I’ve been thinking a lot about transparency lately, not in the abstract, policy-sounding way it’s usually discussed, but in the very practical sense of what it actually looks like for a small fashion brand trying to do things differently without burning out. Who’s it for, who has the capacity to engage with it properly, and how early you’re allowed to admit you’re still figuring it out.
That’s the context this GBADEBO x CircKit collaboration sits in. We’ve been working with Manchester-based tech start-up CircKit to integrate Digital Product Passports into a number of garments in my latest ‘unoriginals’ collection. Not as a finished solution or a box to tick, but as a test. Something tangible that people can interact with now, rather than a promise about the future.
If you scan the QR code on the care label, you’re taken through what we currently know about that garment, where the materials came from, how it was made, and its environmental footprint as it stands. Digital Product Passports, or DPPs, are part of incoming 2027 EU regulation that will require brands selling textiles in Europe to provide clear, accessible information about their products, from origin through to end of life. In theory, they’re meant to rebuild trust between brands, consumers, and supply chains by making data visible rather than implied. As well as, pushing the brand to reconsider their impact if it’s put on full display. In practice, especially for small brands, they can feel intimidating, technical, and perhaps slightly out of reach. Prior to diving into this collaboration, I wondered whether this would just be another policy that eventually gets overturned and whether it would even be worthwhile to really take the time to open up the proverbial back doors of my business for everyone to see. But whether DPPs stick or not, what I learnt is that as a sustainable business, it’s important to lead from the front - no matter my size. With nothing to hide, why not show how my business has strived to work hyperlocally, sustainably and with minimal wastage. All factors that unless pushed through marketing, would be unseen.
What’s been refreshing about working with CircKit is that the process hasn’t felt like being lectured by policy. The Founder and CEO Joe and the team are focused on making circularity and transparency feel usable, not theoretical, and that matters when you’re an independent designer without a huge sustainability department. Joe goes on to say how their “mission is to make circularity and transparency feel more tangible for a brand’s audience, rather than theoretical, [and that] working with GBADEBO has shown how DPP technology can empower independent, creative designers to communicate the story and impact of their pieces. This partnership highlights how data insights can be seamlessly woven into upcycled collections, particularly as regulations evolve, so brands feel supported to lead, enabling customers to connect with the journey of their products.”
The timing also lined up with a shift in my own work. This collection marks my move into womenswear, something I’ve wanted to do properly for a long time. Streetwear designed with women in mind, not as an afterthought. As a streetwear lover myself, I often find that I’m reaching for men’s jeans or Mens hoodies and the only women’s pieces have exposed midriffs or cinched waists. But I wanted to create pieces for the girls that live in their clothes. Clothes that you sleep in, lounge around all day in and then chuck a pair of heels on and go out in (the girls that get it get it). The pieces are still rooted in upcycling, one-of-one garments made from unwanted or damaged textiles, but the silhouettes are more intentional, shaped around real bodies and real lives. Clothes that can move between settings, be styled up or down, and actually earn their place in your wardrobe.
Winning BBC3’s The Drop and debuting in FLANNELS at the end of 2023 opened doors, but it also sharpened my awareness of how quickly sustainability can become aesthetic rather than infrastructure. This collaboration felt like a way to ground the conversation again. To say, here’s what we’re doing, here’s what we know, and here’s where the gaps still are. The DPPs in this collection are early iterations. Some data comes from internal records and includes approximations, because the regulatory standards themselves are still evolving. But that honesty feels more useful than waiting until everything looks perfect on paper.
We launched the collection with an afternoon event in Mappin & Webb (the royal families jewellers), designed very intentionally as a celebration for the girlies. People could try on the clothes, scan the DPPs live, and ask questions in real time. I spoke openly about my faith and its importance in my journey, about balancing life as an independent designer and a new mum, and about the tension between wanting to build something meaningful and constantly questioning whether the system actually wants you to win. That tension sits inside the clothes, too. Comfort and confidence, care and ambition, all existing at once.
What excites me most about this project isn’t the idea of being early or first, but the possibility of making transparency feel less intimidating for other small brands watching from the sidelines. Sustainability doesn’t have to arrive fully formed to be worth engaging with. Sometimes it starts with showing the working, learning in public, and building the infrastructure as you go.
This collaboration marks the end of phase one, with plans to expand how we use CircKit’s tools in future collections. I don’t have neat conclusions yet, but I do know this feels like a step towards a more honest way of working. One that invites people into the process rather than asking them to trust it blindly.