Complete overview of events and free tickets.
From October 9 to 13 it is time for the eleventh edition of Dutch Sustainable Fashion Week (DSFW). With an extensive programme, DSFW Rotterdam pays tribute to the innovative, diverse, enterprising and creative character that has made the city great.
During DSFW, Rotterdam shows its most sustainable and fashionable side, with contributions from designers, artists and organizations from all over the city. The aim of the versatile programme is to put sustainable fashion in Rotterdam on the map and to make local makers who contribute to this more visible.
The theme of DSFW 2024, #worn30times, is a call to wear clothes more often before buying something new. Research shows that we only wear a third of our wardrobe. This immediately makes an important point: making the fashion industry more sustainable starts with ourselves. By purchasing more consciously and handling our clothing more carefully, we can drastically reduce our collective environmental impact. DSFW Rotterdam puts circular concepts in the spotlight, such as repair cafés and green shopping streets, that contribute to a longer life for clothing. Rotterdam designers show with surprising designs that fashion can be much more than a disposable product.
Prior to DSFW Rotterdam, there is already a lot of sustainable things to see and do in the city. For example, there is an exhibition about emerging sustainable fashion designers in Rotterdam, on display from August 8 to October 8 in De Goot exhibition space, in the middle of the Koopgoot.
The official programme for the public starts on October 9 with a Fashion March through the city centre, in which sustainable fashion entrepreneurs from the city make a statement about the necessary change in the fashion industry. Anyone who dares can join.
After this kick-off it is time for the programme throughout the city, with fashion shows, workshops and exhibitions in shops, studios and public spaces. A selection from the programme: Earth Bride organizes embroidery workshops, accompanied by live classical music, at iconic Rotterdam locations such as the cactus greenhouse of Trompenburg. The Zeefdrukcafé invites you to 'joyfully protest' against fast fashion with a pop-up workshop that travels through the city. The Willem de Kooning Academy organizes a special evening about the reuse of discarded textiles, and the Zadkine Beauty & Design Lab temporarily opens its doors for the 'upcycling' project Microfactory meets Milan. 3D fashion and textile designer Marlou Linders gives a lecture on digital fashion, and in the innovative BlueCity centre, environmentally friendly paints are literally examined.
The workshops are extremely diverse: from vinyl printing to making knotweed with the traditional Dutch material flax. Did you know that participation is completely free? For some parts you just need to reserve a spot. Do so via the button below!
DSFW first opens in Amsterdam on October 8, with a presentation by knighted fashion designer and artist, Sepehr Maghsoudi. Various programmes will then start in 'Experience Centers' throughout the country: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Enschede, Almere, Lelystad, Arnhem, Den Bosch, Groningen and Haarlem each give their own interpretation to the theme #worn30times, inspired by local talent. In this way, DSFW forms an important sustainable counterpart to the traditional, unsustainable fashion weeks in cities such as Paris and New York in September.
See you there?!
