fiberstorm - the re-birth

Fashion is the third most polluting industry globally (ClimateTrade, 2023). Its devastating impact on people and the environment has been well-documented since the 1960’s when mass production became popular - and yet, little has changed (Van den Heuvel, 2023). Garment production is at an all-time high, while the industry’s “race to bottom” - producing more, faster, cheaper - is reducing clothes to throw-away objects. Justly, policies like the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation ESPR, which came into force on July 18th, 2024, are being introduced by the European Parliament, to enforce accountability. But the fashion industry still has a major issue: an enormous knowledge gap (Webb, 2023). Many fashion professionals lack material knowledge, sustainability strategies, and the ability to rethink how fashion business is done (Fletcher & Grose, 2012). Furthermore, many businesses are hesitant or unwilling to change, due to uncertainty and fear of greenwashing, or the profitability and ease of the current system. 

To respond to the ecological and social emergencies, the industry must shift from fragmented efforts to systemic change. Designers and decision-makers need not only tools, but also new mindsets to centre equity, care, and circular thinking within business models. Since we are at a crucial juncture in human history (Williams, 2023), the pressing need for change requires an understanding of sustainable fashion’s past and its evolution to learn from our previous mistakes. 

Creating a sustainable winter jacket involved a threefold approach. First, applying material knowledge from my Bachelor thesis, which focused on fiber properties and their environmental impact. Second is the garment design, informed by lifecycle thinking, hence design for disassembly, customization and modularity. Third is the systemic level, which explores the economic and behavioural frameworks needed to enable circularity.

Although I support recycled materials, there is still a quality loss in the recycling process and therefore this is not a long-term solution given current standards. Furthermore, technical fibers are known to shed micro plastic. Instead, I strive to improve the sustainability of this complex garment by making it fully compostable as a provocative counter-model to the current system. 

The jacket re-design reveals a contradiction embedded in sustainable fashion: the impossibility of perfection under current conditions. Throughout this process, difficult decisions on compromising had to be made. This reinforces the need for a design-led consultancy, as even with the material and sustainability expertise, this was challenging. These choices reflect broader systemic limits. Circularity is not just a design challenge, but a communication and coordination issue across supply chains. Today’s infrastructure is optimised for speed, volume and money, not for care, repair, or transparency. Nonetheless, this prototype demonstrates that it is possible to envision garments that challenge the norm and spark more conscious industry pathways 

For example, in this case kapok from India (long distance) and organic cotton ventile (high water consumption fiber) were chosen, assuming that through a long and micro-plastic free usephase and the possibility to compost it and the end of life, will justify these decisions. Being confronted with these choices, I noticed a shift in Fiberstorm’s value of not compromising on sustainability, prefering to show complexity and frustration to indicate possible innovation and de-risking thereof. This change in culture will possibly lead to more freedom to experiment.