Graduate Fashion Foundation (GFF) is teaming up with online fashion retailer Zalando to scale educational experience focused on circularity in fashion.

Six universities across five European countries will participate in the “important” programme aiming to address a gap in fashion industry education, namely “the lack of training in circular and sustainable design”.

So their ‘Circularity Masterclass’ creates an educational experience for fashion design students in Europe as an educational supplement.

Building on the success of the pilot in 2023 at the Manchester Fashion Institute at the Manchester Metropolitan University, the programme is being expanded in 2024/2025 and carried out at the Marangoni Fashion Institute in Milan (Italy), VIA University College (Denmark), Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Madrid (Spain), Leeds Arts University (UK), BSP Berlin and Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle (Germany).

The content has been developed by industry experts together with Zalando and GFF, covering topics such as materials, design for circularity, production, quality control, delivery, garment end-of-life, waste streams and more.

Accompanying the project will be a wide-ranging resource list to inspire further exploration of these concepts through films, books, reports, audio interviews, and podcasts with industry experts.

The programme, which is offered as a free-of-charge extra-curricular activity, culminates in a competition for students to showcase their understanding of circular design theory. The submissions will be assessed by the GFF team, Zalando and industry experts in 2025, with one winner being chosen from each participating university.

Daniel Enke, director of Public Affairs and Social Impact at Zalando., said: “With this initiative, we are empowering the next generation of designers to drive transformation in the fashion industry by embedding sustainability and circularity at the very heart of their design practices.”

Nicola Hitchens, GFF director and head of Special Projects and Communications, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity to harness the expertise of fashion industry leaders to inspire and educate students on the importance and relevance of circularity. The industry is rapidly changing and the current fashion students are the industry leaders of tomorrow.”