Dubbed “the first interactive museum for sustainable fashion innovation,” Fashion For Good’s new experience-led space opened its doors to the public earlier this month, aiming not only to empower visitors with a new outlook on fashion, but provide today’s increasingly conscious consumers with tangible actions they can take. Located in the heart of Amsterdam, the museum is part of a wider initiative that aims to engage all sides of the sustainability debate, and as well as connecting with the general public is also bringing together industry, encouraging companies to rethink how fashion is designed, made, used and reused, and crucially, helping foster innovations that can bring about change.
Founded by global fashion retailer C&A together with its corporate foundation, the C&A Foundation, Fashion For Good was established on the premise that while so-called ‘Good Fashion’ is possible, the industry is lacking the resources, tools and incentives to put it into practice. Focusing on an accountable framework centered around Five Goods – Materials, Economy, Energy, Water and Lives – the Dutch-based organization is aiming to demonstrate that fashion can not only look good, but can be attractive, accessible and affordable without compromising social, economic and environmental prosperity. And to date, it counts Adidas, Kering, PVH and Stella McCartney among its growing network of partners.
The museum, set across three floors, has been created with both consumers and companies in mind. An interactive experience prompts visitors to examine their consumption habits and buying behaviors, and guides them through a Good Fashion Journey. Highlighting the ways they can make a difference such as by mending, lending and recycling, the digital platform creates personalized action plans. And The Good Shop showcases brands that are pushing the boundaries of Good Fashion, with newly curated collections featured every three months. The first collection is themed ‘Splash: Rethinking the Role of Water in Fashion’, and others will focus on ocean plastic pollution and ‘The Journey of a T-shirt’, tracking and tracing the ecological impact of bringing a t-shirt to market.
But by far the largest space is dedicated to the Innovation Lounge, which is home to 50 innovators “on the verge of disrupting the fashion industry”. Fashion For Good’s innovation platform is a key part of its initiative, under which it offers support, expertise and capital for promising technologies in fashion sustainability, with key programs including its Plug and Play Accelerator, Scaling Program and Good Fashion Fund.
Admission to Fashion For Good on Amsterdam's Rokin Street is free, and the museum is open seven days a week.
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