Sustainable strategies in fashion and textiles : caring through design

Over the last decade it has been argued that there is a need for the fashion industry to embrace a multiplicity of ideas and approaches to sustainable fashion, in order to avoid and/or reduce the impacts on the environment, people, communities and society. Recently much attention has been directed towards understanding the way in which people use garments and the practices involved in laundering, maintaining and repairing/altering clothing. This is due to a belief that the lifecycle of garments may be extended, while environmental impacts are reduced, if wearers engaged in efficient and considered care routines. This talk introduces a selection of sustainable strategies and approaches that designers can use to assist wearers to engage with or improve care routines, and in particular highlights creative natural dye processes that may enrich these strategies.