Abstract

The fashion education system is going through a paradigm shift pertaining to sustainability issues, and the current academic practices are being reviewed and redesigned in this direction. To train the future generation of designers, it is imperative to imbibe sustainable practices within the curriculum. This article explores the experiential application of sustainable fashion techniques such as zero-waste and up-cycling in three diverse student projects in a fashion design undergraduate program that does not include specific courses on sustainability. The projects, aimed at integrating sustainable practices into the existing curriculum, take a holistic approach and provide hands-on experience to the students to help them identify creative, aesthetic, and functional solutions based on market trends and sustainability. The participants ranged from beginners to graduating students, and the observations, outcomes, instructor’s reflections, and student interviews were utilized to analyze the results for shaping future projects/assignments to promote sustainable design thinking and practice among the next generation of fashion designers.