A Look Back at Our Circle Pop-Up at the Barbican

Last month, we brought together 1,900 friends, makers, and members of the TOAST community for our TOAST Circle Pop-Up at the Barbican in London. TOAST Circle keeps items in use for longer, championing textiles in all of its forms, one stitch, swap, renewal and donation at a time. The 11-day event showcased a range of activities and collaborations aimed at preserving craftsmanship and extending the life of garments.

We presented a repurposed capsule collection created in partnership with fashion designer Phoebe English. Known for her sculptural silhouettes and innovative exploration of materials, Phoebe uses a circular design approach to reject fast fashion and create clothing with the planet’s finite resources in mind. The collection celebrated lost or little-used fabrication techniques with a respect for construction. Using fabric off-cuts and returned or damaged TOAST items, Phoebe created seven unique pieces with minimal waste, each reimagined using patchworking, weaving, deconstruction and her signature pattern-cutting techniques.

The pieces from the collection were available to purchase in a silent auction with all proceeds going to our charity partner Traid, which works to reduce the social and environmental impact of our garments. We are delighted to have had 43 bids across all seven pieces and we raised £3,194 for Traid via the silent auction and workshop ticket sales. This has contributed to its long-term programme with READ, supporting 35 additional educational scholarships for young women in Tamil Nadu, South India.

We also hosted a TOAST Exchange event. Partnering with Traid and clothes-swapping company Verte, we invited you to swap any cherished item in your wardrobe for another. People brought in up to five worn garments, regardless of the brand, and filled out a story label of its history. After we assessed each item, participants received tokens and could browse the pre-worn rails during dedicated swap slots and exchange them for others. 580 garments were swapped, with an additional 75 items donated back to Traid. One attendee said that it was “the most thoughtfully curated and calm clothes swap” they had attended to date.

Visitors engaged in creative textile workshops, guided by guests including artist Ekta Kaul and textile designer and weaver Maria Sigma. Repair specialists were also available for free drop-in consultations where we invited you to bring cherished garments along and discover a variety of creative mending options. For example, workshops on sashiko – meaning “little stabs” in Japanese – demonstrated how to reinforce clothing with embroidered patches. A total of 216 people participated in a craft workshop or repair consultation, learning valuable skills to extend the life of beloved garments. “It’s been one of the best workshops I've ever been to,” said one participant. “Such a useful skill to gain, thank you TOAST!”