In the current scenario, characterized by remote working and a redirection towards more sustainable and flexible lifestyles, it is becoming necessary to rethink the entire value system of the fashion system for the adoption of more agile and transparent models, which allow companies to establish themselves as promoters of positive and lasting transformation.
The book FASHIONING SOCIAL & CULTURAL INNOVATION, Design empowering communities to foster sustainability in culture intensive industries presents a collection of essays organized into three thematic sections that aims to present the ways in which research in the field of fashion design for sustainability is pursuing different approaches and visions of a sustainability paradigm to foster the integrity and stability of the system through a constant commitment to support culture, people and local communities.

Reet Aus
Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia
Reet Aus is a fashion designer and researcher interested in industrial upcycling, waste reduction and circularity in textile and fashion industry. She founded REET AUS COLLECTION® and THE UPSHIRT®. She is a pioneer in the field of industrial upcycling for fashion, and has developed the UPMADE® certification in order to pass on her knowledge to brands and factories. Currently working at the Estonian Academy of Arts and running her own business dedicated to upcycling and recycling.

Paola Bertola
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
PhD in Industrial Design and Multimedia Communication, Full Professor at Politecnico di Milano, she coordinates the PhD Program in Design. She is faculty member of the School of Design, where she teaches in the Fashion Design Program (BA and MSc) and in the Product Service Sistem Design Program (MSc). She directed the Fashion Design programs at Politecnico between 2004 and 2012, contributing to their establishment. She currently coordinates the joint program FIT@ Polimi, established under her supervision in 2007. She is Scientific Supervisor of the Editorial Committee of the book series “Fashion in Process”, Mandragora Editrice, Firenze. She is co-founder of the Research laboratory Fashion in Process (FiP) within the Department of Design at Politecnico di Milano. Her research focuses on creative processes, design management and planning and design branding within culture intensive industries. More recently she has been focusing on the role of design in driving digital transformation in fashion companies, as a key driver towards more sustainable and equitable paradigms.

Sass Brown
Kingston University London, United Kingdom
Previously the Founding Dean of the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation, Sass Brown recently completed her Ph.D. at Manchester Metropolitan University on global artisanship and models of sustainable development. Prior to joining D.I.D.I., Sass was the Interim Dean for the Fashion Institute of Technology’s School of Art and Design in New York. She is a Senior Lecturer on sustainable fashion for Kingston University London, as well as teaches online for London College of Fashion and Manchester Met. Brown was an Associate Design Researcher on the Textile Toolbox, part of the MISTRA Future Fashion consortium and an advisor for Sustainia100. As a writer, educator and activist, she has published papers and spoken around the world as well as served as a sustainable design advisor to women’s cooperatives, educational institutions, governmental agencies, NGO’s and SME’s. Her publications include the books Eco Fashion and ReFashioned for British publishers Laurence King, and her now archived EcoFashionTalk website.

Eleonora Coira
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Eleonora Coira, MSc in Design for the Fashion System, is Research Fellow at the Design Department, Politecnico of Milano, and member of the “Fashion in Process” Research Lab. Her work focuses on exploring how the adoption of sustainable Fashion Design practices are enhancing the transition of the current Fashion System towards a more sustainable model, in terms of new paradigms for a renewed and circular supply chain. Her research interests explore the relationship between new circular business models and sustainable practices, sustainable consumer’s behaviour, new emerging sustainable consumption trends and design-thinking-driven sustainable practices intended as a tool the designer has to promote environmental as well as social and cultural sustainable shifts.

Chiara Colombi
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
PhD in Design, Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Design Dept. She is part of the “Design and Cultures” research section and Faculty Member of the School of Design, Politecnico di Milano, where she teaches in the Fashion Design Program (BSc and MSc). She is currently the academic coordinator of FIT@POLIMI Campus Abroad Program. She was awarded Twentieth ADI Compasso d’Oro Award - Young Design in 2004 and was Visiting Researcher at Fashion Institute of Technology, New York in 2007. She is the Editorial Director of the book series “Fashion in Process”, Mandragora Editrice, Firenze. Her research interests concern knowledge creation processes, codification of meta-design research praxis and development of merchandising systems in “culture intensive” industries, with a specific focus on the fashion sector. More recently she has been focusing on design-driven innovation within the fashion-tech sector, both at the level of educational and entepreneurial activities.She is author of international publications and consultant in didactic and research activities for Italian and foreign institutions and companies.

Chiara Di Lodovico
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Chiara Di Lodovico, MSc in Design for the Fashion System, is a PhD candidate at Politecnico di Milano, Design Department, where she is developing a research on Fashion-Tech. Her work focuses on exploring the paradigm shift fostered by the integration of emergent technologies along the value chain of the fashion industry.
She is currently investigating how postphenomenology could inform design research and practice, through the analysis of the mutual shaping relations between humans and wearable technologies. During her Master’s graduation work she investigated the innovation potential of collaborative urban laboratories and digital manufacturing in the fashion sector. As a freelance, she have been working for knitwear and editorial studios, broadening her competences in fashion design, branding, photography, and digital marketing.

