Submitted by Dr. Rachel Gatz-Salomon & David Wexler, Department of Fashion Design
Studio “White Repair” is a sustainable fashion course launching in Semester B of the current academic year (2025/26), engaging ~20 second-year fashion students. The course explores historical and cross-cultural textile repair techniques, emphasizing reuse of “textile waste” and unwanted garments. Students will creatively apply traditional and innovative methods to develop fully recycled outfits, while collaborating with a local fashion brand donating surplus or defective garments. The project aims to reduce textile waste, promote sustainable consumption, and raise public awareness through a final fashion show and exhibition, impacting students, the brand, and hundreds of attendees, with potential for wider community and industry engagement.
This project was selected as part of the University’s 2024 Call for Impact Projects, launched by the Division of Innovation & Sustainability to promote research and educational initiatives with significant social and environmental impact. Following a highly competitive selection process, each awarded project received ₪50,000 for a 24-month period to support interdisciplinary collaboration and translate academic knowledge into real-world outcomes.