A new exhibit asks Dutch fashion students and rising talent, “What could the future of fashion look like?”
Their responses, presented in the form of garments, videos and installations, make up “News From the Future,” a popup exhibition at the Amsterdam-based Fashion for Good Museum.
Overconsumption, textile waste and climate change weigh heavily on the pieces in the exhibition designed by rising graphic designer Sara Biatchinyi.
The exhibit is part of a new educational program and toolkit developed by the museum for students from the University of the Arts Utrecht, Zadkine MBO, MBO Rijnland and Saxion College in the Netherlands. Their work was chosen after they participated in “Classroom of the Future: The Stories Behind Cotton,” a set of six lessons exploring the various aspects of cotton with an emphasis on people, planet and creating a fairer fashion system.
Students were encouraged to consider factors like water, transparency, agriculture, climate, processing, origin, labor and forced labor, and the end-of-use for garments, “reflecting a more realistic image of what it’s like working in the professional field,” the museum stated.
The program, comprised of videos, podcasts, lesson plans and workshops, was developed by Alyxandra Westwood, Fashion for Good Museum’s curator and education coordinator, and Yophi Ignacia, an education and fashion consultant in sustainability and founder of The Future Mode. It is based on a previous exhibition in 2022, “Knowing Cotton Otherwise.”
“News From the Future” exhibition
Other parts of the exhibit include an installation by Current Obsession Magazine—a digital outlet “looking at the urgent world matters through the lens of adornment”—that examines the future of sustainable jewelry. A workshop by designer Kevin Paraiso represents a positive outlook. It features his collection that combines vibrant cosmic-inspired colors with deadstock, circular materials and an on-demand tailoring business model with in-house printing.
Over the course of the exhibition, the Fashion for Good Museum will host an art auction, panel discussion and a weekly updated installation that showcases emerging talent.
“All of these elements together will collectively address the sustainable and regenerative design practices in both the fashion and jewelry industries,” the museum stated.