This research investigates to what extent integration of the topic sustainability in education at a fashion and textiles course at the undergraduate level is related to students’ choice for graduation topics related to sustainability. A mixed method approach was applied, analyzing a total of 463 graduation reports from the last four years; secondary data on course materials; and interviewing lecturers, course supervisors, and program managers. Furthermore, a questionnaire for students was administered. Data was gathered in order to determine integration of the topic of sustainability in education, the number of graduation topics related to sustainability, and the student views on and knowledge of the topic. Results show that the integration of the topic sustainability in the curriculum has steadily increased since 2015, when the program started actively working toward receiving a DHO (Sustainable Higher Education) certificate. The inclusion of sustainability in the curriculum has been paired with an increase in the amount of graduation assignments related to sustainability. Although causal relations cannot yet be drawn, results do indicate that we as educators can impact the fashion and textile industry in a meaningful way.

It is a pivotal time for fashion and textiles education. Concerns about ethical production and climate change, with the effect the industry has on the planet, is receiving intense media coverage. There are environmental consequences at each stage of a garment’s life cycle. These, combined with the rise of fast fashion over recent years, should make every citizen examine what positive changes they can make to reduce their environmental impact.

De Montfort University (DMU) is in the top 50 world universities for impact as assessed by the UN sustainable development goals (SDG). This paper presents initiatives taken by the School of Fashion and Textiles to consider how responsible design has been integrated into teaching. A baseline review of the current curricula compared to the 17 UN SDGs was undertaken. A funded innovation and sustainability project highlighted the different approaches students had taken to sustainable design. Joint initiatives with international partners consider the global perspective. This work continues with a review of key environmental activists and considers how the curriculum can be further co-created with students to address industry needs. Student engagement will be evaluated by reviewing the influence of sustainable development within final year major project proposals.

Sustainable development is an important issue in the global fashion industry. As the largest
clothing consumer and producer in the world, China has an unmistakable responsibility to
promote the sustainable development of fashion industry. Due to a shift in Chinese
consumers, the younger generation of consumers pays more attention to brand environmental protection and social responsibility, but the sustainable development process of the Chinese fashion industry is still relatively slow and there are some obstacles. The reason lies in the lack of sustainable fashion education, so for this study researchers conducted questionnaires and interviews with educators, students, and designers of some fashion universities in China. Taking colleges and universities as units, this paper probes the present situation of sustainable fashion education in China from cognition to existing problems and development trends and puts forward some measures and ideas for educators and students to practice sustainable fashion development. And this study combined with the regional development of China’s clothing industry imbalance, industrial clusters prominent characteristics of regional research, to explore the future of education to promote the sustainable development of a regional clothing industry.

Research predicts a growing demand for future skills that are difficult to automate. This paper argues that the situation is threatened by reduced emphasis on design and technology education, accentuated by the lack of inclusivity. To address this shortfall, UK educational institutions are recognizing the value of collaboration to enable innovation and creativity.

A case study methodology is used, with cases from two universities, where collaborative opportunities are embedded into the curriculum in recognition of the current industry requirement for cognitive diversity. However, the disruption to the curriculum poses a challenge and provocation to both staff and students through the mindset and culture shift to make a successful transition to new ways of thinking and working.

The paper explores the interdisciplinary educational experience at Nottingham Trent University, which involved collaboration between mobile app development students from the School of Science & Technology and fashion management students from the School of Art & Design to co-develop a mobile app proposal. The second case study involves students from the Manchester Fashion Institute investigating new initiatives within fashion and collaborating with industry professionals to develop sustainable products.

The shared findings were that students gained more strategic cross-industry knowledge, with an emphasis on self-critique and a greater understanding of inclusivity and cultural awareness. The conclusion discusses the positive impact of collaboration and cognitive diversity on the student learning experience and points to future directions for research and educational practice through the creation of a thinking space for participants to implement in their own discipline.

Refugees coming to the United States often find themselves isolated from their new community and struggle to feel at home. By overcoming language barriers and adjusting to a new culture, they slowly become accustomed to a new place. The purpose of this project was to help change the narrative for female refugees by welcoming them into a collaborative fashion workshop with undergraduate students. The project also aimed to build empathy in students and help them understand the women’s plight and circumstances. Once the students understood the refugees’ circumstances, they could become change agents in shifting public perception toward refugees. Students partnered with a nonprofit organization that offered support to refugee women to create sustainable fashion products in a workshop. The goal of the workshop was to provide them with community resources, increased self-confidence, and earning capacity. The qualitative research uses open-ended survey and focus group interviews for understanding the refugee and student participants’ experiences regarding the community-engaged learning project. Our research findings supported the community engagement objective with mutually beneficial exchanges of knowledge and resources, by providing refugee women hope for future livelihood and the students the opportunity to view and understand different perspectives.

Fashion often looks towards marginalized communities for inspiration, using exotic historical tropes for financial gain. However, there is a concerted effort within the fashion industry to re-evaluate this position and make positive steps toward equality. black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) voices are being heard, with key industry members taking steps toward a more diverse workforce at executive level to educate and impact fashion content and production processes. So how can the fashion educator take action toward inclusivity and diversity to initiate progressive change?

