Fashion Data essay by José Teunissen & Mascha van Zijverden

FASHION DATA On the failing fashion system and alternative solutions

Fashion has always been about ‘the new’. With the introduction of new trends each season, fashion proclaims that we are ‘up to date’. Last season’s trends are now passé and we can therefore get rid of the clothes. In this way fashion, more than any other discipline, permanently feeds our desire for consumption.

Since the democratisation of the 1960s we no longer have a single indisputable fashion trend, but numerous simultaneous trends. In the meantime we have seen the gradual growth of an ingenious system that we call Fast Fashion. Trends from the catwalk and the street are immediately absorbed and are on sale within six weeks at bargain prices in the high-street stores.

The system was encouraged by the relaxing of trade barriers in the 1960s, enabling companies to shift production to countries with cheap labour, thus massively reducing their production costs. The arrival of the dig­ital age has also Guus Beumer helped. Since the 1990s it has been possible to share information about sales, new trends and patterns all over the world. Companies such as H&M and Zara (which combine production and retail) have exploited these conditions to become world players within a relatively brief period of time. Their stock is constantly refre­ shed with new collections and their prices are comparable to those of a piece of cheese or a cinema ticket. And they have a similar shelf life.

Of all clothing produced today, 30 per cent is sold at the recommended retail price, another 30 per cent disappears in the sales and 40 per cent remains unsold or doesn’t even reach the shops. The overproduction of today’s Fast Fashion system produces an enormous mountain of waste. The question is: how did we get into this mess and what can we do about it?

What is the value and significance of clothing in our culture? Do we really want something new every six months?

Or do we want clothes that last longer and, if so, how do we ensure that they remain attractive? Might the ideas of Slow Fashion provide a solution? Or can new technologies make the fashion system more sustainable? And lastly: how do new values and new production methods lead to new (and more sustainable) business models?

In this publication we examine the unethical and unsustainable workings of the current fashion system and explore several alternatives that are being put into practice by designers in the Netherlands and further afield.

Some projects transcend their own ambition. They become greater than was anticipated and, unexpectedly (and sometimes undesirably) raise all sorts of new options, possibilities and potential. The Temporary Fashion Museum is one such project. In con­fronting two contradictory time machines with each other, namely fashion and the museum, the project soon turned out to be an extremely versatile container for a series of divergent issues. Call it luck, call it success: the Temporary Fashion Museum has developed in to a phenomenon of substance, in which fashion is celebrated as well as criticized, and in which the museum turned out not only to relate to the past, but also to be about the future.

One of the ambitions was to contribute to the language of fashion, a discipline that is almost exclusively seen as one endless image machine.

And now this humble publication adds to the mix, the result of one of the projects: Fashion Data. A brilliant exhibi­tion inspired by the work of curator Claudia Banz at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, and transformed by a team lead by José Teunissen and Conny Groenewegen into one of the best visited exhibitions of the Temporary Fashion Museum.

Once again, this was unexpected.

After all, who wants to expose themselves to the darker side of a discipline? To our surprise Fashion Data has proved how much the critical voice can resonate, and how valuable it was to spread the word through this publication.

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FASHION’S LOSS OF VALUES AND THE NEED TO CONSTRUCT NEW ONES While in the nineteenth century fashion was still the preserve of a small elite, the infrastructure of the modern city and fashion as a public expression of identity were well under construction. Fashion was no longer simply something for the court with a queen and aristocratic ladies as ambassadors.

Paris already had couturiers producing collections under their own names and there was already small-scale industrial production, principally of men’s clothing. Fashion was now within reach of the middle classes through the first department stores and the new phenomenon of ‘shopping’. Previously most items had been made to order, but now city dwellers could gawp at exotic and luxury goods and spend money on things they didn’t really need (Lipovetsky 2007: 29). Fashionable women’s clothing still cost a fortune because its many layers, trimmings and decorations had to be made entirely by hand.

The production process changed in the first decades of the twentieth century when, under the influence of Paul Poiret and Coco Chanel, womenswear became much simpler and more practical. It was only then that the ready-to-wear industry really took off and fashion found its way to a much broader public. Nonetheless, for a large part of the population ready-to-wear fashion remained too expensive until well into the 1970s. Until this time many (Dutch) families enlisted the services of a seamstress to make their clothes. Family members played an active role in this process, personally selecting fabrics, patterns and trimmings to create their own designs based upon images in fashion magazines or patterns from dressmaking magazines such as Knip and Marion. The ability to sew, knit and repair clothes remained an important virtue for women: homemade clothes saved money, allowing families to remain fashionable on a small budget (Teunissen 2011: 157-177).

The arrival of fashion boutiques in the 1960s and 1970s brought greater variety in styles and price levels. But it was not until the 1980s, with the launch of the first true chain stores such as Esprit, Gap, Banana Republic and Mac&Maggie (in the Netherlands) that a larger proportion of the population began to buy ready-to-wear fashion. The 1990s witnessed the rapid advance of H&M and Zara, which have managed to seduce teenage consumers with designs copied quickly from the catwalk and sold at unprecedentedly low prices.

This period saw the demise of dressmaking and the disappearance from the high street of fabric shops and haberdashers. Consumers consequently lost appreciation for the craft techniques required in the making of clothing. Handicrafts have been scrapped from school curriculums and at home the knowledge transfer of skills such as sewing and knitting from mother to daughter has been broken. The result is that today’s average consumer has barely any appreciation of fabric quality or insight into the techniques employed in making garments. Tactile qualities, the right fit: for generations these were decisive but are now no longer criteria. Appearance is all that matters. Does it look sufficiently similar to the billboard image or the catwalk photos? Fashion has become a quick snack, purchased primarily by teenagers and thrown away after a few wears. The price is no obstacle: in 2012 we spent only a tiny percentage of our annual income on clothing (see ILLUSTRATION 01).

This has been made possible by the sharp drop in the cost price of garments. Through low-cost country sourcing, the price of a T-shirt, for example, has plummeted to fifty cents. Under what conditions such a product is assembled and where the cotton comes from remains unclear: the involvement of numerous agents and middlemen renders the provenance almost unknowable. The cost price is a mere fraction — 10 to 20 per cent — of the retail price. Substantial margins go to agents, transportation (see ILLUSTRATION 02) and, above all, the marketing of the brand. With the right photography and targeted campaign a company can project the desired dream image onto a product that has no inherent qualities of its own.

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Michiel Scheffer attributes this loss of quality to the fact that, since the 1990s, the fashion sector — like the banks — has been enthralled by short-term profits. The drive to maximize profits has accelerated the fashion cycle, pushed production to countries with cheap labour, worsened working conditions in the fashion industry and destroyed innovation (Scheffer 2013: 86). Whereas textile producers such as DuPont were once an innovative force, the fashion market is now dominated

by Fast Fashion chains and brands such as Nike. A consequence of this is that material costs have fallen while costs for marketing and advertising have risen astronomically.

