Facing Textile Industry: Why Circular Design Has to Become a BA Fashion Programme and Creativity Alone is not Enough

It is obvious how far fashion industry still is from being sustainable. Not only as the meaning behind the term sustainability is still discussed rather than systems are radically changed through actions. Furthermore, there still seems a ‘need’ for major incidents costing health and life to awaken the ones who seem to have little or no idea how big fashion industry’s negative impact on our planet and people is. Who only call out for change after this sort of momentum? Now, who is to blame? Companies ask consumers to take over responsibility with their buying decisions, consumers request a change in production and urge companies to amend their workways first. They act like stubborn children, arguing who has to apologize first. Both want to keep up having a right being the last in changing behaviour for the better. An encounter of resistance with no real outcome. Governments juggle in between with an unpromising try to please economy and consumers at the same time. Their actions end up with minor consequences for industry, being closer to window dressing than to influencing urgent matter. And consumers are again left with making choices, mainly driven by costs or brand image. To speed up a global shift in fashion industry and to reduce never ending discussions about accountabilities without little progression, everyone involved in decision making processes has to act now and get into Thunberg mode. As knowledge is key, only by additionally looking into higher education systems can holistically be improved and evoke a major change in mindsets and habits.

Keywords: Fashion education; Circular economy; Joint activism; Academic challenge