What Role Does Craft Play in Re-designing the Fashion Industry?
Ever since I worked part-time in a craft shop at the age of 13, I’ve loved crafts and wondered about their extraordinary power. Not only does it link the craftsperson to their materials, but it also links those who enjoy and wear it to the maker and the natural world.
We need to slow down production and consumption, as we have overshot seven of the nine planetary boundaries. By switching from mass-produced, fossil-fuel-derived synthetics to low-impact materials for clothing, we can redistribute wealth in favour of craftspeople. Now that would be a Just Transition for the fashion and textile industry!
Indilisi, Fashion Declares and Selvedge Magazine partnered to bring the ‘Crafting Fashion Futures’ event to Conway Hall, gathering over 200 people, to celebrate the first Textile Month in London. Over 20 speakers and practitioners showcased the best fibres, fabrics, ideas and innovations for the day.
The UN and BFC have requested that brands cut production by 50% or more by 2030, but little is shared about how to do this in a way that creates work for the millions currently working in fashion supply chains.
Craft promotes livelihood opportunities in rural areas, supports labour-intensive processes for craftspeople, and reduces material use.
Second-hand sales increased 15% in 2024, with 58% of customers now buying second-hand, and rental and repair sectors are growing. But for new clothing production, few compelling solutions exist.
With 30 years in sustainable fashion and craft, I believe craft deserves to move from luxury markets to being accessible to all, held back only by a lack of funding, sympathetic policy and imagination.
Two-thirds of fashion materials are GHG-emitting, fossil-fuel-derived synthetics. With microfibre and PFAS pollution making headlines and recycled polyester losing its 'low-impact' status, we must find another way. Growing organic, low-impact fibres and transforming them by hand can reduce production while regenerating soils, ecosystems, and communities.
Farming fibres organically is a craft that requires skill, wisdom, and systems thinking, and can provide low-impact materials that regenerate land and livelihoods.
Transforming fibres into beautiful clothing through craft can create jobs while radically reducing production. Using handweaving, handknitting, and hand embellishment, we can
create livelihoods that redistribute wealth within the fashion industry.
Craft holds the key to creating decent livelihoods across the UK and globally, building post-growth pathways and a Just Transition.
Crafted products promote emotional durability and foster creative economies, solidarity and
resilience when needed most. Despite synthetic materials and machine production, craft remains resilient, providing incomes for millions in the Global South. Together with strategic interventions in renewable energy, environmental technology, working capital, and R&D grants for craft communities, we can evolve craft practice and develop market access and transparency through DPPs. We can promote dignified work, strengthen rural economies and advance women's empowerment through craft.
Read the Report here Crafting Fashion Futures
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