According to research, over 10 million kilograms of excess textiles are created, imported or accumulated from production leftovers every year in Australia, amounting to about 500 million dollars. Reason enough for the Australian circular fashion brand A.Bch World to do something about it. Thus, six weeks ago, Circular Sourcing was launched, Australia's first digital platform to recirculate high-quality surplus and designer deadstock fabrics.

According to the platform, surplus and deadstock fabrics currently occupy space in over 85 percent of fashion- and textile-related businesses. “The pilot phase has been supported by Sustainability Victoria's Circular Economy Business Innovation Fund (SVCEB) and we're already seeing huge interest from both buyers and sellers,” says the initiative in a press release.

A.Bch was founded in 2018 when founder Courtney Holm experienced a major shortage of circular raw materials on the market. In 2022, the online shop was transformed into a marketplace where other businesses could sell their surplus material as well. Apart from the SVCEB, the platform is also supported by project partners Full Circle Fibres, Melbourne Textile Knitting, The Social Studio and collaborators like Harvey and The Good Egg Collective.

“Our goal is to radically shift the needle, supporting the Australian fashion and textile industry as it transitions to working with more surplus or recycled materials and less virgin materials,” says the initiative on its website.

How does it work?

Those interested in sourcing fabrics can browse the platform by categories like “new arrivals,” “collections,” “prints,” “MOQ 1 metre,”, recycled,” “organic” and “Australian milled”. Filters allow to streamline one’s search according to material, fibre, colour, quantity or price. The website also mentions how many metres of a particular fabric are in stock.

There is also a Learning Hub with more information about materials, related articles and local circular economy news. This is also where customers find more information about recyclable fabrics that qualify for a take-back program: “Imagine a product stewardship that went so deep that you could pack up those offcuts and return them to the manufacturer. Welcome to actual circular sourcing.”

Those who have access materials to sell can also use they platform to list what they have: They just have to apply for a seller account, list their products, send samples of their fabrics and then the listings can go live.

Those customers who would like to see and feel a fabric can do so in the Circular Sourcing showroom in West Melbourne, Victoria.