OpenIDEO — Using circular design to address fast fashion
During COVID-19 a lot of people have had more time to rethink their habits and consider issues that are not always normally discussed. Building a better and more sustainable planet has been one of the main topics that have been on the rise. As the lockdown has helped many people consider how much they spend on items like fashion and what are the hidden costs around fast fashion. Fashion companies such as H&M, Zaha and many more, make up 99.5% of its overall environmental impact.
On Thursday 21st May OpenIDEO London ran a hybrid workshop with Imperial College to help 85+ Master’s students learn about circular design within fast fashion. The daylong session offering both in-person and online for students interested in business, entrepreneurship, and design thinking the opportunity to re-imagine fast fashion.
The workshop focused on “How might we make fast fashion circular and waste-free?”
Speakers for this workshop included OpenIDEO London organisers Eriol Fox, Rob Thompson, and Daniel Tuitt. Other speakers included PhD researcher Nadine Moustafa, John Bertolaso (Forbes 30u30), CTO from Materra, and Ryan Yasin (Forbes 30u30), CEO from Petit Pli. The workshop was geared to inspire students. The workshop was geared to inspire students to address the global challenge of fast fashion, taking the name, the “Fast Fashion Innovation Challenge.”
The workshop opened with the first speaker, Rob, where he introduced OpenIDEO and its mission: to empower people to design solutions to the world’s toughest challenges and to work with partners to bring these solutions to life. OpenIDEO partners with some of the largest companies in the world to invite their leaders and staff to work together to develop solutions for large issues in business. Through these partnerships, OpenIDEO encourages human-centred design solutions with a global reach.
Rob then introduced the highlights of the workshop’s challenge, starting with building a circular economy. Of which is described:
“A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.”
A circular economy directly challenges our traditional linear and recycling economies, to create societies and systems that promote materials and resources that can be regenerated and reused indefinitely. This is a key concept behind the Fast Fashion Innovation Challenge presented.
As a type of inspirational success story, Daniel then introduced Nike Grind; a branch of the iconic Nike that focuses, mostly, on the sustainability of the brand and the supply chain as a whole. This branch conducts research and brainstorming on the sourcing of materials that Nike and other manufacturers require, as well as the reusability and repurposing of items that can be used in production. The mission of Nike Grind is to turn what was once considered waste into new opportunities to create. From this, Nike Grind, alongside various creative minds, have repurposed synthetic fibers and textiles, rubber and foams, into furniture, outdoor equipment, yoga accessories, and more.
To achieve a waste-free fashion economy, this type of solution is key. However, there is always space and potential for new ideas and creative thinkers to close the loop between a linear supply chain to a circular one. Students are encouraged to look at the supply chain from various angles. These include products, materials, perceptions, services, business models, ecosystems, behaviors, partnerships, and others.
Combining these strategies to develop creative, sustainable solutions to the challenge, it was announced the winning team with the best overall approach would win 500 pounds. The winners will be announced in August, 2021.
Nadine Moustafa then delivered her speech, which outlined some background on the fast fashion industry, and some inspiration for the purpose behind the challenge. The solutions to curing the fast fashion industry are broad, and students were encouraged to approach their solutions from unique angles that sparked their personal curiosities.
The fast fashion industry is global. It’s goal is profit, by supplying the most amount of consumer goods and options in the least amount of time, as often as possible. By nature, the quality of these goods are low. Some of the most well known brands in the world, such as Zara, H&M, and Forever 21 produce multiple collection releases per year, in as little as eight week intervals. Consumers are now purchasing more than ever, but only keeping their garments for half as long.
The environmental impacts of the fast fashion industry are plentiful. It is responsible for 10% of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. It is also the second largest consumer of water, and the second largest polluter of water through dyes, manufacturing chemicals, and microplastics that enter waterways. To further show perspective, one pair of jeans requires more than 2,000 liters of water to be produced.
Fast fashion is designed to be disposable. This contrasts to luxury brands, which produce garments that are meant to be cared for and last a lifetime. Thus, landfills have become filled with fast fashion garments. Social behavior and perception have a lot to do with this cycle. Some solutions Nadine presented and encouraged students to explore more in depth include second-hand clothing advertising, recycling, and clothing and textile recapture.
Nadine highlighted that blocks to effective fast fashion solutions are in technologies and cost-benefit analysis. Most technologies needed to recycle and repurpose clothing are expensive and result in slower processes compared to others in the clothing manufacturing industry. They are also more expensive to operate at this point, in comparison.
Companies and brands worldwide are exploring how to make fast fashion more sustainable, as public awareness has grown. Nadine shared some brands in the creative design space who create their products using compostable and recycled materials and invited students to use these examples for inspiration.
Speaker, John, shared his “Future-Proof Cotton” presentation which showcased the environmental impact of cotton (used mostly in clothing), which has extreme potential for being made sustainable around the world. As of yet, cotton is a controversial plant that requires extensive insecticides, water, and land area. Cotton agriculture also holds many social concerns, where the supply chain allows child labor and worker exploitation in many areas of the world.
John works with the company Materra, which puts sustainable cotton agriculture into action. Materra assists in sharing environmentally friendly and sustainable ways of producing, harvesting, and manufacturing cotton, as well as educating farmers globally on better agricultural practices.
Even so, John humbly encourages students to think deeper about the necessity behind fast fashion. Even if it can be done more sustainably, is it still worth it? Is it ethical? Does there need to be a shift in consumerism as a whole? If so, how do we get there?
