Towards a sustainable fashion

Nora Fernandez Fernandez

URJC professors Amaya Matesanz, Tamara Ruiz Calleja, Laura Mª González Villanueva, Cristina Garre, María Martínez de Ubago Campos and Susana Gámez González, from the degrees in Fashion Design and Management, have organized a Conference on Fashion and Sustainability to discuss the current model of the textile industry and propose new forms of more sustainable consumption and production.

According to Matesanz, one of the organizers, the objective of the event is "to propose alternative models that promote better management of natural resources and produce new garments without extra consumption of raw materials and energy". In addition, Matesanz believes that it is important "to make the current model of consumption and production of clothing visible, especially to future professionals in the textile and design sector, and to propose a goal, which is to reduce the ecological footprint" .

The day, which will take place today, October 19, will feature a talk-colloquium between various professionals of this type of initiative. Among them will be Pablo R. Prieto, Vice Dean of Delegate Teaching Units and professor of Architectural Graphic Expression at the URJC; Chele Iriarte, representative of Green Office; Amaya Matesanz, professor of Graphic Expression at the URJC and director of the Jueves Trueque initiative; María Fernández, coordinator of the Environment at Alcampo; Manuel Leon, from fashion re, from Caritas; and Felicidad Cano, coordinator of the Atelier El Costurerico, a workshop of the abraham project.

After a break, the second round of auditors will be made up of Beatriz Gorospe, from the citizen area of Ongawa Challenge; Natalia Castellanos, co-founder of altrapolab; Paula Cristobal, product manager of sepia; and the URJC professors Tamara Ruiz and Laura González, who will talk about sustainability in fabrics and pattern making.

As summarized by Matasanz, "the morning exhibitions aim to show different points of view on the world of fashion, which go beyond the fast fashion to which we are accustomed, exposing some projects that have a circular fashion and sustainability approach”.

In the afternoon session, which will start at three o'clock, there will be a workshop on upcycling, applying some of the contents of the morning and using part of the garments that have remained from last year's Barter Thursdays. This initiative was launched last year and consisted of a clothes and accessories exchange market.

The workshop will have a recognition of 0,2 ECTS for each session, 0,4 ECTS for those who attend throughout the day. For those who cannot attend in person, the meeting can be followed via Teams from the following link Fashion and Sustainability Conference. Online attendance at the event will not entail any recognition of credits.