Melenie is an innovation enthusiast and wants to transform the fashion industry into a circular system based on algorithmic innovation. In dedication to responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), she is developing with the AI Design Competence Collective a sustainability self-assessment tool for AI fashion actors to reflecting on their customer data collection and adapt them for the SDGs. As co-founder of The Stitch, Melenie’s work focuses on the fashion industry’s intersection of design, education and sustainability, and show citizens how to be consum’activists.
Lilian is a purpose-oriented sustainability advocate guided by empathy and creative solution-finding within the fashion industry. She investigates washing practices and their environmental impact to develop a model for sustainable fashion actors that conducts customer education on textile care. As The Stitch’s co-founder, Lilian focuses on the connection of fashion, sustainability and production. Being responsible for curating sustainable fashion, she carefully collects value-based brands in line with aesthetics and responsibility towards the planet and people.
How did the Creative Matterz Fund help you realize your project?
Through the support of the Creative Matterz Fund, we have been able to communicate our information on sustainability and fashion with the necessary design tools and imagery. This has enabled us, among other benefits, to relaunch our homepage where we can share our projects, posts and link lists with our community in a more interactive way. So feel free to visit us. We are already very excited to find you there and exchange ideas and thoughts.
Who were your mentors?
Together with Cherie Birkner and Beagy Zielinski, we developed new ideas and ways to reach more citizens with our message. The exchange was a lot of fun and gave us diverse perspectives on our project, which greatly enriched our work.
What learnings did you have?
Through the Sustainability Beginner’s Guide, we have learned how important it is to exchange ideas with different groups of people to move forward in sustainability in fashion. This project and the overwhelmingly positive feedback have led us to continue the Sustainability Beginner’s Guide as a series on our homepage and Instagram. In addition, we have noticed that there is still a great interest in learning new content on this topic.
What is your vision for the future?
Our vision is a better tomorrow in which we have collectively managed to transform the fashion industry from a linear to a circular system that enriches both the people in its value chain and the planet. That is why we believe that only based on partnerships can we achieve this goal.
How can one best support you?
To achieve our shared vision, we are always looking for passionate collaborations, new team members and long-term partnerships.
