Sustainable innovation in fashion and technology

CREATIVE HUB/ Onl’fait

www.onlfait.ch Geneva

Sustainable innovation in fashion & technology

The fashion and textile industry produces worldwide a huge amount of waste. 80 billion pieces of clothing are produced each year in the world where it is estimated that 10-20% of the textiles are wasted. Additionally, the clothing industry contributes around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions and produces around 20% of wastewater in the world. Therefore, we have a responsibility to find new ways of producing clothing and textiles. As it often happens, solution is through innovation. By finding new designs, techniques, materials, functionalities and at the same time new aesthetics. This is where Onl’fait is helping and giving the opportunity with new knowledge to the new generation of fashion with the Fashion & Technologies week. Onl’fait is the Swiss node of Fabricademy – a 6-month transdisciplinary course that focuses on the development of new technologies in the textile industry. The course covers a broad range of textile applications from fashion to the upcoming trend of wearable technology.

Currently, the global textile and clothing industry is exploring and experimenting with more viable, sustainable, and fair production systems. Fabricademy’s programme highlights the unethical and environmentally unfriendly practices of the current industry and strives to combine traditional knowledge and future craftsmanship to work towards new ways of designing, prototyping and producing for the newly emerging fashion and textile industry.

In Geneva, in April, Onl’fait and la HEAD (Genève, Haute école d’art et de design) collaborated with 2nd year fashion students in their Fashion and New Technologies week. The objective set week is to introduce participants to digital modeling and manufacturing techniques focused on sustainable textiles. During a week, students learned the theoretical bases of the chosen technique and developed prototypes to be presented on the last day of the course. Onl’fait was responsible for planning, teaching, and assisting students with their projects.

The three activities were: Modular fashion: Manufacturing a bag by creating and drawing tiles to assemble without sewing Students used felt, and leather and laser cut. E-textiles: Manufacturinge a drawstring bag with integrated electronic components: light and distance sensors, a Gemma microcontrollermicrocontroller, and LEDs. Students also used 3D printers to add extra components to the bags..

Leather moulding: Manufacturing of a moulded leather pouch. Participants used a parametric modelling software (Grasshopper) to draw a shape to be made with the CNC. The shape will then be moulded in leather.

Students were also asked to share their thoughts on questions, topics, and issues of the fashion industry today, such as gender and sewing.

Indeed, the week was also part of the Shemakes program. The goal of shemakes. eu is to empower future female innovators

of the sustainable fashion industry through inspiration, skills, and networks. Shemakes is a two-year initiative with a consortium of 10 partners in 7 countries, which acts to promote, highlight, and celebrate the leading role of women in innovation, with the aim of reforming the structures of opportunity in the countries involved.

ABOUT FAB LAB ONLFAIT

Onl’Fait is an open space with an all-around digital craftsmanship, which provides its community with technical, technological, and human resources. The aim is to offer a varied community of professionals and enthusiasts the tools to repair, develop, design a prototype or even a product. The Fab Lab Onl’fFait is also an intergenerational and multicultural meeting place to reflect on an ecological, citizen and Formatted: English (United Kingdom)Formatted: English (United Kingdom) sustainable approach to technology and consumption. A Fab Lab is also a global sharing network where members are in turn beneficiaries and contributors, with experiences being pooled to optimise global innovation.

ABOUT SHEMAKES

https://www.onlfait.ch/ https://textile-academy.org/ https://shemakes.eu/en