Sustainable Fashion

In preparatory virtual meetings and seminars, three international teams were formed to develop solutions for three challenges: 1. Circular design - develop a cradle to cradle product with the C&A team; 2. Circular economy - develop concepts for extending the life cycle of a C&A product; and 3. Sustainability communication - develop a communication concept that enables C&A customers to make sustainable purchasing decisions.

As part of a kick-off project week at Trier University of Applied Sciences, publicly accessible lectures on issues of ecology, economy and culture in the fashion industry under the aspect of sustainability were held by renowned experts from the fashion industry, which complemented the regular virtual project work. In a closed setting, the interim results were presented to the practice partner. Afterwards, the students received feedback. In addition to the professors, the Head of Sustainability and Head of Communication from C&A were also present in Trier.

Building on this, the students developed concrete solutions for the practice partner in transnational virtual teams in order to make products and processes in the fashion and consumer goods industry more environmentally and socially compatible. They were accompanied by the practice partner and the teachers in regular virtual coaching sessions.

During the final project week in Portugal, the international student groups finalized and presented their proposed solutions. They received feedback from representatives of the communication departments of the practice partner. Beforehand, the results were presented virtually to the representatives of the practice partner‘s sustainability, visual merchandising and product design departments. Likewise, production sites and lectures by fashion companies and designers were visited, in which the students were able to obtain detailed information about professional practice. The respective on-site meetings were accompanied by a cultural program that gave the students an insight into the culture of the host location.