According to Michiel Scheffer ‘Branding is merely a cover-up for the technical incapacity to develop and introduce more fundamental product innovation’. (2013: 91). The global fashion chains have increasingly become part of the financial system. As companies listed on the stock market, they employ high profit margins and quick discounts so that capital is quickly freed up for the next cycle. The result is that we have lost all personal knowledge about the process of making clothes and this new business logic means that consumers no longer have a personal investment in the products. While the garment is praised on the billboards as an exclusive dream of luxury, it costs almost nothing in the shops (see ILLUSTRATION 05). This is the paradox of contemporary fashion.

The most important consequence of a fashion company’s drive for maximum profits is that it loses long-term vision.

Investment and innovation are ruled out and the rapid turnover rate of the Fast Fashion system puts massive pressure on dwindling resources. In 2014 the worldwide production of cotton and polyester was 65 million kilotons and is expected to rise to 110 million kilotons by 2020 (Scheffer 2013: 97).

Cotton and polyester production (which together constitute 85 per cent of fibres used in the clothing industry) have a massive impact on the environment: one requires extensive areas of agricultural land and the other is made from petroleum. Cotton production also places massive strain on our water reserves: 2.5 per cent of all the world’s water is used to grow cotton. The shrinking of the Aral Sea is just one example of how cotton production has negatively affected the infrastructure of groundwater and surface water. But the water usage does not stop with the harvesting of cotton.

Enormous quantities of water are also required for the manufacturing process: a simple cotton T-shirt uses as much as 2500 litres (see ILLUSTRATION 03). And that’s not all: 17.5 per cent of all the world’s pesticides are used in growing cotton. These chemicals end up in the surface water along with those used to wash, bleach, dye and coat denim. In 2011 Greenpeace reported that 70 per cent of all of China’s rivers are polluted: a fact to which the fashion industry turns a blind eye (Greenpeace: 2011).

These issues constitute a truly systemic crisis that forces us to think about the more fundamental values of clothing, a transparent and sustainable production method in a chain in which waste products are re-used as raw materials.

SLOW FASHION Slow Fashion is the most significant movement that is attempting to invest fashion with another set of values, with the emphasis not on ‘the new’ but on the handmade, the tailor-made and on classical forms. Proponents of Slow Fashion claim that these criteria give clothing a value that extends their lifetime. The greater quality or timeless design of handmade garments are of importance, but so too is the fact that the consumer is brought closer to the making process and craftsmanship. The garment itself comes to the fore instead of the image or the brand. Slow Fashion places the emphasis on the provenance of the product: it makes the production process transparent, making it possible to trace how and under what conditions a garment was made. And it attempts to slow down the system.

The Slow Fashion movement has three core principles: the industry must return to the use of local raw materials and

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so-called ‘distributed economies’; the production system must be transparent with direct lines between producers and consumers (eliminating intermediaries); and fashion needs new values (such as recycling or a unique story) so that fashion products remain attractive longer. In the Netherlands various designers are attempting to market sustainable brands based upon this philosophy. ( ) Slow Fashion thus shifts attention back to earlier definitions of fashion, i.e. the making of clothing and identity rather than simply appearance, according to Hazel Clark: ‘All these issues call for “paying attention to” or “being aware of” something that typifies an unhurried approach’ (2008: 427). Slow Fashion thus assumes a new type of consumer who is not dazzled by classical marketing strategies but who feels an affinity with a maker and his or her brand. In the Netherlands examples include Mud Jeans, which builds a more committed relationship with its customers through a lease model for jeans. YouAsMeMeAsYou uses crowdfunding to cultivate this relationship. ( ) More and more fashion brands are choosing to create a dialogue with their customers by listening to their wishes and desires and sometimes even involving them in the design process. In the long run such a dialogue (with a clientele that knows what it wants) leads to co-creation and thus to a more sustainable fashion product in which supply and demand are once again entirely attuned to each other as they were in the days of tailor-made clothing. And the clothing is made only when the customer orders it.

CLOSING THE LOOP AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY While Slow Fashion creates a more sustainable fashion system by means of a transparent product with direct lines to the consumer, the ‘circular thinking’ in terms of sustainability goes a step further. It is crucial that all raw materials are kept in the chain: after use, all waste products are sorted and re-used so that there is as little loss of energy as possible.

This way of working is known as ‘closing the loop’, through which an attempt is made to carry out all steps — shredding spinning, weaving, making — locally so that the transportation miles do not push up CO2 levels.

Only 15 to 20 per cent of all textiles are currently recycled. The rest ends up in landfill sites or is burned, leading to a great loss of energy and raw materials. Several textile and carpet manufacturers in the Netherlands, such as Desso and Interface, are leading the way in terms of re-use, working systematically to close the loop. But the fashion world lags behind. Last year WE launched a recycled sweater made from old clothing and G-Star Raw has produced denim from recycled ocean plastic, but there is no structural vision and policy for how used clothing can be fed back into the system.

Because clothes remained costly possessions until well into the twentieth century, a lively second-hand market developed. In addition there are still small-scale classic recycling projects, most notably in Prato in Italy and in the South of France, where wool is collected, sorted by colour and re-spun so that the threads do not have to be re-dyed. These practices have been rediscovered by small, sustainable brands such as the French company L’Herbe Rouge and Kings of Indigo, which is working with companies in Prato on recycled jeans. ( ) In the Netherlands the Texperium Foundation has been working for several years to develop and perfect local textile recycling. In an initial pilot scheme, the foundation recycled used KLM uniforms, which for security reasons may not be thrown away, to produce scarves and slippers in the airline’s distinctive shade of blue. It is now working on perfecting the eco-system by adding spinning to its existing unravelling facilities.

This circular thinking has spawned several new design philosophies. Many designers are against low-cost country sourcing. They want to be closer to the making process and

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would rather develop their own fabrics by using recycled materials or ‘forgotten’ fibres such as hemp or flax. The exploration of these traditional plants, which in earlier centuries played an important role in the fabrication of textiles, uncovers history and also invites experimentation, resulting in new fabrics in which, for example, tactile values are important.

Designers, including fashion designers, are increasingly aware of the fact that their products will eventually be recycled.

This ‘design4recyling’ principle is based on guidelines that indicate what designers need to take account of in the design process so that their products can be 100 per cent recyclable.

FASHION MACHINE Conny Groenewegen From the railings on the third floor of Het Nieuwe Instituut, during Temporary Fashion Museum, large, roughly knitted flags hang all the way down to the first floor. Visitors are invited to join in the knitting, so that the flags slowly grow into a thick mass of material. This flag-knitting machine is part of the installation Fashion Machine developed by Conny Groenewegen for the exhibition Fashion Data.

This impressive spatial intervention is based on a waste product that is characteristic of the fast-fashion industry: the fleece sweater.

