• 1. Sustainability is a data discipline: if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it, and EU law (ESPR, DPP, EPR) now requires exactly that.
  • 2. Start at the design table: up to 80% of a product’s impact is defined before production, digital design and virtual prototyping are the most effective levers you have.
  • 3. Produce after the sale: on-demand manufacturing, digital printing and 3D knitting remove the costs that made overproduction necessary.
  • 4. Let data guide you: demand forecasting and supply-chain optimisation cut unsold inventory by 15–25%, start with clean data, not expensive software.
  • 5. Measure with LCA, communicate with labels: use ISO 14040/44, PEFCR and EPDs, and remember that a label only answers the question it was designed to answer.
  • 6. Give products a voice: QR, RFID and the Digital Product Passport turn a garment into data that travels with it, enabling sorting, resale and recycling.
  • 7. Circularity is a portfolio of loops: rental, resale, repair and recycling, rebalance them as evidence accumulates (MUD Jeans lesson).
  • 8. The digitalisation ladder: design → prototype → produce → measure → trace → circular. You do not need to climb it all at once, start one rung up from where you are.
  • Next steps: this module connects to the other FashionKIC modules, Circular Design Strategies, Sustainable Materials and Processes, Digital Product Passports, and Sustainability Communication and Marketing. Together they form the FashionKIC knowledge base (D3.1).
Last modified: Wednesday, 9 September 2026, 9:52 PM