Launching Fashion’s PLACE – Private International Law and Circular Economy

Edinburgh Law School is delighted to announce the launch of 'Fashion’s PLACE' – Private International Law and Circular Economy, a three-year international collaborative research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the German Research Foundation (DFG). This new project is led, on the UK-side of the collaboration, by Professor Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm (PI) and Dr Michael Picard (Co-I), and on the German-side of the collaboration, by Dr Antonia Sommerfeld (PI), Professor Ralf Michaels (Co-I) and Lara Schmidt (RA). This interdisciplinary research explores how private (international) law can support the transition to a more circular and sustainable global fashion industry. The launching workshop brought together expertise in private international law, environmental and waste law, economics, design, biotechnology, and policy to start mapping how private international law, including contracts, cross-border responsibility regimes and dispute resolution, models the environmental and social impacts of fashion value chains.

The inaugural hybrid workshop was hosted at the Edinburgh Futures Institute on 22 April 2026, featuring academic and practitioner perspectives from across the University of Edinburgh, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, and international partners. Discussions ranged from circular textiles strategies and second‑hand markets to innovation, skills, labour conditions and global cooperation. Fashion’s PLACE aims to serve as a platform for ongoing research, dialogue and collaboration at the intersection of law, sustainability and fashion