Circular solutions
Better choices come from thinking beyond the finished product.
At COS, we want to create a world where our clothes are worn longer and no longer wasted, where if they have been parted with, they can be taken apart and made new again. We want to look beyond our designs, where what we use in our current stores can be reused in new stores the world over. We know that if we are to protect the future, we need find new solutions to preserve what we have in the present.
To help our designs go full circle, here are some of the circular solutions we currently have in place.
RESELL
Beyond new.
To help extend the life of our designs after they have left us, we introduced Resell: an online marketplace for our community to buy and sell pre-loved COS pieces.
Providing a place dedicated solely to our clothing offers a more direct way for people to find a new home for the pieces that they want to part with, from one COS lover to another.
We are proud to be among the first to launch our very own resale platform, helping pave the way for a new – and better – era for our industry.
Currently available in the UK and Germany.
Join the Resell revolution.
FULL CIRCLE
Beyond one season.
Let the journey of your COS pieces go full circle.
Caring about the pieces we make goes beyond our stores and atelier; we have to take responsibility for when they leave us, too. That's why we started Full Circle, our complimentary garment-collection service in store for people to pass on their pre-loved COS pieces.
By offering a service where our designs can be donated back to us, we can find the best way to give them a new life. Whether it's restoring them to be worn again, recycling the fibres into repurposed fabrics for future collections, or sending them on to be recycled in other ways.
These pieces will form part of our special Restore collection and sold at a lower price in selected stores.
We want to provide this service in as many countries as possible, but right now it's only available in selected stores. You can find out more about COS Full Circle here.
RESTORE
Beyond perfection.
Looking beyond perfection.
Every second, the equivalent of a rubbish-truck load of clothes is burnt or buried in landfill*. But we’re choosing a different path. That’s why we’ve explored new ways to repair, repurpose and reduce our way beyond waste.
Our Restore project takes pre-loved pieces donated back to us through Full Circle and cleans and repairs them so they can be sold again. To do this, we partner with industry specialists who can help us bring these products back to life. We’re also working on a solution to add designs from our latest collections that are faulty or damaged, too.
You can find out more about Restore here
REPURPOSE
Beyond one life.
Being more resourceful is one of the best things we can do to reduce our waste. We’re exploring ways we can be more efficient with our pattern-cutting techniques, but when we do have fabric leftover, we want to be able to use it again instead of throwing it away.
In our repurpose projects, we take all of the waste-material cuttings from our own production process, break them down and use the fibres again to make new products.
Our first step to success was with cotton. To celebrate this innovation, we launched a special capsule collection of sweatshirts that were made with excess cotton fibres. That was just the start. Since then, we’ve explored ways to offer even more repurposed fabrics, such as repurposed wool and our Beyond One Life capsule – made using leftover materials from past COS collections.
To create high-quality repurposed pieces, the fabric used in the first place must also be high quality. These materials have longer fibre lengths, so even when they are shredded, they keep their quality. At COS, we have very high standards for the materials we use. That’s why we’re one of the only brands making high-quality pieces made from repurposed fabrics.
*Ellen Macarthur Foundation – Redesigning the Future of Fashion