The Refashion Lab report, Cape Town Discard Studies in Fashion and Textiles, addresses some of the realities, opportunities and challenges of the excesses of fashion & textiles – and resultant waste flows – that emerged from a micro-study in Cape Town, South Africa between 2021 and 2023. The report, released in August 2025, covers a range of reflections including costs, skills, obstacles, limitations, partnerships and local capacities in relation to pre-and post-consumer fashion & textile waste that currently ends up in landfills or as litter in rivers, drains and the environment.
A collaboration between Africa Fashion Research Institute and Twyg, the Refashion Lab considers how fashion & textile waste can be re-imagined as a regenerative resource, as generator for new green jobs, and as a potential pathway to forms of social, environmental and economic justice. Understanding this waste allows us to respond to the fashion & textile industry’s need for advice on improved design practices and need to find and apply solutions. (You need to read the report on your laptop or desktop computer.
