HHIS-252: Sustainable Fashion

This course will study sustainable fashion through an approach that considers the past, present, and future of clothing consumption. We will explore how designers, organizations, and movements are responding to issues of worker exploitation and environmental pollution. We will examine methods of sustainable production, the role of policy in the fight for change, and the discourse surrounding "sustainability" in the fashion industry. We will practice mending through hand sewing and host a clothing swap. We will consider how the current fashion system was shaped by the radical transformation of clothing consumption in the twentieth century and research innovations in the twenty-first century that are leading towards a sustainable future.