NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The fashion industry is transforming from linear to more circular business models—including repair, recycling, resale, and rental—while simultaneously being shaped by macro forces, such as automation and climate disruption.

This transition brings both an opportunity to proactively address the industry’s long-standing labor concerns by designing new business models and a responsibility to ensure that the new jobs created are good jobs.

The significant momentum behind circularity begs the question for both industry and policymakers: How can we leverage this transformation to reimagine and rebuild the global fashion system so that it works for all?

Through Keeping Workers in the Loop (KWIL), we convened over 45 major fashion industry players—established brands, emerging circular businesses, worker representatives, sustainable fashion experts, and international institutions—to explore this very question.