Project R-16882

CIRCFashion Virtual Retail Lab (Research)

CIRCFashion – Virtual Retail Lab aims to accelerate the implementation of circular business models in the Flemish fashion sector by supporting retailers, designers, and technology partners in designing and evaluating circular retail concepts. Although the second-hand market is growing, other circular strategies such as rental, repair, and take-back services remain largely underutilised. The project translates existing knowledge on circular consumer behaviour, retail design, and virtual demonstration technologies into practical design guidelines for physical retail environments. This enables companies to test and compare circular store concepts without costly renovations or the loss of valuable retail space. The project pursues three main objectives. First, it integrates existing knowledge on consumer behaviour and retail strategies into an open-access playbook that provides guidance on spatial and service design choices that encourage circular consumer behaviour. Second, this knowledge is translated into practice through an evidence-based evaluation framework, the configuration of existing virtual visualisation tools, an open-source library of circular retail assets, and an accessible scan-to-design workflow that allows existing stores to be digitally modelled. Third, these tools are validated through ten real-world case studies involving consumers, fashion companies, and service providers, followed by demonstrations, workshops, and sector-wide knowledge dissemination to stimulate the adoption of circular retail concepts.

01 December 2026 - 30 November 2029