Primark to advance its circular design training among colleagues with new partner

Primark, the international fashion retailer, is partnering with the Circular Textiles Foundation (CTF), to deliver an advanced training programme for its Design and Product teams. The new training will cover advanced circular design principles, with recyclability at its centre, which supports Primark’s commitment to make more of its clothes recyclable by design by 2027.

The new training will engage Primark’s Design and Product teams, in addition to selected suppliers, who will review Primark’s clothing category by category to understand how circularity principles can be applied. Through this programme they will learn how to apply the core principles of circular design to different product categories, adapting Primark’s approach based on the unique characteristics of each product type. CTF will also host a series of workshops to help put the theory of a circular design into practice and show colleagues ways to embed this into their day-to-day.

Nicholas Lambert, Head of Circularity at Primark said: “This is the next step for us at Primark to really start embedding circular design principles into the core of how we design and make our products. Our teams are really looking forward to honing their skills and understanding where we can elevate our designs through this bespoke new training. We want to keep pushing our in-house designers and suppliers to create fun and innovative ways to elevate our clothes beyond what our customers may traditionally expect from us.”

Tim Cross, Founder of CTF added: "Sharing knowledge is crucial to tackling the industry's issues at pace and scale and this is where the Circular Textiles Foundation comes in. We are taking designing for recyclability mainstream, making it accessible and available to all. We hope that by working with Primark we will take a step closer to encouraging industrywide change. We look forward to Primark engaging with us on this journey and the opportunities for progress."

Primark’s partnership with CTF builds on its first Circular Design Training programme completed by over 500 Primark colleagues last year. This initial programme, developed in collaboration with Circle Economy and the Sustainable Fashion Academy, was designed to educate Primark’s Designers and Product teams in the basic principles of a circular economy as well as Primark’s own Circular Product Standard.

To help give its clothes a longer life, Primark has committed to making its clothes recyclable by design by 2027. Over the past two years, the retailer has embedded circular design principles into some of its clothing collections, and last year launched its first collection of 35 pieces across menswear, womenswear, and kidswear made in line with the Primark Circular Product Standard. Since then, it continues to scale this ambition, including the launch of a kidswear range and a recent collaboration with long-term partner, Disney, marking 30 years of The Lion King, both designed with the future in mind.