Fleece is originally made from another indus­trial waste product, the PET bottle. The fleece is by no means the most adventurous fashion item and mountains of them end up in collec­tion containers. Unfortunately, this product is rarely suitable for reselling in charity shops or on the markets of Eastern Europe, Africa or India.

For the installation Fashion Machine, huge quantities of fleeces are chopped up and the polyethyl­ ene thread wound onto spools. What could best be described as a poor-­ production installation then evolves in the exhibition space, a sweatshop.

The reprocessed threads are ultimately used in a knitting machine to make flags and mattresses. The installation renders tangible the production mechanism and scale of the fast-fashion industry, while the banal materials take on a new form and an almost activistic allure.

In her work, Conny Groenewegen navigates the interfaces between fashion, technology and design. The technical and social implications of the fashion industry fascinate her, but her work always reflects a human scale. The tension between mechanised and handmade, industry and craft, is clearly visible in her designs.

Groenewegen teaches fashion and design at a number of (inter)national fashion and design institutes. In 2011 she received the MercedesBenz Dutch Fashion Award.

HACKED Alexander van Slobbe and Fransisco van Benthum HACKED is a joint venture by design­ ers Alexander van Slobbe and Francisco van Benthum and is being presented in the Temporary Fashion Museum. For this project, van Slobbe and van Benthum have developed a collection to counter the growing dominance of fast-fashion chains.

Independent designers, according to the duo, are being reduced to the role of ideas suppliers by the large garment producers, who copy their ideas without paying.

Van Slobbe and van Benthum delved into this fast-fashion pro-

duction system and got hold of remnants and remainders from the industry. They then set to work with these garments and bag and shoe parts. By overlaying the ‘prefab’ foundations with the handmade, the pieces once again acquire a designer’s signature. A comprehensive collection has emerged, which falls into the same price category the fast-fashion chains use to exclude competition. With this manoeuvre, the designers have reclaimed the initiative and hacked fast-fashion’s powerful system.

With HACKED, van Slobbe and van Benthum are opening up a dialogue around the themes of over­ production, copyright, wastage, upcycling and a garment’s meaning.

In today’s fashion system, production speed, distribution, sales and consumption all occupy centre stage.

Fashion no longer even follows the rhythm of the seasons – collections are renewed monthly, even weekly.

Not only does this lay waste to designers’ original ideas, it also leads to an unnecessarily liberal consump­ tion of raw materials, means of production, labour, PR and retail space.

Consumers’ appre­ciation of value consequently beco­mes subject to inflation. Fashion and transience have always been close, but now they seem almost synonymous. The new design strategy devised by van Slobbe and van Benthum for HACKED, adds value precisely by slowing down the process.

Alexander van Slobbe founded the women’s fashion label orson + bodil at the end of the 1980s. He added his men’s label SO in the early nineties. Both labels pay great attention to the design and manufacture process and have brought van Slobbe international recognition.

Van Slobbe has focused on orson + bodil since 2003. Centraal Museum Utrecht held a survey show of van Slobbe’s work in 2009 and in recent years he has been guest curator on a number of design exhibitions in the Netherlands and abroad.

Francisco van Benthum launched his men’s fashion label FRANCISCO VAN BENTHUM in 2003. His trademark is the contemporary twist he brings to classic designs. He reinterprets and rewrites the traditional components of the men’s fashion silhouette. In 2012 he was awarded the Cultuurfonds Fashion Grant by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.

HACKED is the first collection for their new, joint label Van Slobbe Van Benthum.

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Lastly, there are designers who take a more political stance as hackers in an attempt to deplete the enormous amounts of unsold clothes generated by the Fast Fashion industry. This so-called ‘dead stock’ is their material. They adapt the design or customise it in order to make it more attractive. In this way these ‘waste’ garments find their way to customers rather than ending up in landfill sites.

In fibre production in the Netherlands there is now a keen awareness that flax and hemp are much more ‘climate neutral’ than cotton and that until well into the nineteenth century these crops were widely used for making linen and canvas.

This realisation has led to a ‘green deal’, in which the Ministry of Economic Affairs has partnered with businesses to set up educational programmes for the cultivation of and processing of hemp. Farmers are encouraged to grow hemp and are being educated on how to use all parts of the plant: in textiles, cattle feed, building insulation and composite materials.

FLYING ARCHITECT Studio Plott & Roos Meerman Flying Architects is part of the exhibition Dressed by Architects in the Temporary Fashion Museum.

Fly­ing Architects is a project by Studio Plott (Rudi Boiten and Mireille Burger) in collaboration with Roos Meerman.

Flying Architect is a continuation of Studio Plott’s research into the possibilities of 3D printing. The designers have built a 3D printer that allows them to print textile-like structures on a scale of several square metres. The outcomes of their experiments with printing graphic patterns can best be compared with weaving, embroidery or macramé. The prints are flexible, strong and light. The process resulted in a series of wall objects and net and panel curtains.

Following on from these experiments, Studio Plott joined forces with designer Roos Meerman to seek out new possibilities for weaves and patterns. Sharing a fascination for 3D printing, they became convinced that it must be possible to build objects with a flying printer, in other words, a printer drone. Just as a bird

builds a nest, or a spider its web, this drone would be able to construct three-dimensional woven and knitted articles, which could be used in both architecture and fashion.

Studio Plott and Roos Meerman refer to a melding of architecture and fashion. They point out how new technologies are changing fashion: garments are being given more shape, structure and relief. The body is becoming enveloped in sculptural, almost architectonic forms. In architecture, buildings are being wrapped in textile-like structures and architects are exploring softer and more flexible constructions. The designers hope that Flying Architects will achieve a maximum liberation of form for both disciplines.

Rudi Boiten and Mireille Burger founded Studio Plott after graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2014. www.plott.nl Roos Meerman won the New Material Fellowship 2014, which enabled her to spend a research period at Het Nieuwe Institiuut. She also won both the Hendrik Valk Prize and the Design and Innovation Prize Gelderland in 2014. www.roosmeerman.com

THE TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION It is often assumed that natural materials are more sustainable than their synthetic counterparts because they are made from renewable raw materials. But the development of innovative, smart materials can contribute to the greening of the clothing industry, and the combination of new textile technologies and IT can increase the efficiency of clothing production.

For example, the Japanese chemical and pharmaceutical company Teijin has employed mimicry to develop Morphotex, a coloured fibre that contain no dyes or pigments, thus reducing water and energy consumption and industrial waste.

The fabric is inspired by the wings of the morpho butterfly found in the Amazon rainforest. In flight the butterflies seem to disappear in the blue sky. The butterfly’s metallic blue colour derives not from pigment but from the structure of microscopic light-reflecting scales on its wings. For Morphotex, Tejin developed a similar structure that reflects light to produce colour (O’Mahony 2013: 179). The Austrian Lenzing Group has used nanotechnology to develop a fibre called Tencel from wood pulp and the Austrian yarn manufacturer Schoeller Spinning Group has introduced a mix of merino wool and inox (stainless-steel) that makes the fibres stronger and more resilient and therefore longer-lasting (O’Mahony 2013: 180). New fibres such as these are distinguished by a new aesthetic and new material characteristics. Designer Jef

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Montes explores the beauty of technological fibres, mostly developed for technical applications, by incorporating them within his couture ( ).

