Need to Know

Stockholm – Product designer Ella Westlund has created a set of furniture that fosters interaction between a disabled person and their family.

The sofa set, entitled Be a Part of, features two seats, which are separated by a space designed to fit a wheelchair. The idea is that the disabled person can sit between their family members, rather than at their side. Westlund was inspired by a trip to a Korallen, a Swedish centre for mental stimulation for children with functional disabilities, after she found that the rooms did not have dedicated spaces for children in wheelchairs.

‘My sister has Down’s syndrome so I know how important it is to be able to exchange experiences with other people,’ Westlund says. ‘The wheelchair user should be able to enter a room and make sure there is a place for them.’

In our design direction Implicit Inclusivity, we explore how designers can create assistive products that can be aesthetically pleasing, not just practical.

Amsterdam – The Fashion for Good museum aims to educate and inspire visitors to address their own environmentally damaging fashion habits, as well as highlight innovations at industry level.

Through a series of interactive exhibits and activations, the digitally-enabled space designed by Local Projects, showcases over fifty concepts that are set to make fashion more sustainable.

On entering the museum, visitors are provided with a connected bracelet made from recycled plastic. As they discover tangible solutions to some of fashions environmental problems, they are asked to make a pledge such as ‘Not buy any garments for 30 days,’ or ‘Run at least one wash cycle a week on cold’ and commit to these by tapping their bracelet on a corresponding symbol.

At the end of the exhibition, each person checks out with their bracelet and receives a personalised Good Fashion Action Plan which outlines practical tips to implement their commitments in their daily lives.

The museum also houses a start-up incubator dedicated to fostering new future-facing technological solutions, funded by The C&A Foundation. As discussed in our Fashion Futures 2017 report, brands who work with and invest in start-ups have the power to bring a fresh perspective to fashions biggest problems.

Edelman’s Earned Brand 2018 study has found that consumers around the world would prefer to spend their money on brands that take a stand on a social or political issue. These ‘belief-driven buyers’ are the majority in every market, age group and income level surveyed by Edelman.

Rather than just supporting brands that align with their own values, these consumers are also boycotting brands that shy away from controversy. The study found that 65% would not buy from a brand because it stayed silent on an issue that it had an obligation to address.

Nike recently enlisted American football player Colin Kaepernick, who has protested against racial injustice by refusing to salute the US flag, to star in one of its campaigns. Elevating its status as a Backlash Brand, Nike actually saw sales rise following the controversial ad.