mistra future fashion was a research program focusing on circular economy aiming at a future positive fashion industry
the program held a unique system perspective operating crossdisciplinary in a consortium with over 60 partners
mistra future fashion 2011-2019
mistra future fashion was a research program focusing on circular economy aiming at a future positive fashion industry
the program held a unique system perspective operating crossdisciplinary in a consortium with over 60 partners
mistra future fashion 2011-2019
news
Industry Initiative ‘Encouragement for Action’ encourages sustainability work
We are happy to support the Swedish industry initiative ‘Encouragement for Action’ to continue motivate sustainability within the fashion industry.
Houdini publish Corporate Sustainability pilot study based on planetary boundaries
Houdini partnered with researchers from Albaeco and Mistra Future Fashion to perform the first ever corporate sustainability report based on the planetary boundaries framework.
The development and future of the Blend Re:wind process
A new report describes the developments made in the Blend Re:wind process and demonstrates how new fibers, namely viscose filaments, can be produced from separated and recycled cotton fibers.
Changing value chains on the global markets for used textiles
The amount of collected non-reusable clothing and textiles is increasing, but is the industry ready to handle these amounts? How would the value chain react to a doubling of collected used textile volumes in Sweden, and in Europe as a whole and what measures would be necessary to maintain economic viability?
Where do you find the most sustainable consumer?
Are Swedes the most sustainable consumers in the western society? Answers can be found in a new report depicting previous use and intended use of alternative business models for prolonged lifetime of clothing.
Garment workers’ labour rights in a digital era
How do we make sure labour rights and regulations are being upheld and what can we do to enforce even stronger regulations when/if needed? Could a digital training app be one of the solutions?
New exhibit ’Fashioned from Nature’ displaying paper-like textiles
Saturday April 21st marks the opening day of the exhibit ‘Fashioned from Nature’ at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, exhibiting paper-like textile garments developed under the Mistra Future Fashion umberella.
Textile tagging – potential lies beyond merely sorting & recycling
A future closed loop fashion system requires accurate and efficient methods for automated sorting of textile waste. Digital tags could be a key component in such a future system.
Nanoclay evidently shown to create a more efficient and cleaner recycling process of PET
Researchers within Mistra Future Fashion presents their results on a new efficient method for sustainable recycling of PET.
How can the fashion sector mobilize and help fight climate change on a global scale?
38 representatives from the fashion industry were gathered in Bonn to assess the possibilities of a future climate action program
the outlook report
mistra future fashion final program report
This is the outlook report, an overview and packaged recommendations stemming from 8 years of research aiming at a systemic change in fashion. The Mistra Future Fashion Research Program has been delivering substantial amounts of research in the written form of reports, conference contributions, academic publications, and doctoral theses, all available at our website for reading. Additionally, the team of researchers have contributed in, and arranged, conferences, meetings, workshops, exhibitions as well as participation in expert groups and panels in various initiatives. Furthermore, we have developed new materials, tools and prototypes, and implemented new concepts together with industry partners.
In order to make all of our research more visible and available we have packaged the main conclusions into recommendations on how one can contribute towards a systemic change in fashion. These are posted as recommendations cards from different angles: design for circularity; textile fiber impact; production impact; user; alternative business models; policy instruments; end of life; and joint effort. This is also the structure of this report.
research pushing the limits for ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ fashion
The Circular Design Speeds project is an outcome of Mistra Future Fashion’s ambition to drive systemic change in facilitating the collaboration between design researchers at University of the Arts London and industry insight from Filippa K. Drawing on results from additional disciplines, textile researchers Professor Rebecca Earley & Dr. Kate Goldsworthy of the Centre for Circular Design (UAL) lead the project in close collaboration with Elin Larsson, Sustainability Director at Filippa K.
future research agenda
This paper was produced by the programme board of Mistra Future Fashion (MFF). It is the result of eight years of monitoring this research programme which has taken a systemic approach to sustainable fashion, including consumption, production, design and recycling of clothing. It sets out research ideas that have been generated by the programme, and areas that require further exploration. It is necessarily incomplete and subjective, depending in part on the personal interests of board members.
Mistra Future Fashions board 2019
chairman: Nicholas Morley (Fareing)
Mathilda Tham (Linnaeus University), Elin Larsson (Elco), Helena Waker (Stockholm Fashion District), Felicia Reuterswärd (H&M), Michael Lind (Dedicated Institute), Anna-Karin Jönbrink (RISE), Philip Warkander (Lund University).
revolutionary process that recycles both cotton and polyester
This is a result from six years of research within Mistra Future Fashion and plays an important role in future global textile recycling systems. The project focuses on chemical recycling of polyester/cotton (polycotton) fiber blends with the objective to separate and generate relevant outputs for future industrial use; polyester monomers and a cotton pulp suitable for regeneration into cellulosic textile fibers (such as viscose fibers). The full name of the process is ”Blend Re:wind – a Swedish process for the recycling of polycotton blended textiles”.
the program
Our research focus is on Circular Economy, and how to enable today’s linear industry to transform into a circular sustainable industry. With a system perspective, we focus uniquely on the bigger picture and the interaction between the elements in the system. With an inter-disciplinary approach, the program attempts to understand and proceed on research on the most relevant areas within the system that needs to change.
The program is organized into four themes; Design, Supply, User and Recycling.
how do we design for a circular economy?
We explore and evaluate the environmental potential of the design and user potential of short-life vs. long-life garments to find the most suitable choices for the transformation into a textile circular economy for different types of garments in order to develop recommendations, guidelines and tools for how to design for resource circularity.
how do we stimulate a more circular supply chain?
We identify what necessary actions in textile and garment supply chains will enable circular economy and deliver guidelines for governance on how to transform to and sustain a circular textile supply chain.
how can users contribute to a more sustainable fashion?
We make recommendations on how to encourage sustainable consumer behavior and to increase user engagement in sustainable consumption. Specifically recommendations for achieving an increased degree of services for extended life of garments, reuse, and second hand consumption will be included.
how do we increase the textile recycling?
We develop knowledge on recycling methods and impact of post-consumer textiles to provide guidance on necessary steps to enable sustainable textile recycling.