A bottom-up change is needed in the fashion industry

Open source systems must motivate sustainability via knowledge sharing

Illegal child labour, extreme environmental strain, unrealistic role models who force young people into identity disorders, and last, but not least, a culture, which practises affluence and a use-and-throw-away mentality.

The inevitable brand of the fashion industry does not immediately lend itself to the current ideals of a sustainable society. But according to External Lecturer and PhD Oleg Koefoed, this has to change. Based on a critical approach, but on a path towards a constructive solution, he has engaged himself in the international project EDU Fashion in partnership with Associate Professor Lise Skov from the Department of Intercultural Communication and Management.

Openwear: Openness about what you wear

Among other things, the project has established the digital platform Openwear.org to create a network among young designers and develop alternatives to already established business models.

- There are plenty of young designers who want to work ethically and use sustainable materials. But who can they turn to for good advice? How will they make sure that they are sustainable in the right way? This research project will make it easier for new designers to gain access to knowledge in this area and spar with others in the same situation. On the one hand, we see fashion blogs in bloom and knowledge is shared via social media like never before, but on the other hand, the involved parties are not very critical towards manufacturing in itself and the garment's way to the shopping bag, says Oleg Koefoed.

Sustainability everywhere

At first sight, the project blog Openwear.org may look like the well-known fashion blogs, but the content is different. It is the launch pad for a site of knowledge sharing, in which growing designers can use and develop each other's ideas by means of an open source system. The change begins at the bottom and works its way up via the social media, but for for a major change to happen, it is recognised that the project must be initiated from the top at some point in time.

- We are hoping to establish a partnership with some of the major players within the industry, and we are also encouraging people to work with ethics and sustainability in a broader spectrum in terms of society, ecology, finance and culture. Many companies often include the organic and the social aspect, but it is equally important to build new business models and change the buy-and-throw-away mentality, that we are part of. At least 60 % of the environmental strain occurs after the purchase, which is why the consumer also needs to implement sustainability in his/her everyday life, says Oleg Koefoed.

Apart from the platform, the research group from CBS is also in the process of formulating a course proposal, which will be offered as an elective at CBS in the spring of 2012.

EDU Fashion Project

This R&D project is funded by the EU Lifelong Learning Program (LLP). Besides from the CBS project Creative Encounters, the partners are: The Department of Social and Political Studies at the University of Milan, the technical faculty at the University of Ljubljana, the communications bureau Poper (Ljubljana) and the company Ethical Economy, who develops platforms for ethical issues.