Student cohorts noted that aspects of existing educational systems render students as other,
and voiceless. This paper takes a position of responding through pedagogic practice in working toward an inclusive curriculum with students operating as active participants. New strategies encouraged students to engage in and challenge curriculum design, resulting in positive outcomes. Student commentary noted insightful and bespoke teaching and learning methods to de-colonize the curriculum, and to specifically respond to concerns on issues of diversity. The actions taken, and qualitative research methods utilized, re-evaluate existing pedagogic and industry practice in response to Student Union requests and sector-wide policy in promoting equality. Academics and students provided meaningful examples to learn from, and greater collective awareness and knowledge is gained. By building capability through intercultural competencies an exciting paradigm shift is taking place.

This research project was conducted in the women’s jail 6, Tihar Complex, as a planned intervention for a need-based program for skill development. A fashion education program was identified and implemented over a period of six months with certain basic modules in Indian wear. India has 141 central prisons with capacity of 200,000 inmates. Major reasons for committing crime include illiteracy, lack of appropriate skills to earn a livelihood, deprived backgrounds, physical and sexual abuse, and alcohol and drug dependence. Therefore, an initiative was undertaken to establish a Fashion and Textiles Training Centre in women’s central Jail 6 in Tihar, Asia’s biggest prison complex, in February 2017. The program was
designed and implemented with several planned outcomes: economic and social empowerment, which would inculcate feelings of self-worth and self-esteem, rehabilitation in society, and reducing the chance of returning to a life of crime post-release.

The present paper focuses on (a) Setting up infrastructure, design of course curriculum and
assessment, mentoring and counseling of inmates undergoing training, industry projects, and presentations in the form of fashion shows; (b) Fashion education as a means of correctional behavior, and the challenges and issues faced during training in prisons; (c) Case studies highlighting the impact of training, including increased income, measurable skill enhancement, reduction in stress levels, revival of hope in inmates, a holistic life within and outside prison, and reduction in return cases; (d) Impact of fashion education on other beneficiaries.

More than 270,000 Indian cotton farmers have committed suicide since 1995, and India’s agricultural sector, which directly or indirectly employs more than 70 million Indians, faces severe crises in terms of air, water, and soil degradation, pervasive chemical-led farming, debts, and lack of a profitable and sustainable livelihood system. In addition, India is losing traditional knowledge of farming and other craftsmanship, which was more nature- and community-friendly. This has led to a loss of community identity, severe malnutrition, and loss of livelihood, leading to displacement of indigenous people. Despite governmental support, the situation has not changed significantly.

In this paper, we analyzed design and social interventions in the Indian farming sector via permaculture, which mimics relationships found in natural ecology. This design approach has a very successful history of solving the food crisis in different ecosystems across the world. Our study looks at Indian designers engaged in farming cotton and food crops in an attempt to contribute to design literature through the application of permaculture.

We measure successes in terms of three ethical parameters: care for the earth, care for the
people, and return of surplus to the ecosystem. Our observational variables are design and social interventions in three Odisha communities, through interviews with designers, experts, and farmers.

We applied conceptual and relational content analysis to understand commonalities among
the selected design processes and social interventions that led to better livelihoods and income for the farmers. The findings may help replicate, modify and build other thriving farming communities in India and other countries, and also invite further research in permaculture design to address social issues and influence design research and education.

As a creative practice and production process, fashion design follows a mainly traditional perspective of a binary gendered body. Likewise, the education sector catering to this industry takes a similar approach, establishing programs that offer specializations in womenswear and menswear.

This research advocates for a more diverse and accessible understanding of gender, sizing,
and prerequisite notions of dress codes in undergraduate education for fashion. This approach is addressing a shift of attention to a more heterogeneous perspective of the body in relation to new questions of body politics, ethics, social justice, and trans-species communications. Based on this premise, this paper proposes a new perspective on how curriculum could be structured for fashion design education.

This structure has been evaluated based on data gathered over a two-year period, with focus on the second and third level of study in a Bachelors in Fashion Design and Textiles Program in Singapore. Findings from this research aim to prove that this paradigm shift for fashion design education is applicable and allows an expanded area for experimentation and play for students while opening up new horizons for criticality and reflection about what gender represents for society and culture today and in the future.

Expanding critical scholarship on fashion, gender, and identity, this study aims to explore how dress and style can be used in a strategy of resistance through analyzing Chinese youths’ narratives about their appearance, personal style, gender, culture, and self. The study mainly draws on the philosophical ideas of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari to engage with a research agenda, which disrupts the transcendent logic and challenges binarism and essentialism as the guiding approach to fashion studies. Inspired by Deleuze and Guatarri’s concepts of rhizomatic thought and becoming, this exploration works within the realm of post-qualitative research. The study develops its argument through tracing two lines of creative “becoming” or lines of flight emerging from the “molecular mapping,” pointing to the moments of rupture and deterritorialization: gender and style; the ethics of consumption and style. The findings demonstrate the subversive potential in dress which challenges normalcy and regularity as well as consumerism, highlighting the complexity, multiplicity, and heterogeneity of gender, fashion, and subjectivity. It advocates the creation of more inclusive spaces and potential socially just territories through fashion and clothing.