That biological processes can help to make the fashion system more sustainable is evident in the work of designers such as Suzanne Lee. For several years she has been developing a leather-like fabric from the layer of cellulose that forms on the surface of tea. Plants and bacteria can also assist in more sustainable methods of dyeing fibres. On a more fundamental level, Carole Collet, professor of Design for Sustainable Futures at Central Saint Martins in London, is exploring the use of genetic technologies to allow fabrics to grow on plants (Teunissen 2014:33).

The interplay between sustainable concepts and technology has brought about radical changes in the traditional process of making clothes: from drawing to pattern to stitched panels. The rapidly advancing field of 3D printing is a good example: the Electroloom, a technology for 3D-printing fabrics is currently being tested. Experiments are also being carried out with 3D scanning the body to create a mould for making clothes that require no traditional patternmaking or sewing.

Li Edelkoort has predicted a future in which people can download patterns from an open-source platform to make their own Dior dresses. And so we return to the nostalgia of homemade clothing, only now it is made to measure.

These technological innovations not only effect sustainability but also influence the communication and meaning of clothing and fashion. There is an important role for technologically advanced materials — so-called smart fabrics — that can measure temperature, make emotions visible through colour or react to external factors such as air quality. Pauline van Dongen, for example, has explored how light in clothing reacts when a group of joggers train together ( ).

Smart fabrics change the relationship between clothing and the wearer, thus altering the meaning of the clothes.

They strengthen the body by supporting movement or they make the wearer (and others) aware of the body’s condition or response to external conditions. The question remains whether we will wear such items in order to communicate who we are as individuals or in order to interact with others.

Smart clothing can become a cocoon from within which we communicate with others at a distance or indeed with ourselves because it permanently confronts us with our own body and the bodily functions it records. Like Slow Fashion and the circular economy, this Smart Fashion will shape future definitions of our concept of fashion. All these new tendencies will eventually make the dream world of magic and glamour served up by big fashion brands, fashion shows and magazines seem outmoded while fashion’s tangible, concrete dimension — the power of craftsmanship and its timeless and durable aspects — will gain ground.

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ILLUSTRATIONS

ILLUSTRATIONS

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ILLUSTRATION 01

ILLUSTRATION 01

56

= € 10

The amount of money consumers in the Netherlands spend on clothes is decreasing = € 10 = 10 € 10 =€ € 34.500 Modaal inkomen

13% (€ 4.601) Eten, alcohol en tabak

13% 11% (€ 4.601) (€ 3.743) Food, Vervoer alcohol and tobacco

11% 28% (€ 3.743) (€ 9.501) Transport Huisvesting (water, energie en licht)

€ 34.500 Average income

28% 14% 34% 14% 34% (€ 9.501) (€ 4.781) (€ 11.874) (€ 4.781) (€ 11.874) Housing Leisure Other Vrije tijd Overig (water, and en cultuur energy culture and light)

5 (€ 1 Kle & scho

(€ 6 Dam kled

10

5% 1.721) eding & oenen

638) mesding

ILLUSTRATION 01

ILLUSTRATION 01

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5% (€ 1.721) Clothing & Shoes

(€ 638) (€ 383) Women’s HerenkleClothing ding

(€ 383) (€ 360) Men’s Schoenen Clothing

(€ 360) (€ 203) Shoes Kinderkleding

(€ 203) (€ 22) Children’s BabykleClothing ding

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(€ 22) (€ 95) Baby Overig Clothing

(€ 95) Other

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ILLUSTRATION 02

ILLUSTRATION 02 € 4,99 4,99 T-shirt€fast fashion

T-shirt fast fashion

€ 2,10 Trade and profit

€ 0,65 Marketing

€ 0,79 Taxes

€ 0,82 Profit Factory

€ 0,40 Material € 0,06 Transport € 0,13 Wage

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ILLUSTRATION 02

ILLUSTRATION 02

€ 29,00 T-shirt middensegmentprijs € 29,00

T-shirt medium price segment

€ 15,00 Trade and profit

€ 3,61 Marketing

€ 3,47 Taxes

€ 1,15 Profit Factory

€ 3,40 Material

€ 2,19 Transport € 0,18 Wage

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ILLUSTRATION 02

ILLUSTRATION 02 € 19,90 19,90 T-shirt€slow fashion

T-shirt slow fashion

€ 8,72 Trade and profit

€ 2,20 Marketing

€ 3,18 Taxes

€ 1,10 Profit Factory

€ 2,90 Material

€ 1,20 Transport € 0,60 Wage

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ILLUSTRATION 03

ILLUSTRATION 03

Het kost gemiddeld 2.500 l water 33 om een T-shirt te produceren It takes on average 2,500 l of water

to produce a T-shirt

= 1 liter

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ILLUSTRATION 03

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ILLUSTRATION 03

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ILLUSTRATION 03

ILLUSTRATION 03

Het kost gemiddeld 7.000 l water om een spijkerbroek produceren It takes on averagete7,000 l of water

to produce a pair of jeans

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35

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ILLUSTRATION 03

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ILLUSTRATION 03 l water Het kost gemiddeld 10.000 om een T-shirt te produceren

It takes on average 10,000 l of water to produce 1 kilo of cotton

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ILLUSTRATION 04

1.

30% wordt 1. 30% is soldverkocht for voor een normale a normal prijs price

ILLUSTRATION 04 2.

30% gaat de 2. 30% isinsold uitverkoop

on sale

3.

40% 3. wordt 40% is weggegooid

7337

thrown away 1.

2.

3.

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ILLUSTRATION 05

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ILLUSTRATION 05 € 5,00 Hamburger € 5,00

Hamburger

20

ILLUSTRATION 05

ILLUSTRATION 05 € 5,00 T-Shirt € 5,00

T-Shirt

21

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ILLUSTRATION 05

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ILLUSTRATION 05 € 10,00 Cocktail € 10,00

Cocktail

22

ILLUSTRATION 05

ILLUSTRATION 05 € 10,00 €Jurk 10,00

Dress

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By-wire.net

Corsage-studio

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NazcAlpaca: alpaca shirts with innovative body monitoring (2015) Photo: Iztok Klančar

Egberdien van Rossum, 2015

Barbara Langendijk

Detail image of the research project ‘For sale’ (2015) Photo: Barbara Langendijk

Appendix: designers & references Appendix: designers & references – Overview of sixteen Dutch designers and labels who are developing and presenting alternative solutions in response to the negative consequences of the contemporary fashion industry.

Overzicht van zestien Nederlandse ontwerpers en labels die in reactie op de negatieve gevolgen van de hedendaagse mode-industrie alternatieve oplossingen ontwikkelen en presenteren.

