To celebrate World Climate Day, Falmouth University and The Independent invite you to a day of immersive talks and workshops themed around sustainability in fashion, this Christmas and beyond.
Together we’ll explore how your gift to the world this Christmas can be a sustainable fashion response to the Climate Crisis. You’ll:
- Learn how repair builds lasting relationships with our wardrobes.
- Collectively discuss climate solutions in a people’s assembly to design three actions you can take forward into your daily life.
- Hear about the benefits of the gift economy to strengthen our community.
Location: Fashion and Textile Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street London SE1 3XF
You can book your tickets for a selection of workshops via the Eventbrite link at the bottom of this page including:
Repair Workshop with Rebel Patch (25 spaces available)
10:30am - 12:30pm
Ground Floor Workroom
Bristol-based Rebel Patch re-invents the iron-on or sew-on patch through combing it with art or photographic images. In a world dominated by consumerism, to repair is a revolutionary act - a miniature protest against throwaway culture. In this workshop, participants will learn the basic mending skills needed to take care of their own clothes such as darning holes with colourful thread, reinforcing worn areas with sashiko stitching and learning how to apply beautiful patches. The workshop is aimed at total beginners and will give people the confidence to repair their own clothes and for other people. Darning and sashiko stitching have also been proven to be beneficial for mental health so let’s stitch together! Please bring a garment or maybe a textile Christmas present to patch to this workshop.
People’s Assembly by Fashion Act Now: The three gifts we really want from the fashion industry
1:30pm - 4:30pm (75 spaces available - Includes the afternoon talk) this Christmas.
Fashion Studio First Floor
As we approach the frenzy of Christmas consumerism, we invite members of the public to reflect on who’s really benefiting from all the fashion we buy. The industry produces 80-150 billion items of clothing a year, amassing huge profits at the expense of people and planet. As the three wise men brought three gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh - what three gifts do we really want from fashion brands this Christmas?
Join us for a participatory event, where we work together to decide on three demands for the fashion industry and how to package and deliver them. The event will begin by looking at the demands on the table from different activist groups and NGOs. Two industry experts and changemakers will then answer your questions on which demands and theories of change are most effective. Working in groups, we’ll deliberate the information, ensuring everyone’s voices are heard. We’ll conclude by collectively deciding on the three gifts we really want this Christmas and how to make them a reality.
Tea, coffee, biscuits and chat!
4:30pm - 5:00pm
Fashion Studio First Floor
Alice Holloway
5:00pm - 6:00pm
Fashion Studio First Floor
Alice is a designer, fashion commons and bootstrap entrepreneurship researcher, lecturer at Royal College of Art, centre manager of The Remakery Makerspace in Brixton, and founder of the London Urban Textiles Commons. Alice will deliver a talk and lead a discussion focusing on how the benefits of the exchange/gift economy can support the development of a fashion commons as a response to the climate crisis. We will discover how coming together as a community and embracing participatory co-design can support thriving and just economic ecosystems for fashion.