Bleckmann on the circular textile sector: "Pilots are no longer enough."

From pilotparadox

Bleckmann launched the Renewal Workshop three years ago, through which Bleckmann provides the entire operational and logistical process for brands and retailers so that returned and exchanged clothes that are currently discarded are repaired and can be easily resold.

Since then, they have guided dozens of brands with pilots and product assessments to make second-hand offerings attractive to customers. The outcomes? "Always positive," says Robben. "Brands see that they can recover value with damaged returns and worn clothes. But the translation into structural programmes often fails to materialise."

The real challenge starts when you want to incorporate the circular initiative into your marketing, systems and logistics.

According to Robben, the problem lies in integration. Circular projects are often run by separate teams, separate from the core of the business. "The real challenge starts when you want to fit the circular initiative into your marketing, systems and logistics. Each returned or second-hand item is unique, which requires a different approach than a hundred identical pieces."

System change does not happen overnight

The textile industry has perfected linear production over a hundred years. "Fast profits, high volumes. Everything has been fine-tuned to that in recent years. The move to circular requires a totally different system, different marketing, and above all: a different mindset."

Consumers also play a role. They want to make sustainable choices, "but only if it is just as easy as buying new". For most, buying second-hand still remains cumbersome, unclear and less attractive than buying new. Robben: "The linear shopping experience is frictionless. We need to reach that standard for circular too to get consumers on board. You can already see hopeful initiatives here and there. Like COS offering a pre-loved collection in-store, just among the other clothes. That's when the threshold for consumers is at its lowest. "

Scaling up

The fact that many brands remain stuck in the pilot phase is not only due to fear of cost and complexity. According to Robben, it is mainly a matter of volume. "If volumes increase, the cost per unit goes down automatically. A basic principle from economics. Everything is already possible - we have never come across anything at Bleckmann that we could not process or repair. But without scale, it remains more expensive than necessary." Another pain point: design. Many clothes are not yet made to be repaired. "Design for repair has to become standard. Otherwise you will continue to have high costs on repair."

Without scaling up, circular textiles remain more expensive than necessary

Textielindustrie 2.0

So what does the ideal textile industry look like? Robben envisions a fundamental shift. Less focus on millions of pieces, more on hundreds of thousands that are fully circular. "Companies need to think: I don't want to be the company that grows from ten thousand to a million pieces. I want to grow to a hundred thousand circular pieces, with no waste. Less volume, more value."

He says the challenge lies in bringing vision and implementation together. "Brands must dare to say: we are becoming fully circular. Not: we are growing to a billion turnover. That's a KPI from the 1980s."

The role of Textile District

That's where Textile District comes in. An initiative by Future Up to enable the breakthrough to circular textiles by bringing parties together on a large scale.  According to Robben, this initiative can build exactly the bridge that is needed. "Bringing supply and demand together is the first step. But just as important is knowledge sharing. As a sector, we are still in the pre-competitive phase. That is, companies have nothing to compete with each other for now. Compare it to a river: you better make sure the river's water level rises so that everyone's boat moves forward faster."

With only a successful pilot, the Textile District is not there yet, argues Robben. "It has to help companies start working in a truly circular way. Not: "We have upcycled 100 garments", but: "We have reorganised our chain and implemented circular principles in several parts of our business". Think of a different way of pricing - no longer per piece, but based on origin, use, material or circularity value. And that affects everything: your webshop, your logistics, your financial processes. Everything has to go along with the transformation."

Time for textiles with a future

Robben believes the textile industry could be unrecognisable in five years' time. But then companies will have to stop looking at each other. "This picture is familiar: who wants change? Everyone raises their hand. Who wants change? No one. Unfortunately, that is the situation we are in now."

Still, he sees hope. "The skills, systems and logistics are there. Consumers are willing. What is still needed is for ALL links in the chain - from brands to producers, from logistics partners to retailers - to opt for acceleration. In this, Textile District can give the push needed to get moving together."