Our Sustainability Partnership with SuperCircle to Recycle Wedding Dresses

Our Heart | February 8, 2024

Brides, you have a lot to consider when planning your dream wedding — from floral arrangements and party favors to the marriage license and honeymoon budget. And for many couples, there’s a bigger, more global issue to consider: How to choose sustainable wedding vendors to minimize your celebration’s impact on the environment, resource consumption, and carbon emissions. The question is: Can shopping for stylish and romantic wedding dresses help support meaningful sustainability efforts? At Maggie Sottero, the answer is YES — we believe it is necessary for the joy and commitment of a “happily ever after.”

A wedding dress may be just one part of your overall vision, but if you’re a bride who’s concerned about global impact, it’s a major purchase! You may be looking into ways to avoid waste for your reception (ahem, compostable dishes), save on transportation (local venue!), and pare down your guest list (bring on the friends-and-family dance party), but there’s no denying the power of a meaningful, intentional gown purchase from a designer who can back up their sustainability efforts. And that’s where we step in.

Here, we provide information about Maggie Sottero’s partnership with SuperCircle — one of the ways our team is working to create a more sustainable wedding industry, upholding “Our Heart” promise to support a circular supply system, recycling, and waste reduction in bridalwear. Curious about how your gown purchase supports the cause? Keep reading to learn more! Before you do though, check out some of our lower-impact wedding dresses!

Lower-Impact Wedding Dresses

Who is SuperCircle?

PC: SuperCircle

SuperCircle is a technology and reverse logistics platform addressing the challenges of garment recycling in the fashion industry. With about 85% of clothes going to waste and clothing ending up in landfills, SuperCircle aims to bridge the gap between retail and textile waste. They manage the logistics of the recycling process in terms of technology, shipping, and warehousing, to facilitate the recycling of discarded textiles. SuperCircle’s efforts involve creating a warehouse network for sorting and recycling fabric and garment waste and creating custom bails for recyclers to use.

By encouraging participation from retailers, brands, and consumers, SuperCircle aims to make post-consumer recycling more viable and reduce textile waste’s impact on the environment.

“SuperCircle is thrilled to partner with the Maggie Sottero team to bring a first-of-its-kind circularity program to the bridal category,” says Chloe Songer, CEO of SuperCircle. “Together, we will identify, sort, and process Maggie Sottero gowns for the highest value end-of-life, focusing on fiber-to-fiber recycling. Given that occasion wear pieces are often only worn a handful of times, it is critical that brand leaders rethink the back half of their supply chain and product impact. It has been incredible to work with Maggie Sottero — as a family-owned and operated business and leader in the industry — to do just this and to push the boundaries of innovation and sustainability.”

Our Partnership with SuperCircle and Plans for Recycled Wedding Dresses

Maggie Sottero is leading the way as the first bridal brand to join forces with SuperCircle. This partnership will help to improve Maggie Sottero’s excess stock management and repurposing. It also marks our ongoing investment in the development of a circular textile supply chain.

What does this mean for brides? Partnerships like these help you “purchase with power.” Helping you patronize a brand that diverts 100% of its excess or damaged inventory to a circular supply chain. As well as donations to design schools and community organizations!

“Our partnership with SuperCircle represents a major milestone for Maggie Sottero as we work to become a more regenerative brand. We have ongoing donation partnerships with design schools and community groups. However, our collaboration with SuperCircle is a tremendous step forward in our effort to keep 100% of our excess inventory out of landfills. We believe circularity is critical to environmental sustainability. We’re honored to support SuperCircle in their mission to create a world where no textile is wasted.” — Patricia DeLaunay, Maggie Sottero’s Global Sustainability Director

Scheduled at regular intervals, Maggie Sottero’s excess material shipments will be a factor in lowering the brand’s environmental impact. They are also projected to repurpose 100% of excess product per year, along with donation efforts. This initiative underscores Maggie Sottero’s company-wide sustainability efforts and sets a precedent for other bridal brands to embrace sustainable practices.

