Consumer

At LWA (Lynn Wilson Associates) we study consumer behaviour in relation to fashion retail shopping both online and in store specifically focusing on textile waste, reuse, recycle and repair. Understanding their motivations, the emotion attached to prepurchased contanimated product, whether personal or physical and the knock-on effect.

Japan, unlike the UK, does not have a culture of charitable retail enterprise and so 1.7 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles is disposed of every year, compared to the UK which disposes of 350,000 tonnes, 10% of which is from Scotland. They do excel in other recycling systems with an envious record of 98% steel recycling.

The recycling process in Norway is state-of-the-art. The country has one of the most efficient recycling plans in the world and an intricate system that the locals have been taught since childhood. It is by no means perfect, however leagues ahead of the rest of the world.

“Circular Economy Wardrobe aims to support the transition to the circular economy where we have less stuff in our homes but more experiences with our products. We can still enjoy the creative expression of our clothes, furniture and homes without the rest of the world paying the price. The move to a circular economy is about doing design better and differently. It is about economy and growth and how we do that whilst reducing the impact on rapidly depleting global resources. It is complex and at the same time simple – there is no alternative, we only have one planet for life.”

Lynn Wilson: Circular Economy Wardrobe