Erminia D’Itria
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Erminia D’Itria is a designer, PhD Candidate at the Design Department of Politecnico di Milano, and member of the “Fashion in Process” Research Collective at the Design Department of Politecnico di Milano. Her research interests concern sustainability issues in an environmental, economic, social, and cultural context where the role of design is to be a catalyst for innovative solutions. Her work deals with the
relationship between design and productive processes with attention to the study of the fashion supply chain in support of its transition to a sustainable paradigm.

Valeria M. Iannilli
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Architect and Associate professor at Politecnico di Milano - Design Department, where she is part of the “Design and Innovation Cultures” research subsection. She is President of the Fashion Design Programs (Bachelor and MSc) at School of Design, Politecnico di Milano, co-founder of FIP | Fashion in Process, Design Research Laboratory of Design Department /Politecnico di Milano and ScientificBoard member of the Milano Fashion Institute Consortium (founded by Politecnico di Milano, Università Bocconi, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore). Her research interests concern retail design processes as the expression of a company’s identity to promote the construction of an active dialogue with users’ communities. She is an expert in retail design, and narrative processes management as a cultural exchange place in “culture intensive” industries. She developed didactic and research projects for national and international institutions and author of international publications and consultants in didactic and research activities for Italian and foreign institutions and companies.

Anna Meroni
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Architect and PhD in Design, Anna Meroni is Full Professor of Design in the Department of Design at the Politecnico di Milano. Her research focus is on service and strategic design for sustainability to foster social innovation, participation and local development. She has a specific expertise in co-design methods and tools. She originated the concept of ‘community-centred design’ and works transversally on new entrepreneurship, public services and responsible research and innovation.
From 2016 to 2021 she has been the head of the international Master of Science in Product Service System Design, at the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano. From 2013 to 2019 she has been the coordinator of the POLIMI-DESIS Lab, the Milan based research laboratory of the DESIS-Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability Network, which she served as international coordinator from 2013 to 2016. She is on the board of the PhD program in Design, principal investigator of national and international research projects, chair of conferences, author of several publications, member of different scientific boards and visiting lecturer in international universities.

Kirsi Niinimäki
Aalto University, Finland
Kirsi Niinimäki, PhD (Doctor of Arts, Aalto University), is an Associate Professor in Design, specifically Fashion research in the Department of Design, School of Art, Design and Architecture at Aalto University, Finland. Her research focuses on the holistic understanding of sustainable fashion and textile fields and the connections between design, manufacturing, business models and consumption. Her research group, Fashion/Textile Futures (http://ftfutures.aalto.fi), is involved in several significant research projects that integrate closed loop, bioeconomy and circular economy approaches in fashion and textile systems and extend the understanding of strategic sustainable design. Kirsi Niinimäki has published widely and is a well-known scholar in the sustainable fashion field.

Antonella Penati
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
PhD in Industrial Design and Multimedia Communication at Politecnico di Milano.
Full professor, she was Deputy President of the School of Design and President
of the Degree Course in Industrial Design. She is currently coordinator of the
Design and culture Section in the Department of Design. Her theoretical research
focuses on innovation in the world of objects as a result and a “driving force” for
socio-technical innovations. She deals with the shape of objects; social imaginaries;
the creation and dissemination of knowledge through design. From 2002 to 2008
she is responsible of the research group “Research and Education in Design”. She
was promoter of research on the design education, on the nature of knowledge that
takes place in the project activities and the way of its codification and transmission.
In 2019 she founded the Pharma Design Studies group committed to investigating
the role of design in reducing the error and discomfort of drug therapies, particularly
in elderly patients.

Ulla Ræbild
Design School Kolding, Denmark
Ulla Ræbild, PhD, has a background in fashion design. She currently holds a position
as Assistant Professor in the Lab for Sustainable Design, Design for Planet
where she has developed and heads the interdisciplinary Design for Planet MA Programme.
She has worked with curriculum development and supervised BA and MA
fashion students since 1999 with a focus on bridging theory with practice. Ræbild is
co-author of The Sustainable Design Cards and at present she is DSKD participant
in the EU funded project FashionSEEDS. Her research lies at the intersection of
design education and learning, new designer roles, design method, fashion practice
and sustainability,
Vibeke Riisberg
Design School Kolding, Denmark
Vibeke Riisberg PhD, has a background in textile design. She currently holds a position
as Associate Professor in the Lab for Sustainable Design, Design for Planet.
Since 1992 she has taught sustainable design to BA fashion and textile students as
well as supervising MA and PhD’s students. She has been a driving force in making
sustainability a strategic focus area for DSKD from 2008. At present she also functions
as DSKD lead in the EU funded project FashionSEEDS. Research interests
include: sustainable design, textiles and fashion education, the changing roles of
designers, design aesthetics, user experience and service systems.