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BARBARA LANGENDIJK Designer: Barbara Langendijk Founded: 2013 Location: Amsterdam Website: www.barbaralangendijk.com Fashion designer Barbara Langendijk combines modern modes of fashion production with more traditional techniques, often working with designers and artists from other disciplines.

These collaborations result in interdisciplinary garments that present a new perspective on mainstream fashion culture.

For her graduation project Langendijk drew inspiration from the Japanese kimono. She designed special clasps and pins to hold the fabric in place and create unexpected silhouettes. This way of working means that you don’t have cut the fabric into pattern parts, which is what would usually be done in the fashion industry. Remnants are therefore kept to a minimum and, because the clasps make the gar-

BY-WIRE.NET Designer: Marina Toeters Founded: 2007 Location: Utrecht Website: www.by-wire.net

CORSAGE-STUDIO Designers: Rabin Huissen and Robert Stroomberg Founded: 2010 Location: Rotterdam Website: www.corsage-studio.com CORSAGE-STUDIO is a design duo comprising fashion illustrator Rabin Huissen and filmmaker and photographer Robert Stroomberg. The studio combines garment design and production with visual art. Because they approach fashion from the perspectives of an illustrator and a photographer, their collections are a mixture of wearable objects, clothing concepts and personal items.

Huissen and Stroomberg are almost anthropological in their explorations of why people wear what they do. They are interested in the emotional aspects of fashion and seek out the point where fashion becomes art and vice versa. Taking material as the starting point for

This prototype combines electronic components, silver fibres and alpaca wool in an interactive fashion item.

The NazcAlpaca Shirt monitors the wearer’s body through sensors incorporated in the textile. Settings can be adjusted using an app – to start a workout, or even a massage.

Because the shirts monitor the body and the history of the wearer, issues such as work stress can be prevented.

Using the knowledge gained through her projects, Marina Toeters know advises Philips Research, Ilja Visser and ESA on product development. She works as a teacher, coach and researcher at the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht (Fashion), Saxion University of Applied Sciences Enschede (Textile Technology) and Eindhoven University of Technology.

their work, the duo use traditional crafts and new technologies to create new, geometric forms and organic silhouettes. Huissen and Stroomberg believe clothes become more beautiful over time.

Yet CORSAGE-STUDIO, far from avoiding present-day issues, tries to explore the meaning of fashion in relation to topical themes. The series ‘Oceans. Sea of Desire’, for instance, is based on a photograph of a refugee whose body was found washed up on a beach in the Canary Islands. They also use fishing nets in their work to address such issues as overfishing, sustainability and recycling.

In 2015, CORSAGE-STUDIO won the jury prize for their work Hat Dresses during the competition The Future of Fashion is Now at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen.

Appendix: designers & references

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Marina Toeters, founder of by-wire. net, works on the interface between fashion technology and fashion design. Through her company, Toeters encourages collaboration between the fashion industry and technology by developing innovative ideas, technical garments and prototypes.

Toeters joined forces with Martijn ten Bhömer for the project NazcAlpaca. Ten Bhömer was awarded a PhD by the Eindhoven University of Technology for his research into ways to design smart textiles for the healthcare and welfare sectors.

Toeters and ten Bhömer were commissioned by Bear Creek Mining S.A.C. in Peru to develop the first prototype for high-quality knitting using alpaca wool combined with innovative, wearable technology.

ment adjustable, it doesn’t need to be produced in as many sizes. For her project ‘For Sale’, Langendijk carried out research into retail, mass production and reassessment of value in fashion. Her aim is to show consumers the difference between mass production and handwork. She hopes to make the consumer more aware of malpractices in the fashion industry and to promote a greater appreciation of handwork and craftsmanship.

Barbara Langendijk’s work has been presented at the Arnhem Mode Biennale, Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven and the Istanbul Art Biennial. She was recently nominated for the Dutch Design Awards 2015 Young Designer Award.

Designer: Elisa van Joolen Founded: 2012 Location: Amsterdam Website: www.11x17.nl www.elisavanjoolen.com Designer and researcher Elisa van Joolen is interested in the entire spectrum of the fashion industry and works from the conviction that the fashion world needs to adopt a new, social approach to garment production. Van Joolen’s designs begin in an unusual way. She combines parts of garments by different labels to produce a unique design: intervention and reconfiguration.

Van Joolen’s projects emphasise collaboration and participation. One example is her research project 11” x 17” in which she interrogates the fashion industry’s value system and explores new production methods.

Van Joolen’s 11” x 17” Sweater (afbeelding XX) developed out of this project. The sweater is made

STUDIO ELSIEN GRINGHUIS

Appendix: designers & references

Designer: Elsien Gringhuis Founded: 2009 Location: Arnhem Website: www.elsiengringhuis.com Studio Elsien Gringhuis is a sustainable, high-end fashion label which focuses on the essence of clothes: timeless, clean, chic and minimal.

The studio was founded by Elsien Gringhuis who graduated from ArtEz Institute of the Arts, Arnhem, in 2008. Innovative details and Fair Trade and ecological certification set her designs apart. Using such materials as linen, hemp and biodegradable leather, Gringhuis strives for quality in her garments’ design and finish.

The emphasis in Gringhuis’ work is on the design of innovative patterns that produce as little waste as possible. Instead of bringing out a new collection every year, Gringhuis works from a basic collection called Books. New additions to the

JEF MONTES Designer: Jef Montes Founded: 2012 Location: Arnhem Website: www.jefmontes.com Jef Montes is a high-end couture label for women, founded by the designer Jef Montes. In his collections, Montes translates personal histories, often based on old objects, into contemporary silhouettes using experimental production techniques.

Montes basis his designs on elementary, architectural forms and materials, which are manipulated and merged in a continuous production process. His interest in the effects of light on materials are visually amplified in his designs in combinations of artificial and daylight.

The development of innovative materials is an important part of Montes’ inquisitive way of working.

He develops a new type of material for each collection. A collaboration with the TextielLab at TextielMuseum

out of parts of different items of clothing, which were donated by staff at a number of clothing companies.

Van Joolen has a BA from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and an MA from Parsons The New School for Design in New York.

She was a recipient of a Fulbright Award (2010) and was nominated for the New Material Award (2014) and the Dutch Design Award (2013).

Her work has been presented and appreciated in the worlds of both art (including exhibitions at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, and OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen) and fashion and design (5th Brazilian Design Biennial and New York Fashion Week). Van Joolen is a visiting lecturer at a number of art schools in the Netherlands and abroad.

collection, which Gringhuis calls Chapters, are added organically and continue to be available until all the material in stock has been used up.

The label is exclusively produced in the Netherlands to encourage local craftsmanship and to make the entire production chain as sustainable as possible.

