ACTAsia’s Partnership with London College of Fashion Course is Turning Heads

Fashion is big business. It is worth two trillion dollars globally to be precise and with such huge numbers comes huge responsibility. Fashion is cyclical but fashion also needs to be sustainable.

In today’s world ‘sustainable fashion’ is a term describing efforts within the fashion industry to reduce its environmental impact, to protect workers producing garments and to uphold animal welfare. The need for the fashion world to go fur free is now more pressing than ever.

 

The dangers of fur farming on animals and HUMAN health

The west has seen a sharp reduction in the use of fur in fashion but Asia still continues to use fur as part of their fashion offering.  Not only are animals kept in inhumane conditions and killed for their fur, but fur farms also have a damaging impact on the environment. However human health is also at threat from fur farms. One of the most important – but least known – reasons as to why we need to see an end to fur farming is the threat to global health. This is due to the impact of zoonoses – viruses that jump from animals to humans. During the covid pandemic millions of animals were culled as a result of harmful zoonoses. Indeed, a recent research paper has revealed that fur farming represents significant threat to human and animal health, linked to at least 18 potentially deadly infectious diseases.

ACTAsia created infographics to illustrate the latest research by One Health scientists

Picture:Oikeutta eläimille

Environmental destruction, cruelty and risk to human health – just some of the damage that fur farming inflicts

Educating the next generation about the importance of fur free fashion

ACTAsia passionately believes that education is the answer to change and ACTAsia has developed and launched an incredible online Compassion in Fashion course for university students.  

This is the first academic course of its kind in the world, as part of the FutureLearn platform, to be offered by a non-profit organisation. ACTAsia works closely with fashion professionals to bring discussion around social justice, environmental protection and animal rights to mainstream fashion education. The course caters for fashion students and professionals and was written by Dawn Kotuwage, Director of Programmes, ACTAsia and John Lau, Dean of Academic Strategy at the London College of Fashion. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the knowledge to write their own manifesto for compassion in fashion, identifying the problems inherent to the fashion industry and visualising change. 

Student challenge projects

Collaborative Challenge 

Each year, ACTAsia sets the brief for the Collaborative Challenge unit at London College of Fashion (LCF) which gives masters students industry experience before they graduate. The unit is student-led and requires students to be motivated and proactive drawing on teamwork, design thinking, problem-solving, project planning and negotiation skills. 

The briefs set by ACTAsia over the last three years have all been focused on encouraging conscientious consumerism across all generations:

  • What are sustainable materials and how can we promote them?
  • Looking at the FutureLearn course and what can we do to advance its reach 
  • How to engage with young people about the work of ACTAsia

It is also a professional platform that offers live engagement on the subject of Sustainability, Diversity and Social Responsibility with: 

  • Current research and technologies
  • Industry partners and alumnus
  • Academic partners 

Examples of the student’s work undertaken as part of the Collaborative Challenge can be found here

John Lau addresses delegates at ACTAsia’s 10th Annual International Sustainable Fur Free Fashion Festival

John Lau – a pioneer for fur free fashion at London College of Fashion

ACTAsia is honoured to work alongside John Lau who first met Pei seven years ago. After meeting Pei, John felt very engaged with ACTAsia’s goals: “ACTAsia’s dedication to education is what resonated with me and I realised that we could do so much more with London College of Fashion. When I had a true understanding of ACTAsia and its scope, I realised I could help in my own small way. This idea started with joining ACTAsia’s Sustainable Fur Free Fashion Forum and Show in Shanghai, and blossomed into developing the online FutureLearn curriculum for fashion students, which could also be used to target a bigger online audience”.

How you can make a difference when thinking about fashion

John is a huge proponent of the Collaborative Challenge course remarking that: “Outcomes have been fascinating”, demonstrating the level of engagement in the briefs and passion for ideas from a new generation of fashion students all keen to immerse themselves in the subjects that ACTAsia actively promotes. He knows that such a course will also shape the students’ future career: “Collaboration for this module provides industry experience for students and gives them a glimpse into their future industry, space to explore their values and how they will apply their talent and brilliance to their chosen career path, we aim to enrich their learning path and instil in them a mantra of sustainability begins with fur free.”

There are so many ways that you can promote sustainable fashion. By avoiding ‘fast fashion’ and ‘buying better not more’ you will be playing your part in promoting a sustainable industry – and turning heads for the right and for ethical reasons.  By thinking what you wear you are not only helping to protect worker’s livelihoods but you are also helping to protect animals in captivity and helping to protect the environment. 

If you’re inspired by our mission and wish to make a positive change, consider donating to ACTAsia. Your contribution directly fuels our efforts, ensuring that the ethical and sustainable message of fashion spreads even further. Every donation counts, no matter the size. Help us further our cause and ensure a kinder future for animals, people, and our planet.

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