Circularity at Swarovski

Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) and Swarovski are proud to have partnered on a multi-year circular design project. 

Image Courtesy of Swarovski.

Circularity is a powerful design tool to deliver positive social and environmental changes to companies’ practices and the lifecycle of their products. For Swarovski, this idea has become a guiding principle in its ongoing work to increase the sustainability performance of their products, reduce resource dependency and extend the life of its products. In continuing to build on their efforts they reached out to us, Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF), with the aim of exploring how circular design principles could transform the jewellery industry. 

At CSF, we aim to transform the fashion and luxury sector through collaboration and co-learning, to create sustainability in action. At the heart of our work is the creation of trusted long-term relationships, and our collaboration with Swarovski demonstrates our commitment to creating culture and practice change across the sector, through combining knowledge exchange, education and research. 

Established in 1895 in the Austrian alps, Swarovski is renowned for its exceptional craftsmanship, and pioneering precision-cut crystal technology. It also carries a long legacy of sustainability. Swarovski was among the first companies to provide housing for its workers and safeguard the health and safety of its employees. Swarovski also understood the role it played in our natural world, and chose to harness hydroelectric power, from the outset, to drive its crystal-cutting machines.  

A core pillar of Swarovski’s sustainability strategy is preserving resources and minimising waste. To build on their efforts in this key focus area, Swarovski and CSF embarked on a four-part circular design project; from first designing a circular design framework, holding training workshops with product design and marketing teams, the creation of a design brief, leading to the launch of our first circularity-led collection, Chroma Twist. The final part of the partnership was the creation of a Circular Design Playbook, ensuring that the knowledge gained is sustained, further developed, and passed on. 

Swarovski’s first circularity-led collection to date, Chroma Twist. Image courtesy of Swarovski. ​

We are proud that our partnership culminates into a tangible outcome with the Chroma Twist collection, which demonstrates the impact that collaboration and co-learning can have in leading change. The collection uses lower impact materials, offers versatile styling options for longer wear and has innovative design features for easier repair. It includes six designs and features at least 50% Swarovski ReCreated™ Crystals, at least 90% recycled metal, and are designed to switch colour and style to increase longevity of wear. 

This ambitious multi-year partnership has been explorative and educational for both CSF and Swarovski. This partnership created opportunities for knowledge exchange for both parties, allowing CSF to learn about the processes of creation of crystal and jewelry, and giving Swarovski the tools to apply circularity practices in their designs. To date, exploration into circularity in commercial jewellery is limited, making this project an important starting block for the sector.   

CSF focuses on the people, processes and policies needed to cultivate awareness, inspire new ideas and create meaningful systemic change across the fashion and luxury sector. Through knowledge-building and hands-on learning, Swarovski colleagues developed a strong mindset of circularity and were given the space to explore this design system in depth. From the new practices now firmly in place to the jewellery collection that brought ambitious ideas to life, these achievements reflect the collective effort behind the project. We are deeply grateful to the Swarovski team for their engagement, dedication, and passion, which undoubtedly shaped the success of the collaboration and its outcome. 

Circularity is a long journey for every company to embark on. It has its complications and short comings; however, it offers an opportunity to actively and positively engage in a product’s lifecycle. It is an incredibly important endeavour as all products past, present and future have lifecycles that will play out in every economic system, whether in growth logic capitalism or post-growth economies. It is important for companies to take responsibility in designing and facilitating a healthy product lifecycle for their products. At CSF we are proud to partner with Swarovski on this journey to create exquisite pieces of jewellery that strive for circularity. 

Learn more about our partnership on the project page.