Gringhuis was nominated for the Frans Molenaar Prize in 2008 and in 2009 she presented her first collection at Amsterdam Fashion Week. She has won many international fashion awards, including Createurope, Mittelmoda, the Green Fashion Competition, the Fair Luxury Award and in 2014 she was nominated for the Woolmark Prize.

Tilburg resulted in an innovative, dissolvable material for his collection Velero. By deconstructing and reinterpreting the materials he works with, Montes is able to create a new aesthetic.

Since the launch of his label, Montes’ designs have been presented at a range of national and international exhibitions. He has also entered into inspirational collaborations with artists, musicians, product designers, dancers and a range of institutions. Jef Montes made his debut at Amsterdam Fashion Week in 2014 with his collection Illuminosa.

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ELISA VAN JOOLEN

Photo: Tse Kao

Jef Montes

Nylon cape with airbrush work in black ink, Velero Collection (2015) Photo: Sabrina Bongiovanni

Appendix: designers & references Photo: Blommers / Schumm Title: 11”x17” Sweater ‘Tultex x moniquevanheist x G-Star RAW x Union Made’

Studio Elsien Gringhuis

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Elisa van Joolen Back to the essay

Kings of Indigo

Maison the Faux

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Goodhood Creativ

‘ANNA’. Paris, 2 October 2015 Photo: Augustin Lignier

Appendix: designers & references

Karin Vlug

Photo: Peggy Kuiper

Back to the essay

KARIN VLUG Designer: Karin Vlug Founded: 2014 Location: Amsterdam Website: www.karinvlug.com Fashion designer Karin Vlug researches the future of fashion with a focus on smart production and construction techniques. Her aim as a designer is to transform the production process so that made-to-measure is brought within everyone’s reach.

Vlug’s ideal is to create a new wardrobe without any sewing, using as little material and, ultimately, as little transportation as possible. Her collections consist of standard and easy to produce pattern parts with right-angles. Her designs can be made to fit any body, just by joining the pattern parts in different ways.

In her research project Smart Fashion Production Vlug works closely with Laura Duncker, a lecturer in Fashion Research & Technology at Amsterdam Uni-

KINGS OF INDIGO Designer: Tony Tonnaer Founded: 2010 Location: Amsterdam Website: www.kingsofindigo.com

MAISON THE FAUX Designers: Tessa de Boer and Joris Suk Founded: 2013 Location: Arnhem Website: www.maisonthefaux.com MAISON the FAUX is a creative studio which presents itself as a major fashion house. This fictional ‘maison de couture’ is an affectionate dig at traditional fashion houses.

De Boer and Suk play on the expectations of the world of fashion, using performance, individuality and love as their key ingredients. With a healthy dose of self-mockery, humour and a predilection for fashion, MAISON the FAUX have taken the national and international fashion stage by storm.

Using the term ‘Humanwear’, the label presents a new take on gender. MAISON the FAUX collaborates with creative individuals, who they call ‘Résidents’, on every new project. Together they shake up

and techniques. K.I.O. strives to achieve the highest possible quality for its products. The company makes enlightened, timeless designs – design classics which resist the transient dictates of fashion. A pair of K.O.I. trousers can last a lifetime.

Kings of Indigo recently launched their Red Light Denim line, a collection made from 18% recycled cotton from denim collected in Amsterdam. Founder Tony Tonnaer hopes that ultimately no new cotton plants will have to be planted, because all cotton and clothing will be recycled. K.O.I.’s designs are all named after former kings and queens.

the fashion world, make innovative designs and create space for the development of young talent.

Since launching the house in 2013, MAISON the FAUX has presented four collections: ‘It’s Cleaning Day!’, ‘Make a U-turn if Possible’, ‘C’est vrai ou c’est FAUX?’ and recently ANNA. They regularly give theatrical and musical performances at exhibition openings and (fashion) events. On their wish list for the future is Beirut Brand Store, a perfume line with human odour, an album and a reality show.

Appendix: designers & references

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Kings of Indigo (K.O.I.) is a sustainable denim label by Tony Tonnaer. K.O.I. employs a sustainable production process to make timeless and environmentally friendly clothes. This production process is based on K.O.I.’s own Triple-R philosophy: Recycle, Repair, Reuse.

Besides using recycled and organic cotton, K.O.I. also employs alternative washing methods, which keep water wastage and the use of chemical pollutants to a minimum. The label works closely with Fair Wear registered partners.

K.O.I. combines its concern for sustainability with innovative production methods, such as laser and ozone washes and original finishes.

Their focus is on innovative uses for existing and new materials

versity of Applied Sciences. Their research began in June 2014 when Vlug began developing an innovative garment production process for CLICKNL’s KIEM programme (knowledge-innovation mapping).

This involved using 3D body scans to personalise a digital design.

First, a flexible mould is made from the digital design. The mould is then ‘dressed’ with liquid textiles, which generate no remnants or waste materials. The ultimate aim is to use the same materials each time to make a new design.

Karin Vlug won the Frans Molenaar Prize in 2014 for her graduation collection.

Designer: Monique van Heist Founded: 2008 Location: Rotterdam Website: www.moniquevanheist.com Monique van Heist’s label focuses on a classical, unisex wardrobe to which she adds intelligent details and clear references. In 2008 Monique van Heist launched the project HELLOFASHION, with which she gave shape to her metavision of fashion, an idea that won her a Mercedes Benz Dutch Fashion Award in 2008.

HELLO FASHION is an on-going collection of ‘moniquevanheist classics’ with which she challenges fashion’s value system. This permanent and ever-growing collection consists of garments and accessories, as well as lifestyle products such as furniture, make-up advice and even recipes. The normal cycle of the system is thus interrupted by new products being added to the

MUD JEANS

Appendix: designers & references

Designer: Bert van Son Location: 2008 Location: Rhenen Website: www.mudjeans.eu MUD Jeans stands out for being an entirely sustainable organisation: MUD Jeans products are made from organic cotton, unavoidable packaging is made from recycled materials and the company is committed to making structural improvements to the social and economic conditions of the production process.

To achieve complete sustainability, founder Bert van Son launched the concept Lease A Jeans in 2013.

Customers are only users of the jeans and pay a deposit and a monthly fee. A lease contract is valid for a year. At the end of the year the consumer can choose to either keep the jeans or send them back in exchange for a new pair. MUD Jeans remains the owner of the jeans at all times and reuses the jeans or the material.

NEFFA Designer: Aniela Hoitink Founded: 2004 Location: Amsterdam Website: www.neffa.nl Neffa was founded by fashion designer Aniela Hoitink. Hoitink focuses mainly on innovating textiles. By employing a multi- and interdisciplinary way of working, she aims to change the way we use textiles.

She regards textiles as an extension of the skin, and is interested in the idea of multifunctional layers. She researches how textiles might be used in the future and what the consequences might be. Using technology and microbiology, she changes and improves the characteristics of a textile, making it possible to employ them in surprising new ways.

