Circularity scores rising, but YoY progress slowing: Kearney CFX 2025

Fibre2Fashion

18-07-2025

Rather than pacing ahead, overall progress related to circularity in brands covering the fashion, sports, outdoor, underwear and lingerie, and footwear categories appears to be leveling off, perhaps hinting at a maturing market that is finding it harder to unlock full-stage impact, according to the fifth edition of Kearney's Circular Fashion Index (CFX 2025) report.
The CFX evaluates performance across seven dimensions that together reflect a product's full life cycle. The survey covered 246 brands across 18 countries.
While many brands have committed to circularity, few have translated intent into consistent, scaled execution.
Rather than pacing ahead, overall progress related to circularity in fashion, sports, outdoor, underwear and lingerie, and footwear brands seems to be leveling off, the fifth edition of Kearney's Circular Fashion Index said. While many brands have committed to circularity, few have translated intent into consistent, scaled execution. The leap from moderate engagement to scaled circularity is rare.
More than 70 per cent of brands now fall into the 'moderate' zone—scoring between three and seven points across the seven CFX dimensions—a signal circularity has entered the mainstream with most brands committing to it strategically and beginning to implement relevant programmes.
However, only 3 to 5 per cent of brands reached the 'extensive' implementation level (more than 7 points), underscoring a significant conversion gap. The leap from moderate engagement to scaled circularity remains rare, a research report from the company noted.
Even in the strongest-growing areas—adoption of circular design principles and raw material reuse—progress was mostly limited to shifts from 'limited' to 'moderate' maturity.
The past 12 months reflected continued positive, if unequal, movement. While overall progress was made, i.e., average and median scores went up, not all brands or categories improved equally.
Both the average and median scores increased by 0.20 points, reaching 3.40 and 3.20 respectively. While, on one hand, this is a signal of sustained momentum, it is also slightly below the rate of improvement seen last year.
Over the past five years, average scores have risen by 1.4 points, and median scores by 1.6 points.
The bottom 80 per cent of brands actually remained constant in 2025, suggesting the mid-tier is struggling to keep pace.
Meanwhile, only five brands scored above 7.0, and fewer than a fifth exceeded the 5.0 mark—despite this group nearly doubling since last year.
This growing divide is also visible at the top. The top 10 list has remained largely unchanged for the third year in a row, with only two new brands entering the list: Arc'teryx and Decathlon, a research report from the global management consulting firm headquartered in Chicago said.
This pattern suggests that strong performers are continuing to pull ahead, while the broader market remains locked in a state of 'moderate' maturity.
Today, most brands find themselves stuck between ambition and execution, progressing, but not fully transforming.
Most of the low-hanging fruit has been picked: basic circularity initiatives, awareness campaigns, capsule collections, or localised take-back programmes. But the transition from piloting to full-scale circularity execution often lags, the research found.
Circularity efforts too often still remain siloed in sustainability departments rather than being embedded into product development, sourcing, supply chain and commercial operations, it noted.
'While directionally correct, the industry's pace must now shift gears. With regulation moving from policy to enforcement, incremental gains will no longer suffice. Brands must evolve from declaring ambition to delivering evidence—systematically, and at scale. And that starts by fully engaging across all seven dimensions,' the company's research report said.
The Research found frontrunners are starting to shift from symbolic gestures to systemic change. Much of the past year's CFX growth stemmed from two key dimensions: circular design and closing the loop initiatives.
Developments reflect two complementary paths: one focuses on system-level design transformation and the other on high-visibility product innovation. But both are essential to move from pilot thinking to platform building and ultimately toward embedded, scalable circular design, the report added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)