LASER Talks Espoo/Helsinki: Out of Fashion

Future visions and concrete steps towards the sufficiency paradigm in fashion 

EVENT INFO

When: November 30, 2023 / 4pm - 6:30pm EET (UTC+3)

Where: Hybrid Stage, Harald Herlin Learning Centre (K-Floor) & Online

Website: https://www.aalto.fi/en/events/out-of-fashion-aalto-laser-talks

Register HERE

Relaxed after work with inspiring talks, the latest research, food, drinks, and music. Register now to ensure your spot.

LASER TALKS @ AALTO UNIVERSITY 

SPEAKERS 

∙       Kirsi Niinimäki - Associate Professor, Fashion research at Aalto University 

∙       Stephan Wallaschkowski - Researcher at Leuphana University & Bochum University of Applied Sciences 

∙       Katia Dayan Vladimirova - Researcher and lecturer at the University of Geneva 

∙       Sofia Guridi - Doctoral researcher at Aalto University’s Bioinnovation Center 

New fashion paradigm - Professor Kirsi Niinimäki, Aalto University

Fashion means selling dreams to consumers without guilt, and Western consumers can act in as unsustainable a way as they wish, without consequences for their clothing consumption habits of themselves. Fashion means pollution, social and environmental injustice and the current global fashion system is based on colonial approach. We desperately need a new more sustainable and justice fashion paradigm.

Abandon the concept of fashion - Stephan Wallaschkowski, Leuphana University & Bochum University of Applied Sciences

The rise of fast fashion has led to a significant decline in the product lifetime of fashion items and a serious increase in the socio-ecological issues caused by the apparel industry. For a sustainable future, the concept of fashion must be abandoned. 

Fashion Futures 2040 - Dr. Katia Dayan Vladimirova, University of Geneva

We need to radically rethink how we produce and consume fashion. The goal is to halve material throughput of the fashion system by 50% by 2030 and by 75% by 2050. Creativity blossoms under constraints, and which better limits to respect than the Planetary Boundaries? Fashion being at the forefront of creative pursuit should lead the way for other industries and sectors to transform towards more sustainable rails. 

How smart can our future textiles be? 

Doctoral researcher Sofia Guridi, Aalto University Bioinnovation Center 

Aiming for bio-based futures could bring the extra smartness we need to shift towards a more sustainable and adaptable material world.  

SPEAKER BIOS

Kirsi Niinimäki is a leading scholar in the field of sustainable fashion. Her Fashion/Textile FUTURES research group studies and integrates closed-loop, bio-economy, and circular economy approaches in fashion and textile systems, expanding our understanding of strategic sustainable design. 

Stephan Wallaschkowski’s research revolves around sustainable consumption, gender, and social change, with a particular focus on the area of fashion consumption. He is a sustainability scientist, originally trained in consumer psychology and consumer sociology. Stephan Wallaschkowski works as a researcher at the Leuphana University in Lüneburg and as the coordinator for sustainability education at Bochum University of Applied Sciences.  

Dr. Katia Dayan Vladimirova works on the topics of sustainable fashion consumption, sufficiency, degrowth, and social change. Trained as a political philosopher and political scientist, Dr. Dayan Vladimirova explores the challenges of transforming our societies to live within the Planetary Boundaries - through the lens of fashion and textiles. Katia is a founder of the International research network on Sustainable Fashion Consumption, a community with over 100 members from 20+ countries. 

Sofia Guridi is a designer specialized in the intersection of textiles, electronics and biomaterials for creating interactive surfaces. Combining traditional knowledge with material experimentation, her experience ranges from applied research to artistic installations. She is currently part of the Fashion/Textiles Futures research group and the Bioinnovation Center at Aalto University, where she is pursuing her PhD on Sustainable Smart Textiles. 

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