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The textile and fashion industries are among the primary engines of the European economy. There is, however, a growing awareness of their negative environmental impact, resulting from resource-intensive and pollutant production practices and a business model predicated on high turnover of products (“fast fashion”) which generates an increasingly unmanageable volume of waste. This has put this economic sector at the forefront of European policy plans promoting a green transition, based on sustainability and a circular economic model.

Such a paradigm shift requires creative and innovative thinking to foster new ways of making, consuming, and transforming textiles and garments. In this context, research on the textile and textile crafts of the past offers a vast repository of experiences and knowledge which can be mobilized to inspire and inform innovative projects, new business ventures, and more generally the deployment of policies aimed at tackling the challenge of sustainability.