#Wearnext // tackling fashion waste in New York City

How do you bring together major fashion brands and one of the world's fashion capitals to tackle the issue of clothing waste in a way that resonates with customers, activists, and industry leaders? That was the mission at the heart of #WearNext, a campaign created by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Bringing together a city, creating a shared purpose

Every year millions of tonnes of clothes are produced, worn, and thrown away. More than 73% of the materials used to produce clothing are landfilled or burned at the end of their life, while less than 1% of old clothing goes on to be made into new clothing. It is not only damaging to the environment, but it is also hugely expensive — in New York alone, the disposal of residential waste costs taxpayers $300 million per year. Despite having the infrastructure to collect and reuse unwanted clothing, New York City sends 200 million pounds of clothing to landfill — that's the equivalent to over 440 Statues of Liberty.

To make it easier for New Yorkers to give their unwanted clothes a new life, in 2019 the City of New York’s Department of Sanitation (DSNY) created an interactive online map plotting the 1,100+ drop-off locations across the city. The #WearNext communications campaign followed, aiming to boost use of these drop-off points and also encourage New Yorkers to repair, resell or swap their old clothes instead of throwing them away.

The campaign connected public authorities, the fashion industry, collectors, recyclers, resellers, media, and social media influencers in New York City, and informed and empowered the public to give their unwanted clothes a new lease of life.

Fashion models including Louise Follain and Marina Testino, actor Kelly Rutherford, and celebrated fashion photographer Harley Weir were among those to support the campaign, which was amplified by project partners and brands including Athleta, H&M, and I:CO at Circular City Week and NYCxDesign and NYCxReuse. In addition, Athleta, Banana Republic, and Gap installed textile collection bins in their stores provided by DSNY through the refashionNYC programme.

My Role

  • Narrative and messaging; shared across partners and used in all social media, media and communications.

  • Media strategy, relations and outreach

  • Workshop facilitation

  • Stakeholder management

  • Project management