Design School Collaborations
How can we shape the future of fashion? By collaborating with design schools in Northern California and beyond, we are connecting the next generation of designers to regional textile materials sourcing and supply chains. Students gain an understanding of how a soil-to-soil approach to textile design is both urgently needed and possible.
We work directly and influentially with higher education institutions to share our vision and model of bioregional, Climate Beneficial fiber and dye systems.
At California College of the Arts (CCA), Fibershed developed a 15-week accredited undergraduate course for the Critical Studies Department titled: Global Carbon—Local Fiber. Weekly readings and discussions were grounded with guest lectures from the Fibershed network of farmers, biogeochemists, rangeland ecologists, microbiologists, and social justice activists.
A popular interdisciplinary course called the Local Fiber Incubator connected students to regional fibers through field visits and material samples. After a farm tour with a Northern California Fibershed producer member, students received Climate Beneficial wool batting and a product development assignment. Working in teams that spanned skills in architecture, fashion, graphic design, and industrial design, the students’ wide-ranging samples have been celebrated in an end-of-semester showcase in San Francisco.
Fibershed also provides guidance and guest lectures for design schools developing curricula based around regional fibers and dyes. In Vancouver, British Columbia, the Fibreshed Field School at Emily Carr University of Art + Design is program by the Shumka Centre for Creative Entrepreneurship, Aboriginal Gathering Place and TARP Lab. Led by Emily Smith, the program offered experiential learning including regional site visits and industry exposure: click here to read about how the Fibreshed Field School Reimagines Sustainability.
In Northern California, Fibershed frequently collaborates with technical colleges including the Santa Rosa Junior College Fashion Studies Program, and the College of Alameda Apparel Design and Merchandising Program. As a fashion industry partner for these programs, Fibershed offers sustainability expertise and leadership to support the next crop of fashion and textile designers in connecting and contributing to a vibrant bioregional fiber system.
Did you know that upwards of 15% of fabric is wasted when a typical clothing design is cut out and produced? Fibershed partnered with the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising San Francisco campus on the Fibershed Design Challenge to inspire creative approaches to some of fashion’s key challenges.
Working with Janice Paredes, Department Coordinator for Fashion Design and Product Development and Jenine Hillaire, Fashion Design and Patterndrafting Instructor, we sponsored an award for Fashion Design majors who created functional designs with zero-fallout patterns that make use of approximately 95% or more of the fabric yardage area. Finalists were awarded Climate Beneficial Wool yardage to create samples of their original designs. Knowing how much care and community effort goes into each ounce of regional, regenerative fabric, this design challenge honors and adds value.Fibershed producer member Dan DiSanto provided special workshops on zero-waste pattern design, while staff members including Heather Podoll and Rebecca Burgess demonstrated natural dyes. Design Challenge award recipients have showcased their winning garments at Fibershed events including the 2019 Fibershed Gala, as shown at left. Recipients include: Italia Hannaway, Mika Negrette, Zoh Hollinger, Vivica Rafael, Isabelle Leong, Esther Gaor, and Jonnieanne Soper.
Many design programs are integrating sustainability throughout coursework and assignments. Fibershed’s Soil-to-Soil framework and bioregional supply network provide working models for experiential and theoretical learning.
The book Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy by Rebecca Burgess with Courtney White, is regularly selected for class reading lists and curriculum development at institutions including Harvard Extension and Parsons School of Design. Fibershed’s Executive Director, Rebecca Burgess, is also an active member of the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion.
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