Fashion’s PLACE - Private International Law and Circular Economy
Bilateral Grant from DFG and AHRC for a joint project of researcher from Max-Planck-Institute for Comparative and International Private Law and the University of Edinburgh
The fashion industry continues to operate predominantly within a linear economic model that generates significant environmental harm and overuses natural resources. Circular economy models offer the potential to reconcile value creation with sustainability. The effective implementation of these models, however, requires a solid legal infrastructure. “Fashion’s PLACE” is a three-year research project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Starting in February 2026 it examines how private law and private international law can be recalibrated to structurally support the transition toward a circular fashion economy.
Globally, the fashion industry is characterized by highly resource- and emission-intensive patterns of production and consumption that place considerable pressure on the environment. Its economic model follows a linear structure: resources are extracted, transformed into products, sold, used, and ultimately discarded. This model fosters the overuse of resources, high levels of waste generation, and exacerbates existing global inequalities.
Against this background, circular economy concepts are gaining increasing prominence. They have the potential to promote sustainability without eliminating economics gains by keeping materials in circulation for as long as possible through reuse and recycling. Although companies are increasingly experimenting with corresponding business models, an adequate legal framework to effectively support this structural transformation is still lacking. Precisely because circular business models rely on (transnational) contracts and property – core institutions of private law – the legal design of private international law plays a crucial role.
From February 2026 onwards the research project “Fashion’s PLACE” (Private International Law and Circular Economy) therefore explores the role and regulatory function of private (international) law within the fashion industry, and examines how these legal fields can be further developed to facilitate the shift from a linear to a circular economy. Methodologically, the project adopts a comparative, doctrinal, and interdisciplinary approach, integrating legal analysis with economic perspectives and stakeholder views. The funding through DFG und AHRC will enable the project team to engage with a broad international network of researchers and stakeholders and organise conferences as well as stakeholder meetings during the next three years.