The living lab as cumulative infrastructure: four mechanisms from a fashion and textile case

Living labs are widely recognised as infrastructures for collaborative experimentation, yet the learning they generate often remains confined within single initiatives and dissipates once project funding cycles end. This contribution addresses that gap by asking how a living lab can move beyond the logic of projectification and operate as a cumulative infrastructure. The study draws on the three-year trajectory of the Fashion & Textile Living Lab Too Cool to Go Wasted, developed as part of the MUSA Innovation Ecosystem (NRRP, 2022–2025) and now permanently based at Politecnico di Milano, Department of Design. Three initiatives are analysed as components of a single portfolio: a multi-actor circular fashion festival, a longitudinal narrative device on the people-garment relationship, and a toolkit for developing product-service systems for sustainable retail. Evidence gathered through participant observation, artefacts, interviews and internal documentation allows the identification of four operational mechanisms of cumulative impact: physical space as active memory, recurring iterations, inter-organisational transfer and cross-initiative ambient learning. From these, the paper derives design orientations and policy implications for living labs seeking continuity beyond the project cycle.