Helping brands and producers turn circularity into value
Circularity strategy, partnerships and circular design for fashion and textile businesses.
Get in touch
What I do
I'm Cherie Nelson.
I work with ambitious businesses in fashion and textiles to create partnerships and design circularity strategies that deliver commercial value and positive impact.
I bring deep industry expertise, technical knowledge and a systems perspective to help brands and producers embed circularity in sourcing, business models, operations and the customer experience.
Where I come from
I've worked inside leading fashion retailers, including a decade at Urban Outfitters rising to Senior Head of Buying & Sourcing.
I built business cases for circular innovation and led change to deliver it, helping to reposition BDG into a responsible denim brand and driving adoption of textile-to-textile recycled content, lower impact fibres and processes. I evolved the apparel supply base for margin growth, with distinctive product handwriting and higher environmental standards.
I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Business from Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, where I'm completing an MSt in Sustainability Leadership.
- Urban Outfitters
- Topshop
- River Island
- Monsoon · Accessorize
- University of Cambridge
Who I advise
Kipaş Textiles
Consultant Head of Circularity
Building business cases for leading brands to move from rPET to fibR-e textile-to-textile recycled polyester.
Leading partnerships across collectors, sorters, brands and circularity organisations to meet EPR requirements.
Advisory board member at Sustainability Talks, Istanbul.
Denim Deal
Steering Committee Member
A global initiative to shift over a billion pairs of jeans to at least 20% post-consumer recycled cotton by 2030.
Bringing a brand, product and circular design perspective to the Steering Committee.
Lead author of the first denim-specific circular design guide on producing jeans with lower lifecycle impacts, developed with upstream and downstream stakeholders.
How I can help
Commercial Partnerships
I develop partnerships between brands, producers and circular service providers that solve commercial and circularity challenges.
Drawing on my knowledge of innovation, supply chains and the wider business ecosystem, I build the business case on regulatory requirements and opportunities, risk mitigation, and brand value creation.
Circular Design & Innovation
I provide brands with guidance and training on circular design, drawing on deep technical knowledge of supply chains, materials, production processes and consumer expectations.
Trade-offs and priorities are specific to each brand, product and category. I apply lifecycle and systems thinking with commercial and practical expertise.
Responsible Buying & Sourcing Strategy
The waste of materials and margin in a fashion business starts with buying and sourcing decisions: product appeal, volume, sourcing flexibility and timing.
I work with commercial teams to redesign strategy for profitability across the product lifecycle.
I put the right incentives and evaluation tools in place to drive profitable, responsible decision-making and commercial discipline, built on the right producer partnerships.
Research & policy development
- RCO100, 100% Recycled Cotton DenimA case study on circular-oriented innovation in the textiles and apparel sectorJournal of Circular Economy; Nelson, C. (2025)
- Retaining Product Value in Post-Consumer TextilesHow to scale a closed-loop systemResources, Conservation & Recycling; Charnley, Nelson et al. (2024)
- Digital Product PassportsOpportunities to facilitate customer adoption of circular business models in the apparel sectorWhite Paper (in progress, 2026)
- University of Cambridge · Centre for Resilience and Sustainable DevelopmentExpert Participant in CRSD Policy Proposal Development
- Reforming Textile Trade Codes for a Sustainable & Circular Textile Economy, 2024CRSD, TRA and EuRIC used CRSD's action-research methodology, the Cambridge Policy Boot Camp (CPBC), to co-design HS reform proposals.
- Systems for Supporting the Transformation of the Textiles Sector, 2023Policy design for the European Union's Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles.
“Cherie has an impressive depth of expertise in sustainability and circularity, approaching the future of fashion with both realism and ambition. She understands how to integrate sustainability into the core of a business in a way that is commercially viable, operationally informed, and future-facing.”Amy RobertonDenim Design & Production Consultant
Apparel open costing tool
A free, open tool for building a garment cost price line by line, from fabric and making time to wages, overheads and the port. Every assumption is shown.