Written 24th July 2025
Before signing off (mostly) for the summer I spent one final morning in work mode.
Yesterday I took part in a round table event at The Conduit, hosted by McLaren Racing and 5Thread.
The event was called “The Future of Sustainable Sportswear” and I was invited along as a representative of The Re-Action Collective.
In fact the event was like a wonderful meeting point of three threads of work I do:
Designing new performance / functional apparel.
Reworking unwanted/redundant garments into new things.
Working to develop a new sportswear design MSc.
There were some set themes for groups to talk about, I won’t recount every line of conversation here, but there were a lot of topics discussed in a relatively short period of time and the cross section of people in the room made it extremely varied and interesting. I think everyone could have talked for hours if time had allowed.
Some (and definitely not all) of the points that I resonated with particularly, or that I maybe raised myself included:
When creating new things, alway start with a specific design brief. If you’re making something new, do it with intention and a genuine reason to be!
Design for purpose and performance and only iterate or replace products when genuine improvements can be made.
Don’t create anything that is essentially single use or only suitable for one season or event.
Stop using finite, fossil based raw materials.
Stop using corporate branding or sponsor logos on kit if doing so prohibits that kit being reused / used beyond its initial event.
Big brands could and should invest in local creatives /makers/community initiatives and projects to repair/reuse/rework the huge amounts of existing redundant kit in ways appropriate to that community without demanding return on investment or dictating specific outcomes.
As is often the case in these situations I came away thinking maybe I talked too much - and maybe my contributions were too idealistic.
But as I reflect on the session and similar events I’ve been to I know I will continue to raise my hand to speak because without the dreams and idealistic ideas what do we have?
I remember having some business coaching a while back. I was encouraged to do some visioning; to think about where I wanted to be in X years time, and what I wanted my business and career to look like. By talking about it and clearly picturing a future scenario I was given something to work towards and aim for and anchor my decision around
I think (hope) it’s widely accepted that we will not solve our current problems with the thinking and systems that created them. The sportswear industry is no exception to this. I believe we can’t change the industry and make postive steps forward if we can’t imagine the place we would like to end up! So I will have to continue to pedal the idealistic visions in forums and workshops and to anyone who might listen until change is in full flow!
So many of the obstacles highlighted in this event (and at others) are about the need for money, the need for reassurance that something will ‘work’ before a commitment is made, the need for things to be done at scale, and the requirement for immediate perfection in any given solution!
But what is the actual goal here? I’d suggest both idealistically and dramatically that the goal is to undo the harms we have inflicted on our home planet and its inhabitants and build a world where all things can thrive. (And that’s true of all industry not just sports apparel)
I would argue we don’t just need a handful of people deciding how to deal with our problems in a central place. For meaningful change we need loads of people everywhere doing a whole load of different things all at once!
People (I think) need to be persuaded / shown that the reason to do a thing is not always ‘to make more money for shareholders or to ‘ hit bonus’ but instead because it’s simply the right thing to do. Because the existing system is unsustainable and the risks associated with just continuing with the status quo are just too great!
Which circles me back nicely to The Re-Action Collective - a group of people working independently, but also alongside each other, on community based circular solutions, doing all kinds of things in all kinds of ways and working it out as they go!
These are mostly self funded, or working on a shoestring, motivated by the idealistic dream of what the future could be!
I strongly believe changing the system needs to not be left to a bunch of volunteers - not when their are big corporations and businesses with £s to spend!
We want and need to change the way we do things. But whilst work out what that change looks like and shift to something new, everyone also needs to continue to earn a living in the current system.
Individuals, groups and communities need resources to enable them to progress their great work, they need funding that isnt dependent on certain returns or relinquishing control of their projects.
It seems fitting after yesterday's event to link to a post from Gavin (Re-Action collective founder) talking about all the things the collective have achieved so far, and asking what would be possible with more funding?