Sorting the Wardrobe - Innovation and Sustainability in Fashion

Register here to attend in person in Rome on the 18.11.2021.
Register here to attend in person in Rome on the 19.11.2021.
Register here to follow the conference online.

Learn more about the program on www.istitutosvizzero.it

The coronavirus highlighted the weaknesses and flaws in our society, laying bare the inequalities, with which we have become accustomed: from racial discriminations to exploitation of labour to environmental destruction, change is needed to build a future that is both socially and environmentally sustainable.

The apparel industry finds itself right in the middle of the debate. Prevailing business models, focusing on economically efficient supply chains, come increasingly under pressure. The trend to inexpensive production, cheap and carefree acquisition and rapid disposal of mass-produced items has already long been criticized, yet the pandemic has made explicit the problems with which an entire industry is now confronted: the call for adequate worker protections, the questioning of prevalent Eurocentric paradigms, and the recognition of environmental impacts urge the fashion industry, and eventually society at large, to rethink its modes of production, distribution and consumption.

At the backdrop of this debate, the Istituto Svizzero invites to an international conference about current developments and innovative approaches in the field of fashion: what are the large-scale trends pressuring customary modes of doing fashion into change? What innovative approaches are being proposed and how do they tackle issues of social and environmental sustainability? Do sustainable technological innovations require a different design process? Which skills are needed in order to be able to design sustainably and how is this approach ultimately affecting aesthetics? Finally, how are we to effect change in well-established production lines and close the gap between the innovating drive of small-scale initiatives and the dominant market position of global players?

The INNOVATION series focuses on innovations in research, their potentials and challenges. We understand innovation not only as a result of research, production and application, but also look at the societal consequences of innovation, in exchange with the scientific institutions, firms and public bodies involved.

On the occasion of the conference Sorting the Wardrobe – Innovation and Sustainability in Fashion, ICDP FHNW, Basel, HEAD–Genève and IUAV Venice have been invited to organize three workshops between November 11 and 17. Each school will address the issues discussed in the conference with a specific point of view: Material and New Technologies (ICDP FHNW), Reframing Education through Sustainability (HEAD–Genève), Sustainable Design and the Industry (IUAV in partnership with Manteco).

The conference will be anticipated on the 10.11.2021 by an online kick-off meeting titled On sustainable fashion. The panel will assess the notion of sustainability in the context of the present-day fashion industry, in order to identify overriding opportunities and challenges that define both the areas of improvement and course of action for the near future.

The conference is organized in collaboration with ICDP FHNW, Basel, HEAD–Genève, and IUAV Venice.

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The value and time of handicrafts, final project by Ilenia Pizzato and Valentina Tamiell, 2015, BA degree course, IUAV University of Venice
© Alessio Costantino