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Fashion & Textile Transformation

The EU Textiles Strategy of 2022 will have a huge impact on textile production. The portfolio aims, among other things, to support the industry to adapt and find new and sustainable business models and value chains. This could mean, for example, that all clothing in the future will receive a product passport that provides digital information about the products. Students from Lund University and partners from industry explore what this could mean. This is one example of many how this innovation portfolio is working to orchestrate various collaborations to contribute to this important transition.

Projekt

Vad?

The fashion and textile industry is undergoing its biggest transformation in decades. New global regulations and the EU's textile strategy with the Digital Product Passport (DPP) are transforming the fashion and textile industry — from raw materials and production to use and recycling.

Varför?

Digitalisation, AI and consumers' demands for transparency and sustainability drive the need for innovation across the textile value chain. This is reshaping material selection, production and business models, requiring collaboration between research, industry and consumers. Transparency, circularity and social justice become crucial competitive advantages. By connecting local expertise with global initiatives, we can create a fashion and textile industry that is both innovative, sustainable and resilient.

Vem?

The portfolio is led by Future by Lund and connects local and global initiatives to shape the fashion and textile industries of the future. Through projects such as MCRS (sustainable, resilient and circular manufacturing industry), Fashioning AI (industrial design at LTH/Fashion Science at Campus Helsingborg) and ekip (innovation policy for the cultural and creative industries), we build bridges between research, industry and policy development. We work cross-disciplinarily and create synergies together with other portfolios within the platform, such as Bio Solutions/Bio Tech Heights and Logistics & E-commerce.

Våra projekt inom denna portfölj

Unexpected — arts and science innovation forum 2025

Unexpected is a forum that approaches innovation in a different way, and in 2023 the first event was held. On June 4, 2025, Unexpected returns to Mejeriet in Lund. This is an opportunity when art, science, business, creative industries and philosophy come together to shape the future. The aim is to enable stakeholders to build an inclusive innovation ecosystem guided by both ethics and aesthetics, and where the cultural and creative sectors and industries are shown their capacity to play a leading role in addressing complex societal challenges.

MCRS: Sustainable manufacturing industry tested in Lund

Climate change, resource scarcity and increased environmental requirements mean that the manufacturing industry faces significant challenges that require a radical transformation. The solution could be a production that is more on-demand and circular, where manufacturing matches demand, where products and components can be repaired and replaced, and where resources are reused and recycled as efficiently as possible. But how will it be done in practice? In a new project, Future by Lund and partners will explore how we can build a system demonstrator where the goal is not only to see how the industry can become more sustainable and circular, but also more local and resilient.

Small-scale and circular solutions are changing the textile industry

What if our clothes could be made when we ask for it and by small-scale producers in our vicinity? And if, in addition, the clothes are provided with information that allows us to know not only how the garments are made, but also how they can be recycled and repaired? Future by Lund and Lund University have brought together a consortium of fourteen partners and another twenty associates to jointly create value chains to manufacture, distribute and recycle clothing in a new way.

Lund University: Clothes get their own identity

In the future, our clothes will include a tag that we can scan to obtain information. In this way, we can see how the garments are produced, where we can get them repaired and how they can be recycled. Perhaps we can even see who has previously worn the garment or given the opportunity to rent it out. In the spring, an innovation project was started in which students at Campus Helsingborg find out what consumers see as the benefits of having tags in their garments.

Lunda researchers are recognized for circular business model for textiles

The textile industry has a major climate impact and the reuse of clothing is seen as part of the sustainable transformation of the industry. Daniel Hellström and John Olsson at Lund University present their award-winning paper on a circular business model that creates a more sustainable fashion trade. In addition to the actual business model, the work is also interesting in that the researchers show how important it is to put the consumer at the center of the innovation process for circular business models and because they, as researchers, have also found a way to provide insight into the future of a more sustainable textile industry.

Researcher Network for a Green Transition of the Fashion Industry

Fashion is a word that is often associated with the latest in clothing and textiles. But the industry is much more than that — it's everything from cultivation, production, working conditions, transportation, design and marketing to customer habits, garbage sorting, returns and recycling. It is also a historical perspective, which materials are suitable for healthcare and how the whole process affects our environment. For Lund University, this means that all faculties are involved in the work towards a more sustainable textile and fashion industry. This is why researchers in the Fashion @LU network come together to define cross-border projects that also include the business community in order to contribute to the green transformation of the textile and fashion industries.

Textile & Fashion 2030: Project on sustainable and circular textiles

‍ The Swedish government wants to develop the textile and fashion sector in terms of sustainability and the circular economy. Through the platform Textile & Fashion 2030, it is hoped to create the conditions for putting Sweden at the forefront of working towards the goals set out in Agenda 2030. One hope is to strengthen the forces of good that already exist.

NEST: New initiative for a sustainable future for the textile and fashion industries

The textile and fashion industry has a major impact on climate and the environment. To help change the industry, the NEST initiative was launched in spring 2022, which was created by four incubators with different specialized expertise and with different geographical starting points, from Umeå to Lund. Entrepreneurs with ideas that can make the industry more sustainable applied to NEST's free acceleration program, which is a catapult-like process for startups with innovative ideas for the textile and fashion industries.

Intermediary actors wanted!

Future by Lund works in the gap between research, organisations and institutions, the public and private sectors, academia and business. Are you as an actor interested in working with us in the gap – get in touch!

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