International Journal of Sustainable Fashion & Textiles - Volume 4, Issue 1, 2025

As a journal dedicated to the area of sustainability and ethics in the fashion and textiles industry, we are proud that volume 4.1 provides an outlet for a diverse range of topics looking at these issues from different angles. This issue provides insights into a cultural approach to sustainability, fast fashion and how it can be challenged, upcycling practices, as well as includes a Q&A, a fabric expo review and a review of a recent fashion show.

This article explores how an understanding of the social lives of iconic shoes can inform more culturally, socially and ecologically sustainable practices in the fashion and footwear industry. Through a case study of the Desert Boot and associated Clarks Originals styles, the research revisits Arjun Appadurai’s classic ‘social lives of things’ methodology and Igor Kopytoff’s concept of object biographies to reveal how shoes acquire cultural value and meaning through their trajectories across different contexts. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted at Clarks’ headquarters and with wearers of the Clarks Originals styles, the study demonstrates how deep engagement with the social lives of shoes can lead to more authentic, meaningful and sustainable design and marketing practices. The research reveals three key findings: first, that products acquire enduring cultural value through both intended paths and unexpected diversions which depend, in part, on their material qualities; second, that storytelling through carefully considered collaborations enables a shift from cultural appropriation to meaningful cultural exchange and innovation and, third, that the acquisition of cultural and social capital through practice is essential for developing culturally relevant, authentic and sustainable products and strategies. These insights suggest that sustainability in fashion requires more than ethical and environmentally friendly materials and production processes – it requires understanding how products become culturally valuable and how this understanding can be embodied within organizations to create more meaningful and longer-lasting connections between brands, products, people and culture.

Jo Cope is an artist and designer who uses shoes to explore her own experiences, combining craft and conceptual thinking to highlight social justice and environmental issues, including fashion waste, homelessness and youth and gender-based violence. Originally trained as a fashion designer, Jo Cope’s work encompasses both traditional techniques and unconventional shoe-making approaches, resulting in a body of work that encompasses both real and metaphorical shoes. In this interview Professor Natascha Radclyffe-Thomas of Ravensbourne University invites Jo Cope to share her creative journey that includes a fascinating family history in shoemaking, as well as the links between craft, making and sustainability as seen in collaborations with charities including Shelter, and textile recyclers innovating in upcycling and recycling waste materials.

This article examines the fashion trend system in the context of sustainability. It investigates consumer viewpoints which bring new perspectives on the manifestations of trends and their impact on sustainability. Previous research on the trend cycle has tended to focus on how the cycle begins and ends, with an emphasis on short-lived trends, and has not focused on consumer perceptions. In contrast, this article presents new research that evidences how fast fashion can have longevity beyond trends, by focusing on the experience of wear. This draws out a deeper understanding of the impacts of trends on consumer behaviour in the context of fast fashion, where the trend cycle moves quickly. In particular, the research has revealed that it is important to consider the lives of the individual consumer and their behaviour in relation to challenging existing assumptions that trends are inherently short lived. Primary research data, realized through a series of wardrobe studies, show how a selection of young fashion consumers are behaving with regard to fast fashion. Unexpected results show how many participants owned fast fashion clothing that lasted longer than anticipated, with surprising durability. In addition, fast fashion can, just like other garments, be subject to emotional attachment. Fostering deep attachments to clothing offers opportunities to extend the use time of garments. The historic workings of the trend system have initiated a fastness to fashion that this research has sought to challenge.¹

The environmental impact of textile fibres, particularly their contribution to pollution, has become a pressing concern. While synthetic fibres such as polyester shed microplastic fibres during washing and use, recent studies reveal that natural and semi-synthetic fibres also contribute to environmental pollution depending on material blends, weaving methods and the chemicals used. This case study considers the Future Fibres Network Plus (FFN+) which is a UK-based initiative dedicated to integrating environmental science into the heart of the fashion, apparel and textile industries. It aims to address these challenges by integrating environmental sciences into design and developing circular strategies to minimize fibre loss, reduce textile waste and mitigate ecological impacts across fibre life cycles. This article explores microfibre pollution, highlights the role of FFN+ and identifies gaps in research and opportunities for circular innovation.

Review of: Cypriot architecture reimagined through sustainable fashion: Review of the Fashion Heritage Network Cyprus (FHNC) Fashion Show at the Cyprus Fashion Film Festival (CFFF), Limassol, June 2024

Review of: The future of fibres on show at the 12th Future Fabrics Expo, Magazine London, London, 25–26 July 2024