Education Focus On Green Skills
At Chelmsford College Visiting the Green Skills Fair
This week has felt like a tough week for many reasons, the nights are getting darker, the number of Black Friday calls to action to buy, buy, buy in our inbox’s and the one thing that I thought the free world surely agreed on sadly wasn’t the case. But then Jo and I were asked to speak at The Green Skills Fair at Chelmsford College, to talk to fashion and creative arts students moving from secondary education to further education and the workplace.
The one thing that is at the heart of everything we do at Our Fashion Fix is education, with education comes strength, it helps you build a road map of the direction you want to take with the knowledge foundation to build on what you have learnt. What I have found in the fashion industry is that we have done the ‘same’ thing for so many years – the linear business model – its tried and tested and it’s hard to move away from this………. but we are in fact moving away and the future is circular.During our time with the students we shared these new principles – to build circularity into products at inception, to recycle, reuse, reimagine. We discussed Digital Product Passports (DPP), Extended Producer Responsibilities (EPR) and many other acronyms changing the landscapes for those that work in creative industries producing products.
It’s a daunting time moving into an industry that is evolving at such a pace- but we need to think BIG – think back 10 years and how many of us were purchasing second hand clothing? However today the pre-loved market is taking on the retail landscape spurred on by economic constraints and the growing awareness of sustainability. The recommerce market was $12.7 billion in 2020 however is projected to double by 2025. It’s time to think differently- and that’s exactly what Chelmsford College has embraced with students projects focusing on upcycling, repair and fabric innovation- giving their cohorts the necessary skills for careers in the new green economy.
If we want future generations to do better than we did we have to help them on their journey – its going to be a tough one.
Special thanks to Chelmsford College for hosting Our Fashion Fix and wishing all your students the very best with their future studies.