Neffa’s aim is to introduce innovative techniques to the broader public in a way that is easy to understand. One of the products that has come out of her research

collection at a moment of the designer’s choosing. A seasonal variant is presented every six months in ‘new’ colours and materials. HELLOFASHION’s products are numbered and have a name. With this project van Heist directly challenges the impermanence of fashion. HELLOFASHION will run for ten years, ending with the publication of a book.

Alongside her own label, van Heist has made a number of exhibitions about her work over the last few years and has curated several other exhibitions. Monique van Heist has also taught design at a number of art schools in the Netherlands.

This form of ‘Circular Design’ consists of three phases: 1. ‘Designed for recycling’: The jeans are designed in such a way that they are easy to recycle. They have no leather labels on the back, for instance, but printed ones.

2. ‘Upcycling’: If you return them after a year, the jeans are taken by a designer and reappear as vintage jeans on the webshop, with a short story about the previous user.

3. ‘Recycling’: Ultimately, the jeans go to Italy where they are milled down and the fibres turned into new denim yarn.

is the ‘Chameleon Mood Scarf’.

This scarf’s pattern responds to the wearer’s mood, environment and temperature.

Hoitink both initiates projects and works on commission. Clients are often companies who are looking for applications for their innovative new materials. Because Hoitink explores how new technologies might be applied, she is developing new futures for textiles.

Neffa’s partners include the University of Utrecht, IMEC, Hasselt University and Elasta.

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MONIQUEVANHEIST

Back to the essay

Moniquevanheist

Appendix: designers & references

Mud Jeans

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Chameleon mood scarf (2015) Photo: Local Androids

Neffa

The Post-Couture Collective

ONE | OFF. Post-Couture by MPHVS (2015) Photo: Olya Oleinic

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Studio Jux

Appendix: designers & references

Pauline van Dongen

Solar Shirt. Wearable Solar Collection (2015) Photo: Liselotte Fleur

Back to the essay

PAULINE VAN DONGEN Designer: Pauline van Dongen Founded: 2010 Location: Arnhem Website: www.paulinevandongen.nl Fashion designer and innovator Pauline van Dongen graduated with a B.A. and M.A. from ArtEz Institute of the Arts in Arnhem and has since worked to bring fashion and technology together. She hopes to make wearable technology accessible to a larger audience. Her work is distinctive for its minimalist allure and the functional, wearable properties of her designs. Under her fashion label, van Dongen carries out extensive research into experimental, high-tech materials and traditional techniques, and constantly innovates the notion of craftsmanship. She joins forces with several companies to achieve this.

Since 2013, van Dongen has been carrying out research for her PhD within the project Crafting

STUDIO JUX Designers: Carlien Helmink and Jitske Lundgren Founded: 2006 Location: Amsterdam Website: www.studiojux.com

THE POST-COUTURE COLLECTIVE Designer: Martijn van Strien Founded: 2015 Location: Rotterdam Website: www.postcouture.cc The Post-Couture Collective was founded by designer Martijn van Strien. The collective aims to develop garment production methods that will increase sustainability in today’s polluting and unjust textile industry. The Post-Couture Collective uses modern production techniques like laser cutting and 3D printing to achieve this.

The Post-Couture Collective adopts open source principles to ensure everyone has access to the resources and production models.

Garment collections by different designers are then rendered into digital formats so that they can be shared with the consumer. The designs can then be fabricated by the end users following instructions

set up small companies that are particularly focused on supporting the emancipation and independence of women. Under the slogan ‘Your Nepali Tailor is a Rockstar’ on their blog, they show us who the factory workers are. This makes the production process more transparent for the consumer.

Studio JUX regularly wins prizes for its collections. In 2009 they received the Ethical Fashion Awards, in 2012 they were the winners of the ‘Green Fashion Competition’ and in 2014 they won financial investment from the Village Capital Competition for sustainable start-ups.

on the website. This lends the garments a unique, personal signature, which would be impossible if they were mass-manufactured. Production, therefore, occurs in a global network of ‘make spaces’ – places where sustainable and recycled materials can be used. Because the garments are only made after they have been bought, there is no overproduction or unnecessary transportation.

The designs in the MPHVS ‘ONE | OFF’ collection are made using a 3D-spacer material made from recycled PET bottles. These garments can be assembled using an innovative method that requires no sewing machine. This makes the designs modular, which means the components can easily be adapted and replaced without the whole item having to be discarded. This is the haute couture of the future.

Appendix: designers & references

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Fashion designer Jitske Lundgren and communications specialist Carlien Helmink are Studio JUX. This is a sustainable, high fashion label for women and men that offers an alternative to fast fashion. Their designs are made from high-quality organic, natural or recycled materials. These are certified materials or textiles, which they buy directly off a local market in Nepal.

Studio JUX’s garments, accessories and household items are produced under good labour conditions in their own factory in Kathmandu, Nepal. With this factory, Studio Jux aims to create good working conditions and improve the lives of the Nepalese. Lundgren and Helmink also initiate other projects and have

‘Wearables’. This is a four-year long collaboration between the Radboud University Nijmegen, Eindhoven University of Technology, ArtEz Institute for the Arts, TextielMuseum Tilburg, MODINT and a number of companies. Van Dongen is working on developing a Wearable Solar Collection. One design from the series is the Solar Shirt. This seamless design consists of 120 flexible solar cells and can recharge a smartphone or any other USB device.

The solar cells, combined with printed electronics, form modules that can be laminated directly onto the knitted fabric.

Pauline van Dongen has received national and international recognition for her work and is regular asked to speak or teach on the subject of fashionable technology.

YOUASME MEASYOU Designers: Twan Janssen and Mark van Vorstenbos Founded: 2010 Location: Amsterdam Website: www.youasme.com YOUASME MEASYOU is a jersey and knitwear label founded by Mark van Vorstenbos and conceptual artist Twan Janssen. Both graduated from ArtEz Institute for the Arts, Arnhem, in the early nineties. In 2010 they decided it was time for a radical new turn in their practice: inclusiveness, transparency and social values took centre stage. The label was established entirely through crowdfunding.

Rather than exclusivity, Jansen and van Vorstenbos chose to embrace the art of sharing. The outcome was a label with a social conscience and a focus on closer ties between the maker and the user. YOUASME MEASYOU designs are high-quality fashionable interpretations of classic designs.

In response to fashion’s eternal obsession with the new, in 2015 the designers launched the sustainable platform ‘MEANWHILE’. The platform transcends the seasons and concentrates on authentic inspiration and products that are made to be cherished. In 2014, van Vorstenbos and Janssen won the 5th Prins Bernhard Fashion Grant for their pioneering work on slow fashion.

CENTRE OF EXPERTISE: FUTURE MAKERS IN FASHION & DESIGN www.futuremakers.artez.nl Centre of Expertise: Future Makers in Fashion & Design is an initiative by CLICKNL|Next Fashion and ArtEZ Institute of the Arts. This project aims to develop new, sustainable materials and manufacturing processes and to deploy them in fashion and design. Students at ArtEZ, three lecturers and the Art and Business Centre are working with businesses on this project.

