Adidas is backing a circular fashion industry with its latest sustainable initiative.
The sportswear giant has teamed up with Stuffsr to encourage UK customers to return Adidas items purchased within the last five years to the brand, in exchange for vouchers to spend on the label, Business of Fashion reports. The returned items will be repaired and resold where possible, or recycled and turned into new items. The initiative is being rolled out for UK consumers signed up to the brand's loyalty program, but could expand into other countries in 2020.
Sustainability has been a major theme at Adidas over recent years, with the brand investing in several environmentally-conscious initiatives. This year, it was one of the 32 fashion heavyweights to sign a headline ‘Fashion Pact' spearheaded by Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault and launched at the request of French president Emmanuel Macron. In April of this year, Adidas also unveiled a fully-recyclable running shoe called ‘Futurecraft.Loop', that has been designed to be worn, returned to the company, broken down, and used to manufacture more running shoes. It is currently part of a global beta program, with a wider release slated for the future. The brand has also worked regularly with Parley for the Oceans over recent years, incorporating plastic recuperated from the oceans into its designs.
An increasing number of clothing brands are repurposing their own items as a way to reduce waste: last year Guess unveiled a program offering shoppers in-store discounts when they donated used clothing, while The North Face launched a new line of outdoor clothing dubbed "The North Face Renewed," sourced from returned, defective or damaged apparel and refurbished to the brand's usual standards. H&M has long championed a textile donation scheme that has led to several 'Close the Loop' collections created using recycled materials.