28 August 2026 · 7 min read · By Sanjeewa Dehiwalage
Design for disassembly, translated into factory instructions
Design for disassembly sounds like a design brief. On the floor it is a list of very specific choices about trims, threads, fusing and seam types — each of which has a cost, a quality risk and a machine implication.
- circular design
- product development
- trims
- sustainable fashion
Single-fibre bodies wherever performance allows
A garment built from one fibre family is dramatically easier to recycle, because separation is the expensive step. The tension is performance: stretch, recovery, hand feel and durability are often achieved by blending.
The workable compromise most teams reach is to defend single-fibre construction on high-volume basics and accept blends where the function genuinely requires them, rather than blending by habit.
Trims, threads and fusing decide the teardown time
Metal trims, mixed-polymer zips, heavy fusible interlining and adhesive-bonded panels all add manual removal time at recovery. Removal cost is per garment, so it is where circular intent usually dies during costing.
Practical substitutions include matching thread polymer to shell fibre, choosing mono-material closures, reducing bonded overlays, and specifying trims that detach at a single point instead of being caught in multiple seams.
Write it where it will be read
A disassembly intention that lives only in a design deck disappears at bulk. It has to appear in the tech pack, the trim card and the inline inspection checklist, with a named control point — otherwise the substitution decision is made by whoever sources the cheapest zip.
Key takeaways
- Separation cost, not fibre quality, is usually what makes a garment unrecyclable.
- Match thread and trim polymers to the shell wherever performance allows.
- Circular specifications only hold if they reach the tech pack and the inspection checklist.
Where this is taught
More on circular fashion
Figures are indicative of common practice, not standards or legal limits. Self-study material, not certified training.