TextileLab Amsterdam is a creative research lab, experimenting with the future of textiles, craftsmanship, technology, digital fabrication and biology towards more sustainable alternatives.
How?
The lab researches, questions and speculates how we can foster transition and innovation in the textile, clothing and material fields towards a more sustainable, collaborative and values-driven approach. Through a holistic modus-operandi the lab looks at the realms of materials, tools, processes, culture and systems, using these as entry points to observe the textile field and explores how these are interrelated.
The research always has a collaborative and value driven nature, where findings are shared in a fully open source fashion to create knowledge exchange and foster collaboration with a range of diverse stakeholders. Circular economy, sustainable value flows and networks, as well as material research and innovation are at the core of the TextileLab operations, going hand in hand with exploring hands-on alternatives for design, fabrication and production.
Core research practices happen through research projects, ranging from local to national and international nature, always departing from a collaborative approach. It’s through the work in these projects that deep innovation happens at the intersection of textiles, materials, biology and digital fabrication.
Finally, this wide range of operations and outcomes all feed into educational innovation, open source knowledge sharing practices that support change in the field at a variety of different levels of knowledge, profession and age. In the annual professionalisation programme Fabricademy, the knowledge created is transferred to participants of all ages, that may join for the full 6 months journey, a week or a month of the programme.
