The principles and practices of sustainability are today at the center of the global debate on issues related to development models in industries with high cultural content such as fashion. The finite nature of the non-renewable resources provided by the Earth pushes, in fact, to rethink these models in order to address the current crisis and to direct towards a sustainable system capable of embracing with a holistic approach the four pillars of sustainability: the environment, the economy, society and culture. Therefore, the objective of this lecture is the introduction to and exploration of these fundamental components of sustainability: the four pillars.
 

Today, the fashion system is based on an obsolete model that perpetuates unsustainable practices resulting in scarcity and pollution that affect the entire ecosystem, both planet and people. In this context, the proposed lecture will explore the impact of the Fashion industry, in the broad sense of fashion and textile sectors. The lecture will illustrate the increasing use of resources, as well as the resulting environmental and social impacts. Furthermore, within this lesson there will be a focus on the current business models (linear vs. circular) as a fundamental resource for the sustainable transition of the fashion system towards a responsible system.
 

Today, the environmental and social crises have led industries to reconsider all production systems with a more conscious, accountable, and transparent oriented approach (Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2017). Talking about sustainability today means referring to a system that is able to recognize and cultivate diversity, acting according to a holistic vision that allows us to live in the present without compromising the future. In this context, the following lecture will focus on the topic of innovative sustainable materials which are a fundamental resource for enabling sustainable design, as well as emerging new business models.

The growing awareness about the different issues related to the impact of fashion processes and practices, as presented in the previous lectures, has led to an acceleration in the development of sustainable alternatives in the material field. In particular, this lecture will address how materials are vectors of sustainable solutions for the fashion system with a focus on the relationship between materials and waste: waste materials & materials from waste.
 

Overview of Textile Industry 4.0 and framework and contributing technologies, supply chain 4.0 vs. KPIs, and key challenges.
 

An introduction on SDG progression tool to operationalise SDG goals to decide on strategic areas for digital fashion value chains, their improvements and transformation.
 

Concept of scale and scalability in business model context, scaling from social innovation perspective, examples from projects and practice in relation to business model scaling