Workshop & conference: The Future of Living 2024 — Rethread the Needle
Rethread the Needle, the next edition of The Future of Living project, will take place in Brussels on December 6-8, 2024. At the invitation of the Polish Institute in Brussels, the event will be attended by Ewa Stepnowska, a fashion designer from Poland.
Textiles are one of the oldest technologies that allowed humans to protect themselves since the prehistoric times. Because it is omnipresent and has become so cheap, it is now discredited. Its production is underrated and invisibilized. Its overconsumption leads to an ecological, economic and social disaster. According to Fashion Revolution Annual Index, there is already enough textile produced to make clothes for 6 generations of the planet…
“The Future of Living — Rethread the needle” will readdress textile through contemporary practices, digital tools and machineries. Is there such a thing as “permacouture”? Can we create non-hegemonic narratives and new possible futures by reclaiming the knowledge from traditional methods of production?
Can we think of alternative production processes that meet our needs, while showing a true commitment with the great eco-social challenges that we are facing?
Experts from the EUNIC participating countries will help us approach some of these questions and 
contribute to the 4 following threads:
- Traditional crafts × digital
- Biomaterials
- Zero-waste & upcycling
- Clothing for healthcare
Green Fabric and iMAL offer a theoretical and practical program of four worksessions open to the public —on December 6th and 7th— that will take place in their respective fablabs. These four worksessions, led by several teams of artists and creators, will revolve around the four threads described above.
Ewa Stepnowska
A Warsaw-based designer specializing in clothing and textiles with a focus on thoughtful production.
A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, she interned at Marc Jacobs in New York. For the past 10 years, she has led Bodymaps (www.bodymaps.pl), a swimwear and accessories brand known for vintage-inspired designs, a wide size range, and an emphasis on quality fabrics, including regenerated nylons and exclusive materials developed in collaboration with local knitting shops.
Events programme
06-07.12.2024 – 09:30 -17:00
- Worksession traditional × digital crafts → experimenting with the fablab devices to revisit traditional crafts
- Worksession zero-waste / upcycling → Explore the optimization of material, transforming used materials
- Worksession e-textile / healthcare → How can textile and electronics help disabilities (human or non-human)
- Worksession biomaterials → Explore new sustainable materials, bioplastic, using waste material (with the participation of Ewa Stepnowska)
08.12.2024 – 10:00-17:00
Join the conference where we will explore how digital tools can revisit traditional crafts, how use of waste
– upcycling – and recycling is more eco-responsible, how electronic textiles can empower inclusivity, and how AI and virtual fashion can shape the future of design.
- 10:00–11:00 – Guided tour of “The Beginning and the End”
- 11:00–12:00 – Presentation of worksessions outcomes
- 13:30–14:00 – Welcome public for the talks, Introduction
- 14:00–14:20 – Anastasia Pistofidou: Presentation
- 14:20–14:40 – Flora Miranda: Presentation
- 15:00–15:20 – Julie Dítětová: Presentation
- 15:20–15:40 – Lavoslava Benčić: Presentation
- 15:40–17:00 – Round table on textile for healthcare with: Giulia Tomasello, Valentina Frunze & Petra Garajova
Workshop & conference: The Future of Living 2024 — Rethread the Needle
6 – 8 December, 2024
Green Fabric and iMAL fablabs
Brussels, Belgium
More info & RSVP: https://www.thefutureofliving.eu/
