On the 8th of February a joint Forum on Circular Fashion of the All-Russian Decorative Art Museum and the School of Design of the National Research University Higher School of Economics took place.
Elena Titova, Director of the All-Russian Decorative Art Museum, opened the Forum: "Today the Museum found itself in the epicentre of a developing and important trend - the awareness of creative industries of the need to look towards circularity and the use of both new and old development tools. We remember the experience of the past generation, and with modern methods and levers we act towards realising and improving the world around us. Our activities today are partnership programmes that should yield important and interesting results."
Circular Design's mission has long transcended the boundaries of a single field. On the CREATIVE HUB platform, leading experts in sustainability, circular economy, fashion and design met to share their experience and expertise.
During the session "Circular Economy and the Fashion Industry", speakers highlighted the importance of ending the "throw away culture" and rethinking the "packaging culture", which have a major impact on the environment and the planet as a whole. Things that are thrown away need to be treated as a resource. Therefore, already today, one of the main challenges for the designer is to create better quality things that will last longer, and afterwards, they can be put back into the system.
The need to introduce a sustainable agenda and understanding of the life cycle of a thing or object into education was another significant theme of the first session. The experts agreed that it is important to develop design thinking and introduce conscious consumption practices into mass culture from the initial stage of education. The circular economy should become accessible and understandable to the general public, and for this purpose it is necessary to strengthen interdisciplinary links.
In the second session of the Forum, successful cases and practices in the field of circular fashion were presented. Designers and brands shared their methods of creating eco-friendly collections, principles of working with natural materials and waste recycling technologies.
The Museum will continue the conversation about fashion on its discussion platform within the framework of the International Exhibition-Congress "Eurasian Dialogue of Light Industry Leaders" on March 22, 2024.