Responsible Fashion Series

Conference 2025: Innovation, Bio-design and Technology

October 30th – November 7th 2025, West Coast of the United States

The Responsible Fashion Series is a series of events promoting the potential of a responsible approach to fashion studies around the world – past events include: India, China, Netherlands, UK, Italy, Brazil, Belgium, Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. These events have always been free in order to reduce barriers for people to attend and to encourage participation and topics of local significance.

For our next RFS event, we will visit the West Coast of the United States of America. This is an amazing region, perched on the Pacific Rim, facing the largest wilderness on the planet: the Pacific Ocean! Known for its boom-and-bust pioneering spirit, design culture and innovation and its close proximity to vast natural landscapes, arguably the most industrialized agriculture in the world and displacement of indigenous peoples. This region is home to many innovative enterprises driving responsible fashion forward. By combining visits to local projects and businesses with workshops, exhibitions, paper sessions, and panel discussions, we aim to share insights, expertise, and creative ideas. We will examine the potential of responsible fashion generated across this region and want to explore leading edge innovation including an examination of what we can learn from indigenous producers in order to find new ways to expand sustainable initiatives.
The fashion industry uses large amounts of natural and – finite – mineral resources, and therefore the focus for this event is on slowing the flow of materials through the fashion system and radical material innovation that vastly reduces extraction rates. While the production of natural materials draws on replenishable resources, this, too, is fraught with issues due to mono-cultivation and economic pressures. Does the bio-economy hold the promise of material production for textiles grown responsibly from renewable resources and that are also compostable? Can the circular economy truly convert fashion’s waste into new inputs? For this event, we explore how technology, digital tools and know-how push these approaches to innovative sustainable production and invention of materials. But we also ask what lessons can be learned from existing technologies and from traditional and indigenous production methods to inform a responsible fashion system.

The event will explore the future of fashion and textiles at the intersections of biodesign, sustainability, and old and new technologies with original research, reviews, case studies, and critical perspectives that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

Innovations in sustainable materials and bio-fabrication
The role of biotechnology in creating biodegradable or regenerative textiles
Smart textiles and wearable technology for enhanced functionality and user experience
Circular economy models and strategies for reducing waste in fashion production
The impact of digital tools, AI, and machine learning on sustainable fashion design
Ethical considerations in the application of technology within the fashion industry
Case studies of companies integrating biodesign with scalable production
Cross-disciplinary collaborations driving sustainable innovations in fashion
The role of education & policy in fostering new thinking, new business models & biodesign practices in fashion.

We want to push the boundaries of traditional fashion practices and offer insights into the evolving landscape where technology and sustainability converge to shape the future of the apparel industry. We want to maximize the learning experience for all (through a variety of modes – from workshops, paper presentations and panel discussions etc).
This event is divided into three parts to maximize flexible attendance and encourage diversity of participation across three principal locations:

PART A: Monday 30th to Friday 31st October 2025 Sustainable Cotton Farm tour

The event starts with a Sustainable Cotton Farm tour on the 31st October that offers a look behind the scenes of cotton production in California. Participants will meet with farmers and scientists who provide insights into the work and processes. They will also be introduced to cotton picking in the field, witness harvesting of cotton, experience a working gin in action and see the USDA bale identification system.

For questions regarding logistics, costs and reservation, please, contact mail@responsible-fashion-series.com

PART B: Saturday 1st November to Tuesday 4th 2025 in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is America's West Coast fashion capital. We will arrive just in time for the Dias de los Muertos celebrations. Based at the ASU FIDM campus in the heart of the fashion district, we will tour design studios and manufacturing sites and hear industry leaders discuss California’s Responsible Textile Recovery Act that is set to lead the way in addressing the environmental impacts of “fast fashion.” Circular approaches, eco-friendly design and production processes, and strategies for reducing environmental impacts in the textile and fashion industry are the main research focus, here.

PART C: Tuesday 4th to Friday 7th November 2025 in Phoenix

For our third location, we travel to Phoenix, Arizona to observe the sublime beauty of the American Southwest where mindful craft methodologies have been embedded in the culture for centuries. Here, we will investigate the creation of environmentally friendly e-textiles, energy-efficient smart clothing, and wearable technology that balances functionality with sustainability. This includes biodegradable sensors, renewable power sources, and sustainable design practices of smart textiles. At Arizona State University, we will experience workshops and demonstrations at the fashion studios, Fashion Fabrication Lab, and Wearable Technology Lab at ASU FIDM. Experience indigenous creativity and traditions with a workshop about traditional dressmaking in the life of the Apache and a visit to the Heard Museum, a vibrant museum dedicated to American Indian art. Discover the Sonoran desert’s unique magic at the Desert Botanical Garden and its lure to creatives at Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert laboratory. At the end of the event, there will be options to visit Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

Participants must register to join us. Registration is essential in order for us to calculate numbers attending. Please, write to mail@responsible-fashion-series.com and let us know, if you intend to attend all three parts (or less). (PART A: Monday 27th to Friday 31st October 2025 in San Francisco, Part B: Saturday 1st November to Tuesday 4th 2025 in Los Angeles or PART C: from Tuesday 4th to Friday 7th November 2025 in Arizona).

Please be advised that certain costs will have to be carried by the attendees. This includes transportation and accommodation and other supplementary costs (i.e. participation in the excursions).