Woven through Trust and Affect: Four Cases on Fashion Sustainability in Brazil

Abstract

This study investigates how fashion practitioners have approached sustainability in Brazil. Through the lens of culture—a recently emerging pillar of sustainability—we look into practices that hint plural approaches for the dominant western perspectives, especially in terms of its symbolic dimension and value systems. Cases of agroforestry, clothing upcycling, alternative leather production, as well as collaborative spaces and workshops will be briefly introduced and explored. Here, the notions of 'trust based relationship' and 'affect' emerge as key elements in the development of more sustainable practices in the field of fashion. By introducing Brazilian cases from a cultural perspective, this chapter contributes to the sustainability discussion. This further expands the discussion of decolonizing design and proposes a possible direction to decolonize fashion. It concludes with reflections on how western and non-western societies can benefit from added dimensions in the sustainability discourse.