Prof. Christiane Luible – Fashion & Technology, Austria 

Bio: Christiane Luible is a professor and co-director of the Fashion & Technology department at the University of Arts Linz. Her scientific work focuses on practice-oriented design research for the field of fashion, new digital, circular, and sustainable design processes and materials. She was leading the national FWF Peek project Fashion & Robotics, which is researching robot-assisted fashion production processes with new bio-based materials. Christiane has led other international and national research projects for the University of Arts Linz, such as the EU STARTS Lighthouse project Re-FREAM. From 2008 to 2013 she was Head of the Fashion and Accessory Design department at the HEAD Geneva. From 2001 to 2008, she was a researcher at MIRALab University of Geneva. She received international awards such as the Lucky Strike Junior Design Award and the Critic Award of the F.I.T. in New York for her design work.

THE PRESENTATION

Title: The new age of digital and sustainable Fashion

Abstract: The world of fashion is in a phase of transformation. Existing design and production processes are being questioned today and new, sustainable approaches are being sought. The way in which fashion is designed, produced and perceived is changing, thus creating a great potential for systemic change towards sustainability and responsibility. Digital technologies, computer-based design tools and new materials enable the design of complex forms for the body, which is difficult to grasp in terms of its complex shape, opening up new production methods. A new type of fashion, which finally enables social and cultural changes, is emerging. In the past, technological innovations in fashion were mainly based on new materials and new production methods. Today, many more new technologies are available in an ever shorter time frame, which influence and condition each other.

THE INTERVIEW