Today, design faces significant challenges such as climate change, depletion of natural resources and loss of biodiversity, with no room for procrastination. The current situation no longer allows for isolated or locally effective solutions, as the implementation of sustainability requires context-specific temporal and spatial indicators. Sustainability is, in fact, a property of the system and not of individual elements, and the achievement of global sustainability requires a systemic and multi-scalar approach guided by vision rather than a traditional optimisation approach (Bagheri and Hjorth, 2007; Holling, 2001; Walker et al., 2004), which takes into account human beings and the environment and the interconnections they create in the system. This also requires significant changes in how we use and produce goods and services. Too often at a market price that does not reflect their environmental and social costs. Therefore, consumers and producers must start playing their part in an economy focusing on low-carbon, energy and resource-efficient processes to protect and preserve the planet. Within the fashion system, the sustainable approach linked to the environmental vision, but also to the economy, to respect for people’s work, is becoming an increasingly important theme, not only on a global level concerning large brands but also in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises, such as the one that characterises production in Italy (Terenzi& Benelli, 2021). In this sense, design for fashion traverses the material and immaterial issues related to both the product and the individual, placing oneself at the limits of different ecosystems that develop autonomously and intersect with others, influencing and adapting them in an ever-changing context. Starting from these assumptions, this contribution, through the presentation of an exemplified case study realised within a workshop involving the three-year degree course in design and the Master’s degree course in Planet Life Design of the Department of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering of the University of Perugia, intends to highlight how a holistic approach to the sustainability of the Fashion System can play an important role in orienting a specific type of national market towards sustainable design, production and consumption, not only from an environmental point of view but also from an economic and social one.
Sustainable Inclusive Fashion Design. Esperienze progettuali per un approccio olistico alla sostenibilità
Benedetta Terenzi
2023
Abstract
Today, design faces significant challenges such as climate change, depletion of natural resources and loss of biodiversity, with no room for procrastination. The current situation no longer allows for isolated or locally effective solutions, as the implementation of sustainability requires context-specific temporal and spatial indicators. Sustainability is, in fact, a property of the system and not of individual elements, and the achievement of global sustainability requires a systemic and multi-scalar approach guided by vision rather than a traditional optimisation approach (Bagheri and Hjorth, 2007; Holling, 2001; Walker et al., 2004), which takes into account human beings and the environment and the interconnections they create in the system. This also requires significant changes in how we use and produce goods and services. Too often at a market price that does not reflect their environmental and social costs. Therefore, consumers and producers must start playing their part in an economy focusing on low-carbon, energy and resource-efficient processes to protect and preserve the planet. Within the fashion system, the sustainable approach linked to the environmental vision, but also to the economy, to respect for people’s work, is becoming an increasingly important theme, not only on a global level concerning large brands but also in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises, such as the one that characterises production in Italy (Terenzi& Benelli, 2021). In this sense, design for fashion traverses the material and immaterial issues related to both the product and the individual, placing oneself at the limits of different ecosystems that develop autonomously and intersect with others, influencing and adapting them in an ever-changing context. Starting from these assumptions, this contribution, through the presentation of an exemplified case study realised within a workshop involving the three-year degree course in design and the Master’s degree course in Planet Life Design of the Department of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering of the University of Perugia, intends to highlight how a holistic approach to the sustainability of the Fashion System can play an important role in orienting a specific type of national market towards sustainable design, production and consumption, not only from an environmental point of view but also from an economic and social one.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
