The other big thing about the conference was the networking opportunities it presented. I have to admit I felt very comfortable in that world and all the people I spoke with all had very valuable insights for Lunamano.
Ever since the conference I became a Social Alterations' junkie. Social Alterations is the place I go to further my education and knowledge within the ethical world. Social Alterations aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice within existing perceptions of socially responsible fashion design education to create lasting change through transformative fashion design education.
I met with founder Mary Hanlon for a long chat later that week and it was a back and forth bounce of ideas between her project, mine and everything in between. Mary asks the question "So, if corporations, business and business apparel educators have a role to play in transforming the social and environmental challenges facing the fashion industry, what is the role of the fashion design educator? "
It is definitely a big question and Social Alterations forms a big part of the answer.
Overall, between the conference, the people I met and the presentations I heard, the two things that resonated the most for me were, education and issues of scale: how big is enough?
I agree on the importance of educating current design students (not only in fashion but all areas of design) I would also add to that the importance of teaching future generations about social and environmental practices but at a much younger level, to be more specific, 1-6 yrs, the most important learning stage for any human being.
Finally, I would have been interested in a discussion (within the conference to begin with) on the role of the big fashion houses and organisations like the LVMH group (Louis Vuitton, Dior, Pucci, etc) in setting certain industry standards, for instance, the 4-6 collections they produce every year. A sort of "lead by example" approach. What would happen if they decided to have 2 collections instead? How would the high street react?
Last but not least, Social Alterations talks 'responsible design' with some very inspiring people, and one very inspired designer...(yours truly)
David Goldsmith from The Swedish School of Textiles and Parsons
Eleanor Dorrien-Smith from PARTIMI
Kat Ross and Larissa Clark from the Environmental Justice Foundation
Carolina Gomez-Aubert from Lunamano
Sophie Koers from the Fair Wear Foundation
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