Circular Fashion: The Urgent Business Case Emerging From Copenhagen Summit 2025
- Anna anna@beamberlin.com
- Jun 6
- 2 min read
The 2025 Global Fashion Summit, held in Copenhagen from June 3rd, came at a critical time for the fashion industry — one caught between climate urgency and political headwinds.
This year’s theme, “Barriers and Bridges”, captured the moment perfectly. As Brian Baskin (Business of Fashion, June 1, 2025) reported, the sustainable fashion movement finds itself on the defensive after a decade of big promises but insufficient action.
Voluntary corporate commitments have not delivered at scale, as Maxine Bédat, founder of New Standard Institute, outlined in her June 4 BoF article: too many brands are stuck in “climate blah blah” — making pledges without followthrough. The result? A widening gap between the fashion industry’s environmental rhetoric and reality.
Circularity: a necessary bridge — not an optional one
Amid this stalled momentum, one clear pathway emerged from the Summit discussions: circular models are not a side project — they are a fundamental pillar of the future fashion economy.
At CIRQUEL, we strongly believe that reverse logistics, repurposing, resale, and rental will be essential for fashion’s sustainable transformation. Brands that adopt these models today will be better prepared to:
Comply with incoming EU and US regulations (Fashion Acts, EU CSRD, ESPR, etc.)
Reduce their carbon and water footprint
Meet shifting consumer expectations for slow, eco-minded fashion
Move away from wasteful linear production models that drive environmental harm
As McKinsey data shows, coordinated industry-wide decarbonization is not only achievable — it’s affordable. Circularity is one of the fastest ways to move the needle here, by extending product life, reducing new production, and minimizing textile waste.
CIRQUEL’s mission and alignment with SDGs
The urgency outlined at Copenhagen resonates deeply with our mission at CIRQUEL. Our AI-powered orchestration, local reverse logistics hubs, and quality-first repurposing models directly support several key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production→ Reducing overproduction and enabling circular fashion flows.
SDG 13: Climate Action→ Lowering emissions linked to production and reverse logistics.
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth→ Supporting new value streams (repair, resale, rental) that create local jobs.
By helping brands integrate circular logistics into their core operations, CIRQUEL enables them to move beyond pilot projects and toward real climate leadership — the kind urgently called for at the Summit.
The moment to lead
As Maxine Bédat so aptly put it:
“Leadership isn’t about waiting for clarity. It’s about showing up in the storm.”
For brands serious about sustainability, now is the time to embrace the full circular model — not as a marketing add-on, but as the structural shift that will define the next decade of fashion.
At CIRQUEL, we are ready to partner with forward-thinking brands to build this future — through better reverse logistics, faster repurposing, and higher value product flows that protect both the planet and business resilience.
👉 Join us. The bridge to circular fashion starts today.
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