SUSTAINABILITY IN THE KNITWEAR INDUSTRY. A METHODOLOGICAL DEEPENING FOR THE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

Sustainability in the fashion industry seems like an oxymoron, but in recent years there has been ongoing research, both academic and otherwise, that aims to create a development of the sector capable of ensuring the satisfaction of the needs of the present generation, without compromising the ability of future generations to realize their own. Within a deeply changing socio-cultural scenario, which is affecting the dynamics of industrial design, there is an urgent need for those involved in academic education to act in preparing future knitwear designers to be able to integrate sustainability into their projects. After having investigated the social dynamics on which the concept of clothing and fashion is based, and how the industrialization of the sector has created one of the most striking examples of consumerism, this thesis aims to study and analyse the design method that the industrial designer, specialized in knitwear, learns during his studies. The purpose is the understanding of the actions aimed at integrating within each phase of the project, both practical and theoretical, the notions that lead to the conversion of the current linear economic system into a circular system, in order to minimize the negative impact on the environment and society. The goal is to learn theoretical and practical notions based on the ethical and environmental principles of sustainable logic, able to reshape the design process.