Circularity & Transparency: Regenerative Fashion
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This series of webinars will take you through a journey of the building blocks of regenerative fashion. Starting with an overview of ‘Regenerative Fashion’ and then branching out to cover a range of key topics with more depth at each level.
Webinars will include:
- Understanding fabrics and their impact on people and planet
- Regenerative fibre farming - indigenous, non GM, rain-fed, grown close to production communities, carbon positive, examples of this are cotton, hemp, linen, wool.
- From fibre to fabric production - community production vs large scale manufacture, supporting skills, low carbon, craft, low-water, spinning, weaving, knitting.
- Design - design to last, up-cycle, recycle. Low waste, flexible design.
- Dyeing - Creating colour sustainably
- Printing - techniques that don't harm the planet and support heritage systems
1] Anyone with an interest in finding out more about where their clothes come from and how to avoid damage causing fast fashion
2] Solo entrepreneurs building physical products in fashion
3] Anyone working in a fashion organisation who wants to understand more ethical, sustainable ways of producing textiles and clothing
4] For designers - both professional and at home - who want to understand how to make greener more ethical choices in their fabrics and design processes
1] Supporting positive choices for customers who love fashion but want peace of mind
2] Understanding key information on ethical fashion for those in the fashion industry or with an interest in fashion and clothing
3] Understanding fabrics and their impact on people and planet
1] Introduction to Regenerative Fashion
Why must we change our culture on clothing and how do we do it?
This session will cover the current issues in the supply chain & why fashion needs to become regenerative for people and planet - through different aspects such as farming, fabric production, design and dyeing. In addition to delaying the end of life of products by mending, upcycling, repurposing, swapping, selling etc then finally recycling of fibres and biodegrading, and ensuring transparency through the entire process.
2] Ensuring Transparency & Ethics in Supply Chains
Transparency: Understanding the impacts on people and planet
This session discusses transparency, covering recent developments and trends and how more heritage fabrics such as Khadi have a key role to play in transparency and ethics. From farming methods, traditional processes vs manufacturing to skills and techniques, we explore the stories behind our clothing production.
3] Creating Kind Fabrics
A masterclass on fabric creation - from the fibres growing in the field to the fabrics you wear.
This session will cover the different kinds of fabrics - natural, synthetic and semi synthetic, focussing on the ethics and sustainability in each case. We will then step through the processes required to turn the fibre to fabric, giving a clear indication of the alternative approaches and their impacts.
4] Defining and Measuring Impact
How do we know that the clothing we are choosing is actually making a positive impact?
Within the webinar, we will discuss:
- The Growth of Greenwashing
- Exploration of Key terms such as 'conscious' and 'sustainable'
- Transparency of data available and how to see behind it
- Tools for impact measurement such as SDGs, Carbon footprints, etc.
- Accreditations to understand
5] Wholesaling Regenerative Textiles
The majority of clothing is created is sold wholesale - to brands for onward sale, to businesses for uniform, or warehouses for delivery of smaller custom orders. As we move away from mass production and mass consumption there’s a need to explore new ways of wholesaling that are much more circular and regenerative.
This webinar will explore areas including: Direct partnerships between businesses and farmers/producers, Circular models to up-cycle surplus clothing for new productions, Growth of recycled clothes, fabrics or fibres in new collections, A change in payment models to share risk, Re-focusing from low quality disposable to creating less but better - rethinking merch!
6] Growing Regenerative Cotton
This session will go through the history of cotton growing with a focus on regenerative cotton. Speakers will explore current thinking on regenerative cotton farming including seed sovereignty, indigenous crops, ecological farming, carbon positive crops and smallhold farmer empowerment. The session will be led by Jo Salter with support from regenerative growers eg. Beejkatha, Raddis.
7] Introduction to Spinning - including demonstration of Spinning Cotton and wool yarn from fibre
An overview of why and how fibres and spun into yarn to be used in fabric making. Different approaches with a focus on spinning by hand. Demonstrations and discussions with Asha Buch (khadi cotton) and Saumya Singh (wool)
8] Introduction to Blockprinting Fabrics
An introduction to blockprinting covering heritage, block carving and a blockprinting workshop with Morgan Amber.
9] Circular and collaborative design
How can the design of clothing contribute to its sustainability?
Our final session will cover:
- Longevity - designing clothes to last, wardrobe staples, quality fabrics and workmanship
- Choosing fabrics with thought (see previous session)
- Choosing accessories with thought - buttons, zips, thread, elastic
- Designing for regeneration - ensuring the item can be passed on, upcycled, mended
- Circular design - repurposing waste items into clothing/accessories.
Reviews
Jo was part of an all-female panel at one of our first in-person events for the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick in April 2022. The theme of the event was climate change and how different sectors including activists, social entrepreneurs and politicians can work collaboratively to solve the crisis. Jo’s insights on ethical clothing have certainly provoked many of the audience who attended to question how they buy their clothes in the future. We were particularly struck by Jo’s comment that ‘clothes that claim to be made in Britain actually can’t be as we don’t grow cotton in Britain’. Jo is extremely passionate about what she does and what she believes in and that certainly came across during the evening. We thank Jo for her contribution to an extremely successful event and would certainly recommend her as a speaker.
Jo Salter has contributed to the Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business, a University of Cambridge accredited course. She led a series of small group discussions with the students, where she presented a case study and then invited the students to interact with this. This resulted in thought-provoking and lively conversations where Jo was able to share genuine and frank insights about her journey. I would like to thank Jo for her contribution to the programme and we hope to continue the collaboration in the future.
Interested to learn more?
Join the waiting list for this course
1) You'll only be asked to pay when course launches
2) We and our mentors will be in touch to learn more about your needs
By claiming your spot, you're happy to share your name and email address with WONDR and the mentor to contact you about the course.
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