Seamless: The Industry Collaboration Addressing Clothing Circularity In Australia 

As a Foundation Member of Seamless, David Jones sat down with Seamless CEO Ainsley Simpson to discuss Australia’s roadmap to circularity and how, collectively, we can transform business models, drive innovation, change citizen behaviour and recirculate clothing.

Seamless is Australia’s first clothing product stewardship scheme.  

What’s a product stewardship scheme? It’s a scheme that recognises that the businesses who place products on the market are responsible for the entire life of that product—from design through to reuse, recycling and end-of-life. We already have many stewardship schemes in Australia including ‘Mobile Muster’ which addresses mobile phone waste, ‘Cartridges for Planet Ark’, which is a national scheme for printer cartridges and many other schemes from plastics, containers and mattresses through to tyres, batteries and oil. 

The clothing brands and retailers who join Seamless are responsible leaders, and their contributions fund the scheme. David Jones is a Foundation Member of Seamless and was one of the very first organisations to join. They have been onboard since the very beginning and as a Foundation Member, they have played a critical role in helping Seamless become operational. 

Seamless works with clothing brands and partners to help people choose, enjoy and recycle their clothes more responsibly. To make that happen we need to build a national clothing system by 2030 that is easy to understand, convenient and free for every Australian, as Seamless is for everyone. 

Seamless is not only Australia’s first product stewardship scheme for clothes, but also the world’s first circular product stewardship scheme. What sets us apart from other programs internationally is that our focus isn’t just on what happens to clothes when we choose not to wear them anymore – it extends right across the clothing lifecycle. We know this is the way of the future, and many similar programs are also looking at how products are designed before being placed on the market.  

The contributions from Seamless members, collected as a per garment levy, fund four priorities:  

1. Circular clothing design, which means designing clothes to be more durable and recyclable; 

2. Circular business models such as clothing rental, resale and repair;  

3. Closing the loop to ensure the effective collection, sorting and recycling of our clothes; and 

4. Education campaigns to help Australians choose clothes more purposefully, enjoy them for longer and reuse or recycle them with care. 

Currently, much of the clothing industry in Australia follows a linear model of take, make and dispose. Clothing circularity will be achieved when we start to value the investment in our clothes through how we choose, wear, share and care for our clothes. The clothing lifecycle then becomes circular, and follows a reduce, reuse, recycle model. 

Our mission is to work collaboratively with every clothing brand and retailer, as well as the government and the wider industry, on the transformation towards a circular clothing economy in Australia by 2030. This will not only create exciting new business and employment opportunities, but it will prioritise nature by ensuring we significantly reduce the 888 million items of clothes (222,000 tonnes) of clothing we send to landfill in Australia each year – that’s the equivalent of 44,400 adult African elephants! (Source) 

We can all support circularity by being more thoughtful when choosing and extending the life of our clothes. 

More than ever, we’re renting, selling, swapping and sharing our clothes with more second-hand clothes entering our wardrobes – there are some great bargains to be had! So, if the school formal or work dinner is coming up, consider renting your suit or dress from a platform like The Volte. And when buying that new jacket or pair of pants, ask yourself whether it will go with other pieces in your wardrobe. Do you already own something similar? Is it durable and good quality? Is it something you will wear for years to come? Is it from a Seamless member? 

You can also think about the clothes you already have in your wardrobe. Are any in need of repair to ensure you can keep wearing them, perhaps by fixing a button or hem? Are you washing them too frequently? And if you own clothes in good condition that you don’t wear anymore – can you swap them? Sell them? Rent them? David Jones has a partnership with rental platform, The Volte, to help you earn income by renting out your clothes. 

Or are the items in good condition and able to be donated to your local op shop for someone else to enjoy? When your favourite t-shirt just can’t be worn another day, can you use it as a rag or get it to a clothing recycler? 

Clothing circularity doesn’t mean we need to stop buying or wearing the clothes we love, we just need to be more thoughtful in how we choose, enjoy and recirculate our clothes. And we can all do that every day.