Francesca Romana Rinaldi
Bocconi University, Italy
Francesca Romana Rinaldi, PhD, teaches at Bocconi University and SDA Bocconi
where she is coordinating the course CSR in Fashion & Luxury at MAFED – Master
in Fashion, Experience and Design Management. She is also part of the SDA Bocconi
Sustainability Lab where she is coordinating the SDA Bocconi “Monitor for
Circular Fashion”. She is Director of the SDA Bocconi Masterclass on Circular Fashion.
She is Expert of the “Policy Recommendation” group in the UNECE (United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe) project “Enhancing Transparency and
Traceability of Sustainable Value Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector”. She
is Author of “Fashion Industry 2030” (Egea, 2019) and Co-author of “L’Impresa
Moda Responsabile” (Egea, 2013), “The Responsible Fashion Company” (Greenleaf
Publishing - Routledge, 2014). As an executive consultant she supports companies
in the Fashion and Luxury industries with a focus on brand management, sustainability,
digital strategies and business model innovation.

Alessandra Spagnoli
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
PhD in Design and Technologies for the Enhancement of Cultural Heritage, Assistant
Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Design Department. She is part of the FiP / Fashion
in Process Research Lab and Faculty Member of the School of Design, Politecnico di
Milano, where she teaches in the Design for the Fashion System Program (MSc). Her
research interests mainly concern the management of enhancement processes in terms
of design-driven strategies, methods and actions, the exploration of new paradigms,
narrative structures and languages in retail and exhibit design, and the experimentation
of new trajectories and technologies for the enhancement of cultural capital. She
managed multi and interdisciplinary research and applied research projects related to
new fruition’s models, both physical and in digital environments, of design and fashion
culture, and to visual design systems within the CCIs sector.

Linda Lisa Maria Turunen
Aalto University, Finland
Linda Lisa Maria Turunen, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Business
at Aalto University, Finland. Her research interests and specialization lie in
brand management, consumer behaviour and sustainability, particularly in the contexts
of fashion brands and consumption, luxury marketing and perceived luxuriousness,
second-hand luxury markets, and upcycling. She has published in leading
brand management and business journals, and contributed to book chapters and
conference proceedings. Linda has been granted the title of Docent at the University
of Turku in Economic Sociology, specifically Fashion and Marketing Research.

Federica Vacca
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
PhD in Design, Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Design Dept. She
is part of the “Design and Cultures” research section and Faculty Member of the
School of Design, Politecnico di Milano, where she teaches in the Fashion Design
Program (BA). She is Scientific Coordinator of higher education course “Out of
Fashion” related to issues of sustainable, ethical, and aware fashion and promoted by
PoliDESIGN and Connecting Cultures. She is Co-Founder of Fashion in Process
Research Lab [www.fashioninprocess.com]. Her research interests concern handicraft-
driven creation processes for the enhancement of local culture knowledge and
design-driven innovation in “culture intensive” industries, with a specific focus on
the fashion sector. She is expert of heritage management, corporate archives and she
has recently developed in-depth knowledge on Fashion Design for Sustainability,
with particular attention to the social and cultural dimension, particularly strategic
for the fashion sector.

Julia Valle-Noronha
Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia
Julia Valle-Noronha is a designer-researcher interested in rethinking the ways we
relate to clothing and fashion for more responsible futures. She holds a DA in the
field of Design and MA in Visual Arts. Her fields of interest in research and practice
revolve around wearer-worn engagements, wardrobe studies, alternative modes of
producing, consuming and experiencing clothing, as well as fashion education for
sustainability. Currently, Julia is an Associate Professor at the Estonian Academy of
Arts, Faculty of Design, and post-doctoral researcher at Aalto University, Department
of Design.

Ann Vellesalu
University of Borås, Sweden
Ann Vellesalu (MSc in Textile Value Chain Management) is a PhD candidate at the
Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås. The aim of her studies in the Department
of Business Administration and Textile Management is to develop practitioner-
oriented knowledge through research, by producing guidelines for apparel
manufacturers in the transition from product-centric to service-centric business
models. Her work focuses on understanding how servitization affects the interorganisational
dynamics of activities and resources between the focal organisations
and other actors in the industrial network. During her current and previous work
at the University of Borås and Science Park Borås, Ann has investigated topics such
as competitive local manufacturing, digital skills in the textile and fashion industry,
and circular business models and strategies within the projects Education4Fashion-
Tech, Re:Textile and Conditional Design (CONDE), among others.