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Fashion For Good Closes its Museum Doors and Starts a New Chapter.
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“Shape the future of Good Fashion.” Those words greeted me, painted across two white doors that led to the Fashion For Good museum nestled in the heart of Amsterdam. With a background in design and an understanding that the current fashion industry is rife with ethical and environmental challenges, I eagerly stepped inside.
Fashion For Good is an organization dedicated to improving the fashion industry through raising awareness, driving innovation, and connecting innovators with international fashion brands. Established in 2017, it took a three-part approach, starting an innovation platform, a coworking space, and the museum at the same time.
Fashion For Good Will Give You 20+ Ways To Be More Sustainable
Over the course of seven years, the museum has welcomed visitors from across the globe, including over 8,000 students from 200 different schools, spanning from elementary to college level. Despite the enormous impact the museum has had, on June 5th, Fashion For Good will close its museum doors to focus more fully on the innovation platform.
I was fortunate to get to tour the museum with Anne-Ro Klevant Groen, media relations representative for Fashion For Good, before those doors close. I left inspired and with a deeper understanding and appreciation for the future of sustainable fashion and how we can all take part.
Insights from the Fashion For Good Museum
The museum is three stories. The bottom dedicated to the past, middle to the present, and top to the future. In addition to illustrating how we got to where we are today and inspiring where the future could lead, the museum gave me four key insights into what’s needed to make a difference in the world of sustainable fashion.
To create a better future, we must understand the past.
The museum’s three floors illustrate how our past informed our present, which in turn shapes the trajectory of future innovations in fashion. Though the history of fast fashion is heavy, it’s essential to understand the challenges of the past to know how we can improve them.
Standing on the top floor of the museum, thinking about the future, we’re reminded that we stand on top of what came before. We have the ability – and the responsibility – to make sure the next stairway will lead somewhere we’re proud of.
Collaboration is key for positive change: “We need each other”
From showcasing the ideas of sustainable designers across the globe, to illustrating how innovations and ideas have influenced each other, the museum shows the importance of collaboration to improve the fashion industry.
Anne-Ro reflected on this topic, noting the positive shift observed among Fashion For Good innovators over the past seven years: a growing willingness to collaborate. Initially marked by a reluctance to share ideas due to a competitive mindset, there’s now a recognition of the essential role of collaboration.
As Anne-Ro emphasizes, transformative change in the fashion industry and beyond needs collective effort: “We can’t change this industry or this planet alone; we need each other.”
We’re all part of the movement
The Fashion For Good Museum is highly interactive. Visitors are encouraged to touch fabric and material samples, experiment with virtual designs on t-shirts, and share their own recommendations for sustainable fashion resources on a wall.
With a large industry like fashion, it’s common to feel that our individual actions won’t make a difference. But, by actively involving visitors, Fashion For Good reminds us that we’re all already part of the fashion industry, and we’re an important part of making it better. From considering where your own clothing comes from, to learning how to buy more sustainable clothing options, we see that our individual actions do have a big impact.
Adaptability is key for positive change
When Fashion For Good began its journey in 2017, it launched the museum, innovation platform, and coworking spaces simultaneously. Since then, it has continuously adapted its programs, processes, and museum exhibits.
Now, Fashion For Good is making an even greater change by closing the museum. With a growing number of companies focused on consumer awareness now compared to when the museum first started, Fashion For Good realized that its greatest impact lies in supporting its innovators.
Reflecting on this transition, Anne-Ro described it as bittersweet. While the Fashion For Good team shares the same mission of transforming the industry, they recognize the need for a strategic shift to maximize their impact.
“It’s an incredibly impactful space, but sometimes you need to make a hard decision to have even more impact,” she shared. Though change is not always easy, staying adaptable is essential for creating meaningful change.
What’s Next for Fashion For Good?
Fashion For Good’s strategic decision to close the museum will allow them to further strengthen their innovation program, which to date has worked with 173 innovators and over 25 pioneering retail and manufacturing brands.
Even in this next chapter, Fashion For Good’s commitment to educating the world about sustainable fashion remains strong. The team is sharing their wealth of knowledge, from consumer resources to teaching kits for sustainable fashion, and support for designers and entrepreneurs, all available for free. Many of these resources are already accessible online, with more case studies slated for release before the museum’s closure on June 5th.
How We Can Take Action
The learning journey doesn’t end with the museum’s closure. Regardless of whether you had the opportunity to visit, we can all adopt Fashion For Good’s adaptable, collaborative mindset and actively engage in the movement, even as the doors close.
- Learn the history of sustainable fashion
Explore the historical roots of sustainable fashion. You can explore Fashion For Good’s toolkit to learn about the history of cotton, or read more of The Wellness Feed’s articles on sustainable fashion.
- Take action in the present
Small steps lead to big changes. As consumers, there are many ways we can make conscious decisions and support a more sustainable fashion future. Fashion For Good organizes its actions for conscious shoppers into five categories: consider, choose, use, reuse, and activate.
- Consider: Buy less but better by considering alternative approaches to shopping, like buying secondhand, shopping from local designers, and borrowing from people you know.
- Choose: Learn how to identify better fashion choices so you can identify sustainable certifications and rankings to help make informed choices.
- Use: Learn to care for what you own to extend the lifecycle, with actions like reducing how often you launder, filtering out microfibers, and air drying your clothes.
- Reuse: Instead of tossing old clothing, look to recycle, donate to friends, or sell your clothing to ensure it doesn’t end up in landfills.
- Activate: Engage with your community and favorite brands to help spread the word about sustainable fashion.
- Stay in the loop of future innovations.
The future of sustainable fashion is exciting and fast-moving. You can stay up to date and spread awareness to your own communities by following Fashion For Good on social media platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram, where they share resources and updates. You can also check out their innovators to stay informed about upcoming initiatives and the evolving landscape of sustainable fashion.