CLICKNL|NEXT FASHION www.clicknl.nl/nextfashion The Next Fashion network develops and implements the agenda for innovation in the fashion sector from within CLICKNL, the knowledge and innovation network for creative industries in the Netherlands. The network is supported by three partners: ArtEZ Institute for the Arts (knowledge centres); MODINT, industry associations for fashion, interiors, carpets and textiles (commercial); the Provincial Government of Gelderland and Arnhem City Council (state).

CRAFTING WEARABLES www.craftingwearables.com The five-year old interdisciplinary research project Crafting Wearables is a collaboration between Radboud University Nijmegen, Eindhoven University of Technology, ArtEZ Institute for the Arts Arnhem, Philips Research, Textile Museum Tilburg, MODINT, Freedom of Creation, Solar Fiber, Inntex and Xsens. PhD candidates Pauline van Dongen and Lianne Toussaint, along with four junior researchers, are researching the integration of fashion and technology.

FAIR WEAR FOUNDATION www.fairwear.org Fair Wear Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organisation which works with fashion companies and manufacturers to improve working conditions for employees in the textile industry. FWF is active in 11 producer countries in Asia, Europe and Africa. The Code of Labour Practices, to which every member is expected to adhere, is based on eight labour standards.

FASHION FUTURES www.fashionfutures.org Fashion designer Anke Jongejan uses theory and practice to research possible future scenarios for fashion, both as an industry and as a cultural phenomenon. Fashion Futures presents solutions which are fundamentally different from those currently used in today’s fashion system. Using innovative prototypes and (fictional) products, Jongejan speculates on the future look of fashion.

LENA THE FASHION LIBRARY www.lena-library.com LENA the Fashion Library is a clothing library where you can borrow high-quality and sustainable vintage clothes for a fixed monthly amount and where you can bring you own clothes to lend. This initiative aims to reduce over-production and over-consumption and thereby contribute to a better, cleaner world.

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Appendix: designers & references

Below is a selection of organisations and businesses who develop, promote and /or research the value of fashion, fashion and technology and/or fashion and sustainability.

YOUASME MEASYOU

Back to the essay

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MINT www.modefabriek.nl/nl/mint MINT is part of the Modefabriek. At this trade fair, MINT co-founder Marieke Eyskoot presents around 25 sustainable fashion labels and lifestyle products, which have been made with respect for people and their environment. A lecture programme, an exhibition and a shop are among the ways MINT works to enlighten a wide fashion audience and to stimulate the industry to adopt “forward fashion”.

CLEAN-CLOTHES CAMPAIGN www.schonekleren.nl Ever since 1989, Schone Kleren Campagne (clean-clothes campaign) has been bringing clothing companies together to improve labour conditions and the position of workers in the global garment industry. SKC is a coalition of unions, consumer organisations, women’s groups, aid organisations and research groups. They not only highlight abuses, but also propose constructive solutions.

STRAWBERRY EARTH www.strawberryearth.com Strawberry Earth’s mission is to inspire people to make sustainable choices in fashion, design, cosmetics and food. Projects and initiatives like the Strawberry Earth Academy and Strawberry Earth Fair are aimed at stimulating a fair and green economy in the creative sector.

TALKING DRESS www.talkingdress.nl With her office Talking Dress, Marieke Eyskoot works to put fair garments and a sustainable lifestyle well and truly on the map. Eyskoot is author of the book ‘Talking Dress – alles over eerlijke kleding en lifestyle, een gids voor eerlijke en modieuze kleding en lifestyle’ (currently only available in Dutch). She also lectures and organises events on sustainable fashion and improving the garment industry.

TEXPERIUM www.texperium.eu Texperium is an open-innovation centre for textile recycling, which aims to make the textile chain more sustainable and to offer new market opportunities. The centre aims to bring together sorters and re-users by organising symposia and meetings around particular themes. Companies, knowledge centres and the government are working together on a range of research projects in the centre.

Appendix: designers & references

MADE-BY www.made-by.org MADE-BY is a nonprofit organisation for fashion companies, retailers and manufacturers who want to improve social, economic and ecological conditions throughout their entire production chain. MADE-BY’s mission is to make sustainable clothing commonplace. MADE-BY advises and supports companies applying for social or environmental certification and helps them procure sustainable materials.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This article is an elaboration of research carried out for the exhibition Fashion Data and draws upon findings that were published in A Fashion Odyssey (ArtEZ Press 2013).

LITERATURE Claudia Banz and Sabine Schulze, Fast Fashion, Hamburg: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, 2015.

Sandy Black, Eco-Chic: The Fashion Paradox, London: Black Dog Publishing, 2008.

Jan Brand and José Teunissen, (eds.), A Fashion Odyssey, Arnhem: ArtEZ Press, 2013.

Hazel Clark, Slow + Fashion – an Oxymoron – or a Promise for the Future? in Fashion Theory, vol. 12, no. 4, 2008, pp. 427-446.

Gilles Lipovetsky, Moderne Luxe, Postmoderne Luxe in Jan Brand and José Teunissen (eds.), Mode & Accessoires, Arnhem: ArtEZ Press & Terra, 2007, pp. 28-41.

Michiel Scheffer, Problemen en de aanpak ervan in Jan Brand and José Teunissen (eds.), A Fashion Odyssey, Arnhem: ArtEZ Press, 2013, pp. 86-106.

José Teunissen, Mode in Nederland, Arnhem: Terra, 2006.

José Teunissen, The Future of Fashion is Now in Jan Brand and Jose Teunissen (eds.), The Future of Fashion is Now, Rotterdam: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 2014, pp. 12-26. http://www.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/ Routekaart_Tapijt_juni2012.pdf FIGURES from Claudia Banz and Sabine Schulze, Fast Fashion, Hamburg: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, 2015. http://www.cpb.nl/cijfers https://www.oneworld.nl/water/ sta-droog http://www.greenpeace.nl/Global/ nederland/report/2011/ DirtyLaundry_LR.pdf Met dank aan Modint, Matthijs Crietee

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COLOPHON Publication Essay: JosĂŠ Teunissen Designer profiles: Mascha van Zijverden Essay editor: Gert Staal Text editors: Lotte Haagsma Mahlee Plekker Graphic design: Rudy Guedj Exhibition Fashion Data Curator: JosĂŠ Teunissen Installation design: Conny Groenewegen Graphic design: Rudy Guedj

The data visualisations are based on research by Claudia Banz, Modint and Circle Economy.

The Temporary Fashion Museum has been made possible thanks to generous support from Fonds 21, the BankGiro Lottery and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

This is a publication from: Het Nieuwe Instituut Museumpark 25, Rotterdam tel. +31(0)10-4401200 service@hetnieuweinstituut.nl www.hetnieuweinstituut.nl

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