current issues in design for sustainability

“There is no such thing as sustainable fashion”, the authors of this guide remind us. But how do we negotiate the new vocabulary emerging from fashion brands claiming a position somewhere along the sustainability spectrum? What do “carbon neutral” or “upcycled fashion” mean exactly? Is “eco-fashion” really sustainable? How easy is it to vet “ethical fashion” and don't you get the feeling that “regenerative” is the new fashion buzzword?



Informative and investigative, this resource gleans from sources such as the New Standard Institute and Future Dust to provide a set of resources about conscious consumption and the pioneers who are making change in the fashion industry. Providing definitions for the new language around sustainability and fashion, this guide addresses the terms, buzzwords and provides critique for each to help designers and consumers navigate the evolving fashion world.
The panel discussion, ‘Redesigning Fashion for a Sustainable Future’, presented at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos 2020, provided speakers with the space to discuss the latest innovations in textile design, manufacturing and policy. Speakers Brune Poirson, Andrew Moose, Anderson Tanoto, Miroslava Duma, William McDonough and Holly Syrett shared their expertise in the field of textile production, whether from a policy standpoint or manufacturing one—mentioning new scientific data used to guide innovation, the cultural and societal impact that textile and materials have on the built environment, and how policy on textile and garment manufacturing are crucial not only industry-wide, but world-wide.

This video gives us a brief look at the science and technology working towards sustainable development at the London College of Fashion, explaining that fashion design is not only a creative field, but one that holds economical, environmental, material and political weight. Through collaboration, fashion has the power to alter people’s lives, improve well-being, while also being ecologically thoughtful. As the challenges faced in fashion are, at times, similar to those faced in other fields—such as the hard sciences—working with specialists in various scientific disciplines allows for innovation and future-proofing of the industry. Proving that fashion does not work in a vacuum, but is actually in constant conversation with various other disciplines allowing it to forever adapt and evolve.