Zalando and Graduate Fashion Foundation scale educational experience focused on circularity in fashion

Zalando and the Graduate Fashion Foundation (GFF) take an important step in expanding knowledge around sustainability and circularity in the fashion industry. The Circularity Masterclass, an educational experience for fashion design students in Europe, has been rolled out as an educational supplement at six universities in five countries. 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 Circularity Masterclass is an educational platform that offers a comprehensive knowledge base for students to gain a fundamental understanding of circularity and the main challenges within the fashion industry. 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 is 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 is offered as a free-of-charge extra-curricular activity. It 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.

Designing for the future of fashion

The programme is crafted to address a gap in the fashion industry, which shows a lack of education on circular and sustainable fashion design, and limited knowledge on these topics among existing fashion professionals. The Circularity Masterclass not only addresses this challenge but also encourages students to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset—key to fostering an industry where circularity is an integral part of the design process.

“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,” says Daniel Enke, Director of Public Affairs and Social Impact at Zalando.

The project fuses theoretical and practical aspects alongside real-life case studies that support a student’s understanding of the current linear fashion system and the circular economy. Nearly 80% of students that participated in the pilot programme expressed a desire to continue exploring circularity in their careers.

“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”, says Nicola Hitchens, GFF Director and Head of Special Projects and Communications.