Viva la re-worn-lution!

There’s more than one way to start a revolution. Clothing the Loop: Circular Design Festival is returning to Canberra with a proposition: what if caring for our clothes, our belongings and the materials that make them could itself be an act of creative dissent?

Presented by the award-winning site-specific dance company Australian Dance Party, sustainable fashion pioneer Kelli Donovan of Keli Studio and Canberra Institute of Technology, the two-day festival brings fashion, activism, performance and purpose together at CIT’s new Woden Campus on 6 and 7 November. Landing on the opening weekend of the Craft + Design Canberra Festival, it’s less lecture hall, more open dialogue, filled with fashion, dance, music and plenty of opportunities to roll up your sleeves and get making.

Australian Dance Party Artistic Director Alison Plevey describes Clothing the Loop as a celebration of “creativity and sustainability”, with this year’s festival focusing on caring for our clothes, homes and creative practices while valuing the artistry, processes and materials behind them. “The program is action-packed and includes some incredible designers and artists sharing their work. Get along to be inspired and support a healthy planet for the next generations!”

Dress up, show up

First, the revolution is getting frocked up. Friday night’s Evening Spectacular invites you to dress up and experience sustainable design in the spotlight, with runway collections from leading local and national designers, including Australian fashion icon Linda Jackson OAM and First Nations Label Corella & Crow – accompanied live by musician Sia Ahmad. Expect installations, circular design stalls and conversations with changemakers, too.

It’s a fabulous reminder that sustainability doesn’t equal wearing a hair shirt. Clothes designed and made with greater care can still be playful, glamorous and desirable. And perhaps one of the best ways to challenge our appetite for ‘more’ is to fall properly in love with what we choose in the first place.

From watching to doing

Come Saturday, things get hands-on. The Full Day Gathering shifts that question from ‘what could a circular future look like?’ to ‘what can we actually do about it?’ Artist- and designer-led workshops explore everything from repurposing materials to basic sewing skills and creative textiles, while panel conversations venture beyond wardrobes to consider sustainable practice across fashion, architecture, interiors and live performance. Key speakers include Linda Jackson OAM, Clodagh Crow (ABC Play School), and Thor Diesendorf (Thor’s Hammer).

There’s a clothes swap for giving neglected wardrobe residents a fresh start, the Great Global Mend for extending the lives of old favourites, circular designer stalls and family activities at the Kids Corner, plus tours exploring the sustainable design of the new CIT campus. Talks will be Auslan interpreted, with a sensory tour and chill-out zone helping make the day accessible to more members of the community.

Against a culture forever whispering ‘newer, faster, more’, choosing to care, repair and keep something in the loop a little longer can be a radical act. And yes, while transforming entire industries is a rather large job for just one weekend, two days offer plenty of time to take the first step in changing our relationship with ‘stuff’. Tickets to Clothing the Loop’s Evening Spectacular and Full Day Gathering are available on Australian Dance Party’s website. See you there!

♡ This is a Better Together Peppermint Partnership, where we team up with brands we love. This story was created with support from our friends at Clothing the Loop. Clothing the Loop is an annual sustainable fashion and circular design festival held in Canberra, Australia, scheduled for 6 and 7 November at the Canberra Institute of Technology’s Woden Campus as part of the 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival. Come curious. Leave inspired.