Daniëlle Bruggeman: system change starts with cooperation

In the interview below with FashionUnited, Daniëlle Bruggeman argues for a fundamental overhaul of the current fashion system. Instead of focusing on production and consumption, she emphasises the importance of care, repair and multiple ways of experiencing fashion. The article also cites the new Care & Repair project, in which MilieuCentraal, ClickNL, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, designers and retailers are participating, among others. This project focuses on the value of care and repair of clothes – from producer to wearer.

Daniëlle Bruggeman: system change starts with collaboration
24 April 2025, Fashion United
By Susan Zijp
Photo: ArtEZ University of the Arts

Traditionally, fashion companies design and sell their clothes domestically, but produce them in low-wage countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia or Myanmar. This way of working has been around since the 1960s and became especially popular in the 1990s. The aim: to produce as cheaply as possible. The collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh on 24 April 2013, considered the deadliest disaster in the fashion industry, made it clear that outsourcing is not just about cost efficiency. This way of working is not only about cost efficiency, but also places problems – such as poor working conditions – out of sight

The industrial fashion system is based on outsourcing with overproduction as the default. In 2020, during the corona pandemic, this seemed to change for a while. Designers and industry leaders signed an open letter to change the way things work. The fashion industry seemed to be highly questioning the fashion system. However, this phase, characterised by smaller fashion calendars and less redundant production, was short-lived.

Yet systemic change is possible, argues cultural scientist Daniëlle Bruggeman. FashionUnited speaks to Bruggeman about responsible fashion entrepreneurship. She gave her oration at Radboud University Nijmegen on 20 March 2025 , entitled Stitches of Care: Practising Solidarity through Fashion, following her appointment as professor of Fashion and Sustainability in April 2024. Together with ArtEZ University of the Arts and Radboud University, she is exploring the possibilities of approaching fashion and sustainability from both art and science. According to Bruggeman, entrepreneurs in the sector can already contribute to a more sustainable fashion system in the short term.

Read the full interview on FashionUnited >>