Circularity, in the context of fashion

The Circular Collection by bonprix enters its second round: From today, the international fashion brand is offering a new collection with circular products. The focus is on autumnal styles for women, men, and children, and for the first time, textile accessories in a circular design are also included. All products are labeled as “circular collection – designed to be recycled”. The collection not only consists of more sustainable materials but is also designed for durability and recyclability beyond the end of their life cycle. With the current collection, bonprix continues to expand its range and commitment to circularity. The next Circular Collection is planned for spring 2024.

Increasing the share of circular items in the fashion assortment is the objective of bonprix’s sustainability strategy “positive choice”. Following the introduction of Cradle to Cradle Certified® products in silver in 2021 and the launch of the first Circular Collection in April of this year, the company is further strengthening its commitment to circularity, offering its customers circular fashion for colder days. The basis is a design process that considers the entire lifecycle of a product. bonprix uses the Circular Design Criteria of the Berlin company circular.fashion, based on three principles: materials from safe, renewable, and/or recycled raw materials, recyclability, and durability. In addition to using more robust fabrics and special processing, the styles are characterized by timeless designs and modern cuts.*

Stefanie Sumfleth, Head of Corporate Responsibility & Technical Product at bonprix, is very pleased with the result: “For the development of the second Circular Collection, we were able to benefit greatly from the experiences we gained with our pilot collection in spring. To create new circular products with additional materials, we trained more product managers in circular design criteria. The development process is very complex, and it’s crucial for us to empower our teams to plan and implement circularity – from the idea to the finished product.”

The collection – and a specially developed label for circular design: The second Circular Collection by bonprix features more styles for women, men, and children, and new materials like corduroy and knit. The centerpiece of the collection is a casual corduroy two-piece that can be combined differently for various occasions and is available in three autumnal colors: maple red, dark gray, and cognac brown. The range also includes jeans and pants, shirts, sweatshirts, and knitwear. Autumnal accessories like a hat or a triangular scarf complete the outfits. All of bonprix’s circular products are marked with the specially developed label “circular collection – designed to be recycled”, which visually and textually illustrates the recyclability. This way, customers can recognize the circularity of their clothing even after wearing them multiple times, and bonprix contributes to a growing awareness of circular design.

Materials and Processing: The focus of the second Circular Collection is on more sustainable materials such as corduroy, denim, twill, and knit made from organic cotton and ecological cotton in the conversion process. These are preferably used as a single material or, if necessary, mixed with a very low percentage of elastane. Accessories such as zippers are designed for durability. Buttons on pants can be easily unscrewed, and metal rivets are replaced with embroideries. The materials used are particularly robust and have been tested for durability in advance. Certain areas that are particularly stressed – such as the knee area of children’s jeans, belt loops of trousers, or shoulders and collars of blazers – are reinforced.**

Third Circular Collection in Spring 2024: In the coming spring, bonprix will continue to advance its initiative for circular fashion: The already planned third Circular Collection will offer an even larger number of styles and for the first time include more sustainable materials like viscose and lyocell.

For Carolin Klar, Managing Director responsible for purchasing, procurement, and corporate responsibility at bonprix, the future of a more sustainable textile industry lies in circularity: “Thanks to the representative online survey for our annual bonprix Fashion Report, we know that almost half of the women in Germany can relate to the term ‘circular fashion’, but very few consciously buy and wear such clothing. At the same time, three-quarters find sustainability in fashion complicated. Therefore, we see it as our task to offer our customers beautiful, contemporary, and increasingly sustainable fashion and to communicate this clearly. Good education about the importance and benefits of sustainable and circular fashion is needed. This is where we start, among other things, with our Circular Collection label.”

Materials and processing: The focus of the second Circular Collection is on more sustainable materials such as cord, denim, twill, and knit made from organic cotton and ecological cotton in the conversion process. They are primarily used as monomaterials or, if necessary, only mixed with a very low percentage of elastane. Accessories such as zippers are designed for durability. Buttons on pants can be easily unscrewed, and metal rivets are replaced by embroidery. The materials used are particularly robust and have been tested in advance for longevity. Specific areas that are particularly stressed, such as the knee area of children’s jeans, belt loops on trousers, or shoulders and collars of blazers, are reinforced.**

Third Circular Collection in Spring 2024: In the coming spring, bonprix will continue to promote its initiative for circular fashion: The already planned third Circular Collection will offer a larger number of styles and for the first time include more sustainable materials such as viscose and lyocell.

For Carolin Klar, Managing Director responsible for purchasing, sourcing, and corporate responsibility at bonprix, the future of a more sustainable textile industry lies in circularity: “Thanks to the representative online survey for our annual bonprix Fashion Report, we know that almost half of the women in Germany can relate to the term ‘circular fashion’, but very few consciously buy and wear such clothing. At the same time, three-quarters find sustainability in fashion complicated. That’s why we see it as our mission to offer our customers beautiful, contemporary, and ever more sustainable fashion and to communicate this clearly. We need good education about the importance and benefits of sustainable and circular fashion, and that’s what we aim for with our Circular Collection label.”

About bonprix: bonprix is an internationally successful fashion and e-commerce company. Founded in 1986 as a catalog mail-order company in Hamburg, bonprix now employs about 2,900 people worldwide. Over 16 million active customers in more than 25 countries mainly shop in the bonprix webshops and apps for clothing and accessories for women, men, and children as well as home and living products. As a vertical fashion brand, bonprix exclusively sells its own fashion with an excellent price-performance ratio. In the fiscal year 2022/2023 (February 28, 2023), the bonprix Group generated sales of 1.76 billion euros, making it one of the highest-grossing companies in the Otto Group. In Germany, www.bonprix.de is one of the largest online shops and ranks third among online shops with a primary product segment of fashion. Source: Ranking of top-grossing online shops “E-Commerce Market Germany 2022” by EHI Retail Institute/ecommerceDB.*