The RITE Conference's 2012 edition showed that the challenges for the industry are clear, and so are the general directions that need to be taken. But there are some marvellous and challenging mountains to climb, and they cause a notably sensation of paralysis.
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.
Have you heard about open data? And about open source?
The equivalent of open source in sustainability terms would be an ‘open standard’.
But what would that mean?
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?
Japan – for multiple reasons, not the least the still ongoing, if diminishing, cultural influence onto its neighbours – remains an interesting case to look at in terms of sustainable and ethical fashion. And vocabulary and its use and evolution is the start of it all.
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.
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?
At Shirahime, we have worked quite extensively over the last few months on the development of fashion industry scenarios beyond the 2020 time frame, going as far as 2045.
We mentioned for example Shell as one that used this approach to suit their own goals.
Siemens' 'Future Life' video, as presented the The Crystal in London.
A much more interesting approach, and very insightful in terms of methodology, but also how tangible the results are presented, is Siemens’ work on Future Cities
Overconsumption or ‘simply’ consumption?
Fair resource use, or resource depletion?
Fair share, equal share or acquired share of resources?
Those are questions that pop up when the Planetary Boundaries are being discussed.
“Is Europe living within the limits of our planet?: An assessment of Europe's environmental footprints in relation to planetary boundaries”, published in April 2020 does exactly that: it evaluates and calculates the European performance for planetary boundaries by taking a consumption-based (footprint-based) perspective. This is turn is interesting as it relates environmental pressures to final demands for goods and services.
And the results are ... shall we say: a stark call to action.
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.
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.
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.
As part of a workshop given at the Textile Exchange 2013 conference, we ran a small survey among workshop participants in order to find out more about their perception of and experience with Scenario Planning. Here the survey results.
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.
The current fashion and textile landscape is fairly limited in terms of what types of materials are being used. Innovation is key, and products such as Tencel, Sorona and Ingeo proof that industry is investing heavily in R&D. Spider Silk may be one of the few natural fibres of the future yet to see it hayday.
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 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?
The fashion industry, nearly like no other, has gone through dramatic changes in the last 20, 30 years. Indeed it finds itself in the present at a crossroad. Resource scarcity is triggering shifts in business models and supply-chains; waste is the new resource; customers are the sales channel of the future; and legislation is becoming ever more stringent. The fact though is: if looking back at predictions of the 1950 and 1960, or even earlier (physical artefacts not considered), the reality we live in compares best to the predictions that were considered ‘totally crazy’ in their time.
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.
