Seamless CEO, Ainsley Simpson sat down with Meriel Chamberlin to discuss the transformative potential of circular textile systems in Australia, highlighting the importance of leveraging expertise, innovative design and collaboration to create a sustainable circular clothing industry.
With the Seamless workplan underway, our CEO, Ainsley Simpson sat down with global textile leader, Meriel Chamberlin, who recently commenced as our resident expert advisor supporting responsible businesses that have joined Seamless as members and supporters.
What inspired you to become a leader in this exacting science?
My instinctive passion for working with textiles has led to 25 years working in Europe, Australia and Asia, in supply chain, consulting and with my business Full Circle Fibres. The rag trade is in my bones, I never tire of it. I’ve been creating with yarn and cloth since I was little and still love to, whether it’s knitting a sweater or working with a mill to create new cloth. This industry is a mix of technology and art, when it’s in the hands of those that ‘get’ this, it sings.
I’m a Textile Scientist, with experience at every stage from fibre to retail buying. During my studies and early career, I learned and practiced alongside some giants of our industry - they lead the way on how to design, source and deliver with great quality and integrity. It’s no accident ‘vintage’ garments from the late ‘90s are treasured for their fabric and construction quality. The expertise that knows how to do this is still out there, as wasted as the clothing we dump - it’s time to tap into it again.
How do you see clothing design and production playing a role in a zero-waste future?
Reducing our clothing footprint starts and finishes with great garment design and quality, now with a mind to recovering ingredients after a long life, swiftly followed by avoiding over production.
As a natural systems thinker I’ve always cared about the life journey of products, growing up in a household that wasted nothing. It truly is second nature to me to wonder ‘Where is this from? How was it made?’ And ‘Where can it go next?’ It’s great for this work, it’s hard to switch off!
Circular design is a strategic priority for Seamless and I’m excited about the circular design training which Seamless will roll out for its members this year. I hope in time that it will extend beyond designers to embed these practices for professionals emerging through TAFE and university.
What unique opportunities do you see for Australia in a circular textile economy?
Through my professional experience, and my recent Churchill Trust Fellowship investigating zero waste textiles, it’s clear we have unique opportunities here in Australia to move from linear to circular through Seamless. My top three insights are:
1. From preferred fibre to preferred futures
We have an opportunity to move beyond ‘preferred fibre’ selection to engineering ‘preferred futures’. This could include adopting pragmatic total recycled content targets at the enterprise level to enable scalable improvements in recycled material quality, as well as partnerships to create regenerative and zero waste systems.
2. Enable innovation and experimentation onshore
We also have an opportunity to enable innovation and experimentation in small-batch hubs and evolution of established local mills for circular textiles innovation. This is already occurring in Europe.
For example, Magnolab in Italy enables flexible, small-scale production for testing new materials and techniques to compliment the capability in surrounding mills. In Belgium, Purfi is an innovation proof-point for how established mills can integrate soft mechanical recycling into existing facilities. This approach is more effective than starting a processing enterprise from scratch.
We have an opportunity to embrace systemic change in policy, finance and collaboration to start implementing some of the many commercially proven technologies already available for processing predictable textile waste streams to enable viable onshore recycling.
3. Leverage our natural advantages
We can build on our incredible advantages as growers of world-leading wool and cotton, and amplify the work both sectors are doing in regenerative agriculture systems and authentication. Twinning this with our huge renewable energy resources, we can choose to lead. Products made with ‘regenerative’ ingredients can still end up wasted and dumped - it’s how we conduct and facilitate the whole system that will deliver the future in balance, and our agricultural system can be part of this.
What excites you most about supporting Seamless members?
It's an exciting opportunity to support Seamless members and supporters to shape and steer this ever-changing clothing and fashion landscape. In the years since its inception, I’ve contributed, listening to so many stakeholders, some members, some supporters, some still wary about how it’s supposed to work, and I can see all points of view. It’s time to make serious headway, as progress towards zero waste textiles is not about invention but implementation. Solutions are ready to go, we can start today. I’ve highlighted several of these in my Fellowship Report.
I was also excited to see the first stage of the Seamless National Clothing Benchmark released last year. This provides analysis to guide investment infrastructure development and policy making, much like the Netherlands’ textile usage flow study informs its circular economy strategies.
So as a strong advocate for a more positive textile future, I am ready to help harness the sector’s ambition, creativity, and collective capability to make brilliant products, building the systems, industries and enterprises our kids and grandkids will be proud to be part of.
About Meriel Chamberlin
Meriel Chamberlin has worked in the global textile industry for over 25 years and is a resident expert advisor to the responsible businesses which have joined Seamless as members and supporters.
She graduated from Textile Science in Manchester before becoming a Chartered Colourist with the Society of Dyers and Colourists and was recently recognised as an Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne (Mech. Eng) for her work on sustainable medical textiles.
The philosophy of her business, Full Circle Fibres, is to bring knowledge, transparency and integrity to the supply chain for apparel, fabrics and yarns, from their inception to recycling, or end of life nutrient recapture to earth. Her focus is on increasing our ability to recycle textiles to textiles onshore and working with brands to deliver more sustainable outcomes from their supply chains and products.
In 2023, Meriel was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to research global best practice in commercialised and scalable zero waste textiles. Her comprehensive published report covers how Australia can use its natural advantages to lead with an essential, clean, nature based, and prosperous textile industry of the future.
