Takoradi Technical University’s Fashion Design and Technology Department in partnership with the International Programmes and External Linkages Office, IPELO, has collaborated with Akademie Mode and Design, AMD, the Department of Design at Fresenius University in Germany, and the Social Entrepreneurship Hub, SE-Hub, to launch a Sustainable Development Project.
This Sustainable Development Project seeks to train and economically empower students in the Department of Fashion Design and Technology on ways to provide solutions to the environmental damage caused by the fashion industry through innovating items that can be reused, repaired, and recycled.
Speaking at the launch, the Pro Vice Chancellor of TTU, Prof. Victor Kwaku Bondzie Micah, while commending all the stakeholders working on the project, expressed the University’s willingness to support the project.
“There are challenges that we need to solve through sustainability, especially the environment, which is facing its own challenges because of human actions. I think it’s a good project, and as a University, we will do all we can to support the students, the Department, and the Faculty to be part of this and make sure they do the right thing. We want them to take on the challenge of what they can do and how best they can protect the environment from textile waste,” he said.
Head of the Department of Fashion Design and Technology of TTU, Dr. Faustina Emefa Agordah, said the focus of this project is on the use of “carnival textiles,” popularly called “fancy dress,” which are traditional dresses worn by masquerading groups during the festive season in Ghana. These dresses she noted are typically worn for just that particular year and are not repeated in subsequent years due to their competitive nature.
“When disposed of; these dresses cause damage to the environment, as the materials used to make them often consist of layers of embellishments, some of which are not durable or biodegradable. Others cause problems to aquatic life when disposed of in water bodies,” she mentioned.
She emphasized that in the quest to solve this problem and ensure environmental sustainability, students should make use of these unwanted textiles or dresses to create something marketable and productive, such as bags, shoes, and other items that are imported.
An official from the Social Entrepreneurship Hub, Kwabena Obiri Yeboah, said the project will help reduce unemployment.
While providing insight into his organization as one that focuses on reusing and reproducing new products out of all unwanted textiles in Ghana, he encouraged students to make a living from these waste textiles by producing something valuable and marketable, thereby ensuring both economic opportunities and environmental sustainability.
The collaboration with Akademie Mode and Design (AMD), the Department of Design at Fresenius University of Germany, is aimed at exposing TTU fashion design students to additional skills in related fields and reproduction of waste textiles from German carnivals.
This launch will be followed by a July show featuring students from the Fashion Design and Technology Departments of both TTU and AMD in their respective countries.
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