The French retailer’s entry marks a step toward industrial-scale circularity in Europe’s denim supply chain.
Denim Deal, Europe’s most coordinated push to standardize circular practices in denim, has gained new momentum in France with Kiabi joining the collective.
Announced during Circular Fashion Week in Lille, Kiabi’s membership signals the brand’s pivot from standalone sustainability pilots to a more integrated European framework. The retailer—operating 590 stores across 33 countries—has pledged to use 100 percent sustainable fibers by year-end, with cotton accounting for roughly 60 percent of its material tonnage.
Denim Deal now counts more than 60 organizations across ten countries, all working toward a shared target: 1 billion jeans containing at least 20 percent post-consumer recycled (PCR) cotton by 2030. Its consortium spans brands, recyclers, spinners, weavers and research institutions, aligning around common standards and circular value-chain development.
In France, the initiative has stepped up its presence through an immersive Paris event showcasing denim with more than 20 percent PCR cotton, and the launch of two R&D projects focused on improving PCR durability and managing multi-source industrialization. A subsequent roundtable at Circular Fashion Week explored how collaboration can convert circular ambition into commercial outcomes.
Kiabi’s entry adds scale and retail reach to a movement that depends on coordinated demand signals to unlock recycling infrastructure, improve fiber quality, and stabilize supply. France—home to a diverse mix of denim brands and increasingly stringent regulatory expectations—offers fertile ground for advancing continental standards.
With expansions underway in France and India, Denim Deal is evolving from a Dutch initiative into a global circularity platform. The next test is operational: whether its members can convert collective commitments into verifiable flows of high-quality PCR cotton, robust industrial processes, and commercially viable circular denim at scale.
