International Circular Fashion Week Conference 2026

International Circular Fashion Week Conference

16–17 March 2026 | Leeds Beckett University – The Rose Bowl

Welcome to the International Circular Fashion Week Conference — a global platform where innovation, sustainability, culture, and collaboration shape the future of fashion.

Hosted annually in the UK, this pioneering non-profit event brings together designers, entrepreneurs, researchers, educators, policy-makers, students, and changemakers from around the world to reimagine a fashion industry that works for both people and the planet.

Through panel discussions, exhibitions, workshops, live showcases, performances, award ceremonies, and pop-ups, the conference highlights groundbreaking circular models, materials, and ideas that challenge the status quo. It also offers meaningful opportunities for international networking, cross-sector collaboration, and real-world impact.

Keynote by Professor Natascha Radcliffe-Thomas, Award-winning author, educator and sustainability expert.

Phillip Warren is Curator at the Symington Corset Collection.

Celebrating Heritage, Folklore & Sustainable Futures

The 2026 edition places a special focus on cultural heritage, folklore, traditional craft, repair, and upcycling, woven together through bold contemporary expression.

From folklore-inspired garments and ancestral techniques to modern design created from rescued and reused materials, we believe tradition and sustainability walk hand in hand.

We carry beautiful traditions we cannot afford to lose —
stories stitched into fabric,
identity expressed through embroidery,
skills passed through generations,
and history revived through design.

✨ If your work is rooted in heritage, folklore, tradition, craft, or cultural storytelling — this is your place.

Live Performance

Sing the Thread, Move the Memory

A central artistic moment of the conference is Sing the Thread, Move the Memory — a live, interdisciplinary performance exploring heritage, memory, and identity through movement, music, and dress.

The performance brings together:

• Live singers and dancers
• Multiple languages and cultural traditions
• Folklore-inspired costumes and textiles
• Movement, voice, and storytelling rooted in ancestral knowledge

Presented within the main conference programme, the performance embodies the spirit of the event — where song becomes thread, movement becomes memory, and culture is carried forward through collective expression.

This is not entertainment alone, but a living act of preservation, connection, and circular storytelling.

Get Involved

If you are a designer, maker, artist, performer, or collective and would like to:

• Exhibit your work
• Take part in the pop-up or showcase
• Contribute to the wider programme or performance
• Explore collaboration or partnership opportunities

We would love to hear from you.

📩 Exhibiting, collaborations & partnership enquiries:
info@circularfashionincubator.com

Organised by Circular Fashion Incubator CIC, in collaboration with students and staff at Leeds Beckett University, the International Circular Fashion Week Conference is more than an event —
It is a growing movement of repair, storytelling, skills, culture, and transformation.