PASS THE BATON is a new type of recycle shop with two locations, in the center of Tokyo. It cherishes the emotional bound that both, previous and new owner have with the item, fostered by a carefully curated setting.
2045: scenarios for the textile and fashion industry: How will the industry look like in 5, 10 and 30 years time? Scenarios offer research-based insights, and potentially can show how realistic a world is, that looks rather quite different from what we're used to. What if Asia become today's Europe? What if we did not buy to own? What if everyone was a maker?
If there is an area of fashion that is truly pushing the boundaries of what is technically and style-wise possible, then it is Haut Couture.
In January 2013 2 pieces among Iris van Harpenr’s 11-piece collection at Voltage show attracted the interested of fashionistas as much as product techies: The first ever wearable dresses created through a 3D printing process.
AI has the potential to transform corporate responsibility by handling data-heavy tasks like reporting or data and KPI management. It hence can contribute to helping companies 'being less bad'. However, its potential to support professionals and companies in driving real positive impact is still developing. This post introduces AI’s current potenntial in corporate responsibility and sustainability. In upcoming blog posts we'll explore specific applications: in sustainability reporting, supply chain management, and integrating financial considerations with sustainability impact.
Could ESG reporting finally become less repetitive and tedious?
AI has the potential to transform ESG reporting by automating compliance tracking, integrating data from diverse and unstructured sources, and streamlining audit preparation. This opens up opportunities to free data and ESG experts from repetitive, tedious tasks. Yet, while AI offers promise, tight oversight remains essential to address challenges like data quality ('crap in is crap out') and system integration.
Can AI help us to get to (better) grips with supply chain compliance?
Supply chains are based on fairly complex partnership networks where every link ideally must meet strict efficiency and compliance standards.
Supplier audits and legislation aim ultimately to ensure high standard, it is a not the least highly time demanding task to be successful at. AI offers the potential to support practical solutions for risk assessment, process optimization, and partner evaluation. Commercial providers are already jumping on the band wagon by providing ways to build 'digital twins' of real supply chains – hence opening them up for 'offline optimisation' - and of course highly sophisticated data analytics tools drawing from multiple disjoint data sources.
How can AI help connect the worlds of sustainability/ESG data, and that of company financials?
ESG is typically considered a mere cost - yet: this perception stems chiefly from a lack of integration of mutually beneficial data of these two worlds. With better approaches to cost accounting, to performance analysis, as well as using predictive analysis relate to trends, legislation and asset management, the ability of AI to integrated diverse and complex data sets may precise be the pathway to shift that needle.
Is AI advancing sustainability or creating costly trade-offs we’re only beginning to understand? In this post, we dive into the reality behind AI's potential as a force for sustainability. While AI shows promise in enhancing sustainable practices and supporting business processes, it also has a significant CO₂ footprint—mainly from energy-hungry data centres—and its environmental impact will likely grow. Though AI could help achieve Sustainable Development Goals, this depends on our responsible use and governance of the technology. Without stringent oversight, AI risks reinforcing societal biases, as seen in social media algorithms that foster echo chambers. As with all innovations, AI’s promise is matched by its challenges, and only a well-balanced approach can ensure it contributes meaningfully to a sustainable future.
The term ‘circular economy’ has recently been – again – converted into a buzz word. To some extent there are a couple of good reasons for that as both common sense as well as the Ellen McArthur foundation's most recent report prove.
Connecting the present and the past, learning and drawing conclusions from either, is and will remain key to creating a more sustainable fashion industry. So far, learning from the past in particular - in the good and in the bad - has been chiefly neglected. A series of thoughts.
Cradle to Cradle is a design methodology that puts a 'waste-less' world at its heart. What is the concept all about? What does it mean for the apparel industry? And who practises it among designers and companies?
How does digitalisation impact and link to corporate responsibility? This is the question we look into in this post.
Combining the two disciplines results in a range of interesting questions. For example: If humans create non-human agents (e.g. in the shape of AI): For what, towards whom are these responsible? And: are they responsible at all - or is it their creator who is?
Computer Science and Sustainability/ESG: these two areas of expertise combine increasingly well with every passing month and year. In fact, I am tempted to say that the two worlds of sustainability and digitalisation are surprisingly similar to one another. In a number of ways – not in all, of course! – they overlap more than they differ. And mutually benefit each other.
Both areas represent critical skill-sets for boards and senior executives in the current and upcoming decades. This is why I thought I’d take the time to reflect on the overlaps, the synergies, but no doubt also the differences.
The key words: systems thinking, automatisation, fraud prevention and authentication, business model distruption, usability, and the Just Transition.
As companies and countries around the world pursue net zero targets, one big question is: How do you ensure the carbon removal technologies we will need 20 to 30 years down the road are available, affordable and easily scaled?
S&P Global recently published a podcast mini-series on emerging climate technology.
The series not only introduces a range of much hyped about, CO2 saving or CO2 removing technology, but also looks at scaling, the truth of potential impact, and financial viability.It is for this reason that I would like to list the three episodes in this post – and invite everyone to spend the 3 x 20 minutes to wrap their head around these insights.
Barcodes, RFID tags, and QR codes have each introduced a new era of on-product information distribution and acquisition.
In this article I would like to look at a family of digital solution components that many brands and manufacturers will already use and be reliant on, and that – if integrated – could be leveraged to provide full-depth traceability.
Supply chains, as a discipline of expertise, have come out of the hiding and recognise their role in reducing corporate risk. This is notably and specifically the case in fashion and textiles. At the same time, 'design' - not just in the creation room, but in all facets where it impacts the making, delivery and use of a product or service, is increasingly recognised as relevant.
The most recent event in the 'Perspectives on Future Sustainable Design' series highlighted the progress made in developing sustainable design approaches. Both, from a theoretical as well as from a systemic point of view. A summary.
The KISS Principle is a design principle that stems from the 1960.
It originated in engineering and its view point is that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore, simplicity should be a key goal in design, and unnecessary complexity should be avoided.
But what about complex systems such as nature?
How simple can we go before oversimplification results in incomplete, or biased data? Before absence of consideration of relevant factors inherently lead to regrettable substitutions? And before we willingly accept that there will be collateral damages to a decision, without knowing (or wanting to know) of what nature and in what order of magnitude these may be?
One example that illustrates where this challenge may rear what is its ugly head: upcoming Swiss political referenda on agricultural practices.
Mistra Future Fashion (MFF) is a 4-year research project (2011-2015), funded by the Swedish government via Mistra, the Foundation of Strategic Environmental Research.
MFF has a very holistic approach that has the goal of supporting the industry to re-think their business models, design and industrial processes and promote consumer behaviour change.
How do you make ‘sustainability' tangible?
The usual answer is – unsurprisingly – a ‘well, it depends’.
Which it evidently does.
Unfortunately, good case studies are extremely rare to come across.
Hence, when I stumbled across such a gem in one of the primary Swiss news papers, I jumped at the opportunity to summarise it for this blog.
