Global Denim Teaches Fashion Students About Circular Design – Sourcing Journal

Denim Global Mexico has completed a year-long partnership with a local educational institution geared towards teaching circular design principles to emerging talent in the country.

The 45-year-old denim manufacturer has been working with Anahuac University in Mexico City for the past 12 months to champion sustainable fashion design. “Our goal is to initiate, empower and amplify the conversation about denim in fashion design classrooms,” he says, while helping students become respected and innovative professionals “with a deep love for the material, especially when it comes to circularity. and sustainability.”

According to Global Denim, Mexico is increasingly positioning itself as a denim production destination, and has seen “significant momentum in fabric manufacturing and production” amid the recent nearshoring boom. “This country is filled with creative individuals and actors who are leading and redefining the way we view Mexican fashion,” she says.

A semester-long university partnership started with 22 fashion students. Global Denim facilitates a project for the Practicum 1 course, which is taken during students’ sixth semester in the programme. They were tasked with developing individual collections based on a single theme—“Chaos.” While the word can conjure a “sudden breakdown or imbalance,” radical change can also lead to evolution and growth, says Global Denim. Designed students seem to be centered around the ideas of transformative change and creative reset.

The project also focuses on the use of sustainable fibers such as recycled cotton and Tencel, as well as environmentally friendly production. “Our goal is to prioritize a new perspective on consumption—a conscious and disruptive one regarding the contemporary economic model,” says Global Denim.

Circular design principles are fast becoming a requirement for new entrants to the industry, with modern shoppers demonstrating a greater understanding of the fashion supply chain and its impact on people and the planet. This course teaches students the importance of developing transparent value chains and an ethical view of the workforce based on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 3, relating to Good Health and Well-Being, and SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Consumption. Production.

The end result is seven shortlisted collections, each consisting of three ensembles, says Global Denim. Students experiment with applying sustainable technologies and techniques to denim design and production using the Circular Economy Butterfly model, developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which illustrates the product supply chain from farming and mining raw materials to industrial development, collection, and recovery of materials for reuse . The winning project is currently on display at the school’s Design Expo through the end of June.