Developed in partnership with Condé Nast as part of their commitment to becoming a voice for change, The Sustainable Fashion Glossary is designed to strengthen and develop sustainability literacy by providing guidance on key sustainability terms and emerging topics. The Glossary was developed as Vogue Editors-in-Chief identified the need for stronger editorial guidelines and educational resources for coverage on sustainable fashion. Condé Nast’s trusted media brands including Vogue, GQ, Wired and Vanity Fair are focused on reporting on issues of climate change and educating readers on how to live more sustainable lives. The Glossary helps to assist these editorial teams and audiences worldwide, strengthening the company’s authority as a trusted voice in the public sustainability debate. The Sustainable Fashion Glossary is the product of a partnership with Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) at London College of Fashion, UAL with input from Vogue Editors-in-Chief and reviewed by a network of academics and sustainability researchers from around the world. It is a crystallization of world-leading research and educational practices, built on academic rigour and Condé Nast’s unique and unrivalled perspective on the fashion industry.
“What we stand up in, should reflect what we stand up for. It’s time to question whether we are being well represented, as well as whether we are well presented. We can create a new era of beauty and style borne out of an understanding and intimate connection with our most precious asset; the earth, the greatest designer the world has ever known. By working with the world’s leading fashion Editors-in Chief at Vogue, we have been able to develop a vital glossary of terms, a trusted reference point, regarding fashion as a means to exemplify our interdependence with nature and each other,”
Dilys Williams, Professor of Fashion Design for Sustainability and Director of CSF
Knowledge exchange in practice
Within CSF, the Glossary brought together our Knowledge Exchange and Research team to co-create this Glossary with Condé Nast. This Glossary is an exemplification of how collaboration between different areas of expertise – across media, academia and industry expertise – can deliver accurate, credible and relevant work. From a Knowledge Exchange perspective, we were able to bring our understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by industry to the terms and the way in which they have been classified. The academic team brought their rigour and accuracy to the research that went into defining these terms.
“This is an important long-awaited piece of work. It is critical that we are clear in our understanding and use of the terms included in the Glossary and in relation to sustainability. Whilst this has been co-created with editors and journalists in mind, we are excited to explore the wider ways in which this can support engagement with these topics within fashion.”
Sarah Needham, CSF’s Knowledge Exchange Manager
What is The Sustainable Fashion Glossary?
An easy-to-use guide, divided into categories which relate to sustainability in fashion: its cultures, materials, production, buying habits and care practices.
A digital resource, open to all and available at condenast.com .
Written with over 250 terms, fully referenced for further reading.
Broken down into four key themes: climate emergency; environmental impacts of fashion; social, cultural and economic impacts of fashion; and key elements of fashion and sustainability, plus 10 sub-themes that cover must-know aspects of fashion and sustainability.
Regularly updated with new definitions to reflect the evolving debates about climate emergency, fashion, and societal change.
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