Our Research
Sonali Diddi, Associate ProfessorThe global fashion industry is one of the least sustainable industries. This industry negatively impacts the entire biosphere due to hazardous chemicals, microplastics, CO2 emissions and millions of tons of textile waste ending up in landfills. Child labor and poor working conditions are also rampant in this industry.
New innovations and emerging technologies are paving the way to address these negative impacts and build sustainable solutions for the fashion industry. We explore and investigate different aspects of sustainability across the entire fashion supply chain – from production to consumption.
Colorado State University faculty and students collaborate with entities including Dhana, Inc. and Fibershed among others to advance fashion sustainability locally and regionally, and to share our research insights globally. Sonali Diddi is an affiliate faculty in the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, Regional Economic Development Institute, Food Systems Institute, and Institute for Entrepreneurship. She is also an Engaged Faculty Lead for the Office of Engagement and Extension.
Fashion Sustainability and Circularity
Emerging macro trends suggest that fashion brands will increasingly focus on circular design and processes to inform and contribute to fashion industry’s transformation toward circularity. Taking a systems approach, this research cluster actively collaborates with different partners (industry, NGOs, educators) exploring topics that drive forward an inclusive circular economy agenda related to the fashion industry. The first international Fashion and Circular Economy Symposium was organized at Colorado State University in 2023. It provides an exciting and creative platform to design transdisciplinary approaches that facilitate developing a robust teaching, research, and engagement agenda focused on Circular Economy. Read about the inaugural symposium.
