Rethinking Fashion Systems

Join us for a workshop that explores the future of fashion by reimagining the systems that drive the industry. Using the innovative Loopholes Toolkit, this session aims to innovate generative digital fashion processes while integrating circularity into their core strategies. This generative approach combines design, digitalization, and sustainability to transform current practices and develop actionable roadmaps for systemic change.

Participants will interact with four foundational perspectives of the Loopholes Toolkit:

1. Data Canvas – Analyze and map information flows, focusing on how data can inform sustainable practices and support decision-making.

2. Stakeholder Canvas – Explore collaboration opportunities within the ecosystem, identifying partnerships that foster innovation and equity.

3. Material Canvas – Evaluate product life cycles, balancing functionality with environmental impact across all phases of production and use.

4. Business Canvas – Develop economically viable circular business models that align with long-term sustainability goals.

The session will utilize strategy cards to generate ideas and stimulate discussions. Participants will map these strategies across the canvases, iteratively building solutions tailored to the complex challenges of the fashion industry. Through collaboration, the group will create comprehensive roadmaps addressing short, medium, and long-term goals while incorporating EU policy frameworks such as the Digital Product Passport (DPP),  Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).

Key in the workshop is identifying gaps in current practices while envisioning transformative measures to address them. Participants will generate and refine ideas using thematic strategy cards that focus on areas such as digitalization, sustainability, and stakeholder engagement. These efforts will culminate in the development of a comprehensive roadmap for implementation, guided by insights drawn from the Loopholes Toolkit.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have a clear understanding of how to apply digital and generative tools to make fashion systems more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable. Whether you’re a designer, brand strategist, or technologist, this session provides practical frameworks for turning visionary ideas into measurable outcomes.

The workshop is designed for innovators and visionaries eager to dive into the realm of highly complex adaptive systems. This workshop is a dynamic opportunity for those passionate about shaping a sustainable future for Europe and the world. If you’re committed to aligning your practices with cutting-edge EU sustainability benchmarks and driving the transition to circular economy models, this is the place for you. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or just starting your journey, come ready to collaborate, share ideas, and discover transformative strategies that will ignite your creativity and inspire your generative work in a digital landscape.

Host

Troy Nachtigall

Troy Nachtigall is a highly experienced Designer and Design Researcher who leads research at the intersection of fashion and technology. He actively seeks out strategic partnerships that will play a crucial role in shaping the future of the textile, clothing, fashion, and footwear industries. Troy is a core member of the Erasmus+ Fashion and Textile Transitions project and the New Textile Ecosystems (New Texeco) Research Community. His practical background in Design and ICT fuels his passion for exploring the data-material relationship through wearable items.

As a Professor at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, he is lector of the Wearable Data Studio, which focuses on the computational fabrication of clothing, shoes, and accessories. Through this research, Troy and his team can delve into the complex adaptive ecosystem of fashion, with a particular focus on data management, design, manufacturing, and use. This has led to the development of physical, digital, and hybrid artifacts and toolkits that promote a material perspective and data-enabled ecosystem lifecycle frameworks.

Troy’s research is rooted in the interplay between fashion, spatial design, and architecture, viewed through a digital lens. This inter-scaler foundation is strengthened by his experience as a fashion designer in New York City and Florence, where he worked with brands such as Hugo Boss, Panerai, and Calvin Klein.

Troy’s ideas on data as a material have been refined through his research work as a Ph.D. fellow in the Marie Skołdowska-Curie action ArcInTexETN at Eindhoven University of Technology, within Philips Research, and the Design Research Lab of UdK Berlin. He has also refined his research as a Post-doc Researcher in Co-Design and Shape-Changing Objects and Spaces at Aarhus University and at TU/Eindhoven.