FIT Graduates on Sustainability, Circularity & Secondhand

FIT Graduates on Sustainability, Circularity & Secondhand

For about 15 years, a capstone project at the Fashion Institute of Technology has given students 13 weeks to build a denim brand from scratch—including fabric development and design. Since its start, approximately 1,000 students have participated.

“We expected a lot from the students; we got a lot from the students,” said Jeffrey Silberman, the former chairperson of the Textile Development and Marketing Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

The Denim Project at FIT has also seen a bevy of industry advisors share their expertise with students, helping the next generation. Lenzing has been involved for around the last decade, providing information about our fibers like TENCEL™. “If you can contribute to the education of people in our industry, and not just do a class, but actually commit to a project for a long period of time, then you end up with this, which is the people in our industry who are successful, and you had a small say in their growth,” said Andrew Olah, Kingpins founder and one of the industry sponsors of the FIT program.

During Kingpins Show in New York, a panel discussion moderated by Tricia Carey, director of global business development, denim and Americas at Lenzing, brought four of the program’s alumni together to discuss what they learned, their careers after graduation and their views on the industry.

One of the themes of the conversation was reducing fashion’s environmental impact. From a consumption perspective, the panelists agreed that it’s human nature to shop, but the mindset and habits have room to change. This might mean passing down items to the next generation, shopping secondhand or taking more consideration with purchasing decisions to make them more meaningful.

“People’s desire for new product and new fashion is never going to go away,” said Lydia Baird, raw materials manager at Calvin Klein. “I love all of the different models that are being created to serve that and not always create something new.”

Another solution to waste is circularity. PVH is using recycled cotton—most commonly in denim currently since defects are more easily hidden than in knits, said Lydia. Ailee John’s company Old Navy is using 5 percent recycled cotton in denim. She noted that while a small percentage of the content, the brand’s volumes help it make more of an impact.

Another element is consumer education to help them make the right choices, and pricing it right. “We don’t want sustainability to be an elitist thing,” said Ailee, who is lead, denim fabric R&D at Old Navy. “We want everyone to be able to participate in it.”

Beyond recycling, circularity includes items that are made to last and not disposable. This is seen in Levi’s Buy Better, Wear Longer campaign, which encourages repair and shopping your closet.

Durability and longevity also feed into the secondhand market, which is Amber Härkönen’s area of focus at her secondhand clothing studio, Hi Goose in New Jersey. She sources pre-loved garments from flea markets, closet cleanouts and more to serve a customer who wants to cut their carbon footprint.

“The secondhand market is often being outsourced. We’re often…making good-natured donations, and then these donations are ending up in countries in Africa or in South America, instead of being cycled through here,” she said. Keeping merchandise in the secondhand market domestically can help reduce the environmental impact.

Like localizing secondhand, establishing production closer to home can have an impact on a company’s carbon footprint. It also comes down to measuring impact—whether on a personal or company level.

“Transparency, I think, is truly important for…all companies to share to their consumers to help also avoid and decrease their carbon footprint,” said Madeline Thompson, global raw material planner at Levi Strauss & Co.

To hear more from these FIT alums, check out our series on Carved in Blue and Kingpins’ blog.