Contemporary clothing manufacturing, purchasing and consumption models have made the fashion industry the second most polluting industrial sector. This contribution aims at analysing promising technologies, methodologies and practices that are tackling environmental sustainability issues related to the fast-fashion industry. The contribution analyses how, leveraging on technology innovation, the combination of tangible processes, such as the selection of production means and materials, and intangible practices, such as digital fashion, designers can contribute to the sustainable transition of the fast-fashion sector mediating between customer expectations, production economy constrains and environmental sustainability.

The article presents a proposal for a multidisciplinary and multistakeholder learning and collaborative model that connects the worlds of business and academia through the presentation of an experimentation. The model is presented through an experimentation of uniform design, led by University of Bologna, commissioned by the railway company Trenitalia Tper, and in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Milan. The project aimed to dress the staff of the company by involving students and faculty from the two schools of fashion, product, and service courses with local businesses. The experimentation presented here aims to highlight the ways in which a learning model involving professionals from the world of research and industrial production can enable the elaboration of outputs in line with the current challenges of the contemporary fashion system. The experimentation, along with the proposed method and model, aims at testing and verifying the relevance of the so-called collective intelligence in design-driven innovation processes, particularly those of ‘open innovation’. The proposed experiment confirms the relationship between collective intelligence, as a result of the combined knowledge and expertise of a diverse group, and innovation readiness in enterprises. In this light, a model is presented that, through co-design processes, can propose new strategies for an industry transformation, in a challenging application theme such as technical clothing and uniforms, where what is worn is loaded with values and symbols in society.

This article points out strategies for designers to reduce the generation of pre- and post-consumer waste in the textile industry by focusing on the aspects of seamlessness, mono-materiality and mechanical recyclability. It further presents “Trouser prototype 1”, a proposal for a seamless, mono-material and fully recyclable garment that uses knit/weave hybrids and innovative fastening systems and that arose from an international and interdisciplinary design collaboration.

The transition toward a post-plastic era challenges designers to develop strategies for the responsible use of polymeric materials within circular models. This study explores how design can support this shift by identifying practical actions and key competencies. Using an integrated approach that combines literature review with the mapping of 100 case studies, four areas of intervention are defined: user awareness, material characterization, circular manufacturing, and life cycle anticipation. The result is a set of systemic and anticipatory design practices. They serve as actionable guidance for designers and stakeholders navigating the transition. Rather than promoting continuous polymer use, the study supports critical, informed approaches to applying circular polymers and phasing out fossil-based plastics.

This article examines the central role of materials in shaping circular design practices and guiding sustainable transitions. Framed within the intersections of Transition Design, Advanced Design, and Circular Design, materials are considered not as passive inputs but as co-evolving actors that influence processes, supply chains, and cultural imaginaries. Through theoretical analysis and case studies, the article highlights how innovative approaches to material design can regenerate resources, enhance transparency through digital and AI-based technologies, enable collaborative supply chains, and foster new aesthetic and ethical values. By addressing materials as agents of change, design is positioned as a catalyst for systemic and cultural transformation in the face of current environmental and social crises. From this perspective, four operational implications emerge for design, outlining an integrated framework for action. As an introductory contribution to the Open Debate section of diid on design and materials, the article sets the stage for further reflections and discussions on the experimental trajectories shaping contemporary design cultures.