Project examines ethics of the fashion industry

An exhibition reflecting on the ethics of the production, consumption and disposal of the clothes we wear has gone on display in Cambridge.

The exhibition, part of the art and education for sustainability project Rawtag, features 192 pieces of work from business students at Anglia Ruskin University, who were asked to examine their own attitudes to how the clothes they wear are produced and think about sustainability and ethics.

Students have displayed their creative talents while reflecting on fashion and clothes on three themes: Love: how clothes express our identity and affect us; Think: assessing the life cycle of clothes, from materials and manufacturing, to consumption and disposal; Act: creating alternatives for responsible and ethical behaviour.

The project is the brainchild of Anglia Ruskin lecturer Dr Beatriz Acevedo (pictured) and is supported by the Centre for Innovative Business Education (CIBE). It also forms part of the Responsible Business module for second-year students.

Dr Acevedo said: “We wanted our students to go out of their comfort zone a little and get creative, which is something that is not necessarily a regular part of a business-focused degree. We also wanted them to think about the stories behind the clothes they wear every day and how they, as business people of the future, can be more mindful about the ethics and sustainability issues surrounding how these garments are produced.

“The result is a really interesting exhibition that will be of interest to lots of people and I would encourage people to come along and see it.”

The exhibition is open to all and runs until 18 December in the first floor of the Lord Ashcroft Building at Anglia Ruskin’s Cambridge campus.



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