Global Denim Teams with Mexican University to Teach Fashion’s Next Generation About Circularity
Mexico’s Global Denim has completed a year-long partnership with a local educational institution geared toward teaching the country’s emerging talent the principles of circular design.
The 45-year-old denim factory has been working with Anahuac University in Mexico City over the past 12 months to champion sustainable fashion design. “Our goal is to initiate, empower, and strengthen the conversation about denim in the fashion design classrooms,” it said, while also helping students become respected and innovative professionals “with a deep-rooted love for the material, particularly in terms of circularity and sustainability.”
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According to Global Denim, Mexico is increasingly positioning itself as a destination for denim production, and has seen “significant momentum in manufacturing and fabric production” amid the recent nearshoring boom. “The country is filled with creative individuals and doers who are leading the way and redefining how we perceive Mexican fashion,” it said.
A semester-long university partnership started with 22 fashion students. Global Denim facilitated a project for a Practicum 1 course, taken during the students’ sixth semester in the program. They were tasked with developing individual collections based on a singular theme—“Chaos.” While the word can evoke “destruction or sudden imbalance,” radical change can also lead to evolution and growth, Global Denim said. Students designed looks centered on the idea of transformative change and creative reset.
The project also focused on the use of sustainable fibers such as recycled cotton and Tencel, as well as environmentally friendly production. “Our aim was to prioritize a new perspective on consumption—one that is conscious and disruptive regarding contemporary economic models,” Global Denim said.
Circular design principles are fast becoming a requirement for entrants to the industry, with modern shoppers demonstrating a greater understanding of the fashion supply chain and its impacts on people and planet. The course taught students the importance of developing a transparent value chain and an ethical outlook toward labor based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 3, which pertains to Good Health and Well-being, and SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production.
The ultimate result was seven chosen collections, each comprised of three ensembles, Global Denim said. Students experimented with applying sustainable technologies and techniques to denim design and production using the Circular Economy Butterfly model, developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which illustrates the products’ supply chain from farming and mining raw materials to industrial development, collection and material recovery for reuse. The winning projects are currently on display at the school’s Design Expo through the end of June.