Investing in a wedding dress from Maggie Sottero Designs represents a powerful choice that extends beyond your joyous celebration of love. Supporting designers and brands that prioritize sustainability sends a clear message to the fashion world. Adopting sustainable practices helps shift in the industry towards environmentally responsible production methods.

What Do Recycled Wedding Dresses Mean for the Bridalsphere?

In a commitment to environmental sustainability and waste reduction, Maggie Sottero will start regular shipments of excess inventory and materials to SuperCircle’s state-of-the-art facilities. This collaboration aims to change industry standards by embracing a circular economy approach. Materials are recycled, with a focus on fiber-to-fiber recycling, reducing waste and minimizing the ecological footprint associated with bridal fashion production.

We’re reimagining everything we do with a regenerative, future-facing view. The Maggie family is committed to being the change, disrupting the standard, and creating the future to ensure our brides’ love stories — and our Planet — endure.

Our hope is that other brands will follow in Maggie Sottero’s footsteps to lower textile waste in the fashion realm (and most especially the bridal world.) The ripple effect of this can also lead to a broader shift in consumer behavior and promote sustainable options across various industries. It’s a powerful step toward systemic shifts!

Why Does Sustainability Matter to Maggie?

Just as a wedding is a promise for long and happy lives ahead, we are working to create a more sustainable world in which to celebrate. Being the change, disrupting the standard, and creating the future for our next generations has never been more important.

Our strength is in our people, our planet, and our hope for the future. Our mission is to make each bride’s dreams a reality — now and for the years to come.

We stand for love, and love for all — including Mother Earth. That is why sustainability matters to Maggie.

Here are a few ways we are making steps toward positive (and lasting) change:

One Tree Planted

Be a partner in change with us to ensure your love story — and our planet — endure. In honor of every Maggie Sottero bride, we will plant a tree with One Tree Planted, supporting biodiversity protection. Our first project, “Ridge to Reef” in Costa Rica, is recovering endangered tree species. It also creates an elevational corridor to allow species to migrate and survive. These species include sloths, birds, and frogs.

Our team is implementing more sustainable practices throughout the company. As our Global Sustainability Director and Designer, Patricia DeLaunay, puts it, “We are rising to meet this critical moment for people and the planet. We’re implementing systems change throughout our organization, embedding sustainability as a core value for every team in support of a more sustainable wedding industry. We are working as quickly as we can to reduce our environmental impact, taking ambitious action in three key areas: Waste Reduction, Resource Consumption, and Protecting Biodiversity.”

Waste Reduction

Over 3000 lbs and counting of plastic shipping waste has been recycled through our partnership with Rocky Mountain Recycling.
100% of our excess stock is diverted from landfills and into textile recycling programs and donation efforts.
1000+ gowns donated to community organizations and design school students in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. These include the Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, and Rare School of Fashion and Art, Liverpool.

Resource Consumption

We are a Blue Sky Visionary Business Partner with Rocky Mountain Power. Blue Sky is a renewable energy program; this partnership helps reduce our annual carbon footprint by an estimated 93,273 lbs of CO2/year.
We are investing in the circular textile supply chain with partners like SuperCircle and the Avena Group in the U.K.
And we are adding lower-impact materials into our collections. This includes recycled-content and yarn-dyed options to reduce our energy and water usage.

Join our Sustainability Efforts

We know that the wedding industry can play a major part in meeting global sustainability goals. We at Maggie know that we are just one brand. However, our sustainability efforts can help to create positive change in the bridal fashion industry. Like helping SuperCircle in its mission to end textile waste!

When you buy from us, you too become a catalyst of the progress and change. This simple act helps to influence industry practices, foster environmental responsibility, and inspire a shift towards more considered consumption. The impact of this choice goes far beyond the wedding day. It creates a positive legacy for the planet and future generations.

Thank you for taking the time to understand more about our SuperCircle Partnership and sustainability efforts! We’re working to meet and exceed your hopes as an eco-conscious bride… We know your purchase represents a powerful choice. We could not be happier if that leads you to a gorgeous Maggie Sottero Designs wedding gown. Best wishes for your best day ever!

To learn more about our programs and efforts, see our full “Our Heart” commitment to sustainability:

Sustainability Initiatives