewell doing well on circularity, Kearney says
Management consultancy firm Kearney has published the third edition of its Circular Fashion Index (CFX), based on its analysis of 200 global fashion brands from 20 countries.
Over 80% of the brands listed in this year's edition were based in the US, France, Italy, India, Germany and the UK.
The index considers six apparel categories: sports and outdoor; underwear and lingerie; luxury; premium or affordable luxury; mass market; and fast fashion.
Individual CFX scores are based on seven “circularity” factors, including recycled fibre composition, brand communications, rental and drop-off service availability, and the quality of each garment’s care instructions.
Denim brand Levi’s continued to perform well, even showing an improvement on its 2022 score, ranking just below Patagonia in second place with 8.30 points out of a total 10 (versus the former’s 8.65 points). Kearney attributed Levi’s progression to improved promotion and communication when it comes to its circularity minded projects, including creating a separate shopping page for recycled denim and making its supplier list public. The company also received special praise for its in-store “tailor shops” and do-it-yourself maintenance content.
Another denim label, Madewell, notably joined the CFX top 10 for the very first time, coming in sixth place.
The brand's drop-off programme for customers interested in recycling or reselling their old jeans for store credit, Madewell Forever, was singled out as an example of “best practice”.
On the whole, though, co-author and Kearney principal, Dario Minutella, lamented how brands’ scores had remained on the low end of the scale across geographies and market segments alike in 2023.
“Only 19 of the 200 global brands we looked at scored above five out of 10 and only the top three scored above seven in any area,” Mr Minutella said, concluding that “concrete action is required to close the gap and move the industry towards greater sustainability and circularity”.
