ABSTRACT
Prof. Sandy Black,1 Dr Claudia Eckert,2 Philip Delamore,1 Dr Frances Geesin,1 Steven Harkin,3 Dr Penelope Watkins1 and Fatemeh Eskandarypur,1,4 (1University of the Arts London, 2Open University, 3Steven Harkin Designs, 4Textiles for Life)
Introduction During 2005, the Interrogating Fashion network funded under Phase 1 of the Designing for the 21st Century Initiative, created an agenda for research in fashion design for the 21st century, particularly within its sustainability theme, ‘The Fashion Paradox’.1 Since then, the landscape of sustainability awareness and action across every industry sector has changed enormously, as seen in the areas of transport and food. This growing emphasis on sustainability is particularly evident in the fashion industry, where earlier initiatives and actions by individual designers and campaign groups began to coincide with much larger political responses to climate change and sustainability: the Stern Review,2 the think tank Forum for the Future,3 and the UK government’s roadmapping for sustainable production and consumption (including clothing).4 European Union legislation on landfill, waste electrical equipment and registration of chemicals (REACH)5 also came into force, and ethical and environmental issues rose to a prominent position in the public spotlight. Campaigning NGOs such as War on Want6 and Pesticide Action Network7 produced hard-hitting reports on clothing and cotton workers’ conditions, and the European Clean Clothes Campaign supported a UK educational project ‘Fashioning an Ethical Industry’ through the Labour Behind the Label organisation. The media played a key part, with every magazine and newspaper issuing ‘green’ supplements and a new wave of publications, films and television programmes focused in this area.8
