FL | Fashion Sustainability — International Conference, is an international conference centred on sustainability issues in fashion and related disciplines. The 2nd edition is marked by the partnership established with the Politecnico di Milano – POLIMI, which, together with Universidade Lusófona, is endeavouring to promote the conference and ensure that this edition is a success, guaranteeing the highest scientific quality. It aims to be a meeting point between Industry, Business and Academia, open to different approaches and the exchange of experiences and knowledge. We are therefore looking for an open conference format, where communications coexist with the presentation of projects in an exhibition or other format, thus increasing the wealth of sharing.

The Conference is based on 6 main thematic areas: Fashion Sustainability; Communicating Fashion Trends; Fashion and Audiovisuals for Sustainability; Fashion Tradition and Identity; Education for Fashion Sustainability; Sustainability and Innovation. It will feature plenary sessions and parallel sessions for the presentation of research projects, as well as exhibition spaces and interactive sessions for the presentation of author and industry projects.

It is urgent to discuss Sustainability in all its variants, such as the economic, environmental and social levels, focusing on areas such as Fashion, whose industry is one of the most responsible for environmental damage that is constantly increasing. While it is true that the theme of sustainability takes us back to the environmental aspect, it is also emerging to discuss this theme from a social perspective. It is important to recover the knowledge and values of minorities, such as the elderly and artisans, valuing those citizens and their precious knowledge in the community. As economic sustainability is crucial for the business success of brands, industry, small and medium enterprises, it will always have to be a central theme in any discussion on sustainability in Fashion.

Sustainability and Circularity are very rich themes that still leave a lot of ground to be discovered. Portugal is one of the countries in the front line in terms of Textile and Clothing Industry investment in sustainability. In order to enrich the knowledge of the environment, it is important to share the projects that are emerging through the various stakeholders, Academia and the business world.