Circular Systems for Fashion Design
I’m Brittany Dickinson, a designer and educator based in New York City, and I am honored and excited to join UNLEASH in the Sustainable Production and Consumption global challenge area! I divide my time between teaching studio and seminar courses at Parsons School of Design, designing clothing and developing sustainability initiatives at J.Crew, and leading Client Engagement at FABSCRAP, a non-profit textile recycling organization.
As a clothing designer with a decade of experience, I believe I have a responsibility to tackle the major consequences of our industry that are impacting people and the planet. I am passionate about developing sustainability strategies and educational initiatives for industry and academia that focus on systems thinking, disruptive design, and social engagement — so the Sustainable Production and Consumption SDG truly encapsulates my mission as educator, designer, and activist. At Parsons, I challenge my students to engage in issues which are critical for designers and citizens of the world today, like human rights in the supply chain and the environmental impacts of production + consumption. In my classes we investigate and experiment with closed loop systems, user-centered design, post-growth scenarios, and activism.
It is essential that we bridge the gap between academia and industry to build a new paradigm of sustainable production and consumption. An increasing number of young designers are graduating with important new skill sets which do not yet fit in with the current fashion system as a whole. The industry, despite best intentions, is not sure what to do with designers who have been trained in holistic thinking as companies are still trying to figure out what “sustainability” means for their practice. I believe we can best address this issue by building a reciprocal working / learning relationship between researchers, professionals, and emerging designers with a shared goal to transition the industry toward a more circular system. Each generation has unique skills and knowledge to share with one another, and I see UNLEASH as the perfect platform to foster a new conversation about fashion and consumption and to develop new systems for change.
Until recently, common perceptions of sustainability in the fashion industry could best be characterized as supererogatory, a term described by moral philosopher Peter Singer as an act which would be good to do, but not wrong not to do. “Sustainable fashion” was largely viewed as an abstract utopia rather than a palpable reality, especially for designers familiar with the way the fashion system functions. This is because the very notion of sustainable fashion is often at odds with an industry whose defining features are change and newness with an agenda of profit and growth. This attitude is changing however. Companies are under increasing pressure to be more transparent in their practices as consumers become more educated about the detrimental effects of the industry on people and planet; however, action on sustainability still seems to be relegated to a select few individuals who are free to choose to act responsibly. Without real legislation changes, we will not see the widespread change our planet and its inhabitants need.
I want to transition circular thinking from an isolated practice to one that is part of the ethos of design, production, and consumption. I am highly motivated to work with talented individuals from all around the world on this global challenge area in Denmark. We not only need to develop policy changes and legislation that hold companies accountable for their actions, but we also need to create tangible solutions to help the industry succeed — whether through increased support for fiber-to-fiber innovation, in-house sustainability training for companies, or the development of new services and systems that foster circular economies. And in order to enact real change, we must break out of our silos and work with others across disciplines — which is one reason why I am so excited for UNLEASH! Design and fashion need to merge with science, economics, engineering, anthropology, policy makers, etc to develop solutions for the greatest challenges of our time. We are all players in a vast interconnected system, and we are all inhabitants of the same planet.
UNLEASH, here I come!
