Reformation’s Push to Rewind the Essentials

If there is one brand that will continue to set the bar high for fashion sustainability and circularity, it's Reformation.

Since its start in 2009, Reformation has continued to change the industry by establishing sustainable ethics and goals like how they want to “lose their virginity in the next few years.” But most importantly, they hold themselves accountable to their climate goals by never shying away from the brand to consumer transparency.

A simple step Tulerie does to see if a brand is “sustainable” or not is by going to their website to find their sustainability page. The Reformation infographic-style sustainability page is a status-worthy example for the industry. Reformation grabs the reader's attention visually with immersive imagery of nature and allows them to leave the website feeling educated and confident that they are shopping from a brand that cares about its people and the environment.

Tulerie, a service built on circular fashion, was thrilled to see Reformation’s research and goals dedicated to circularity and its recent pledge to be “Circular by 2030.”

Reformation aligns with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s definition of a circular economy and its three guiding pillars: “eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature.”

Its circularity page isn’t shy to call out that one hundred billion clothing items are produced yearly. Reformation acknowledged this early on as it made circularity a big part of its business model, showing value in vintage, deadstock, and recycling. Reformation and thredUP even launched a partnership in 2018 and, in 2021, pledged to recirculate 500,000 garments in five years. Reformation is already 80 percent there through its partnership with thredUP.

Reformation has worked to become circular but recognizes there is much more to do that requires our help as consumers. Reformation will work to make their products with better materials. However, they need their consumers to buy less and buy better, take care of the products they buy, and work together to change the industry's regulations.

“The dream of a sustainability program is that it can be a true win-win. It can help further your mission and it also is accretive to margin,” says Kathleen Talbot, chief sustainability officer and vice president of operations at Reformation found on WWD.

Reformation has laid out a roadmap to explore how a brand can still grow while reducing its negative impact, such as “losing its virginity” by 2030, which means updating its better materials to have as close to zero virgin materials as possible. By 2030 it will have a recycling solution for everything they make. It will also continue to measure its carbon emissions and offset 100 percent of its footprint as a Carbon Neutral Certified brand.

To kick off its 2030 goals for circularity, this past April, Reformation launched its first line of “bags for all your baggage.” However, no baggage tied to the environment comes with this new collection of handbags, as they have a reduced conventional carbon footprint and should never be thrown away.

Reformation shoppers have been begging for a bag collection because who would do timeless and trendy handbags better than Reformation? “This is something we want to be able to live for a very long time. If a Reformation shopper ever wants to move on from the original bags, they’re fully recyclable,” CEO Hali Borenstein told Harper’s Bazaar. “But given the slow and steady care poured into the first collection, they might be exactly what the brand’s closest followers were searching for all along.”

Reformations' commitment to both their consumers and the environment’s needs and how to relay that sustainable education in a digestible manner is why they are a household name. Tulerie is excited to see the continual impact of circular fashion on the future and the role of Reformation in the movement.

-As always, elevate your wardrobe with respected fashion and embrace the shift in style