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Not far from Gothenburg, there is a real stronghold for those interested in textiles and fashion. We went on an excursion to the city of Borås with six designers - and learnt some exciting things along the way. A travelogue.
Borås, eine Industriestadt mit knapp 100.000 Einwohner*innen östlich von Göteborg, mag auf Vorbeireisende erst einmal unscheinbar wirken. Doch hat der Ort so manch prahlerischer Großstadt etwas voraus: In Sachen Mode und Textilien passiert hier echte Transformation. Stadt, Hochschulen und Industrie ziehen dafür beeindruckend reibungslos am gleichen Strang. Ein Vorbild für Hamburg – auch für unser FABRIC – Future Fashion Lab.
Gemeinsam mit der Schwedischen Botschaft in Berlin, der City of Borås und der University of Borås organisierte das Design Zentrum im April eine Exkursion in die Textilhochburg des Landes. Die Ziele: Infos und Wissen über nachhaltige und regionale Textilproduktion auszutauschen, schwedische Best-Practice-Beispiele einzusammeln, und Hamburger Nachwuchsdesigner*innen Einblicke in die innovativen Praktiken vor Ort zu ermöglichen.
Hier kommt ein kompakter Reisebericht aus vier hochspannenden Tagen in Borås – inklusive der vier wichtigsten Learnings.
Our first stop is Borås Town Hall, which leaves us speechless with its listed interior from the 1960s in timeless Scandinavian design. At the large meeting table, we talk to Mayor Ulf Olsson about how Borås has developed from a traditional textile centre to a global pioneer in sustainable production.
This success, which makes the city and its citizens noticeably proud, did not happen overnight or by itself, but through a lot of commitment from the industry, perseverance from the municipal administration and funding from the EU.
Also exciting: our tour of Boråstapeter. Everything happens here, from traditional printing to digital customisation. When it comes to pattern development, we are surprised at how many historical designs come from Germany - a sign of the close creative ties between the two countries.
We are particularly impressed by the Swedish School of Textiles at the university's Textile Fashion Centre, where industry and research work together on projects on circularity and sustainable textile solutions. In the university's textile workshops, we can hardly cease to be amazed. We walk through a 400 m² hall full of machines for digital and manual weaving, a studio with more than 50 state-of-the-art sewing stations and a huge photo studio for shooting the collections.
Of course, a specialised university has different resources available for workshops than when various design disciplines are united under one university roof. Nevertheless, we can't help but wish for this kind of dedication in Hamburg.
Also exciting: in the Smart Textile Showroom, we exchange ideas with the heads of the various departments. Topics such as international PhD programmes, funding opportunities for stays abroad and collaborations with industry can simply be discussed much more concretely on site.
Our third day is filled with factory visits to Swedish textile companies. We want to know what approaches to more sustainable production are being pursued here. In some cases, hesitant steps are being taken, for example at Gina Tricot. The fast fashion that is designed here at high speed is at least no longer allowed to end up in the rubbish bin, but is donated, ends up in international second-hand shops or is processed into insulation materials for the construction industry.
FOV, a manufacturer of high-quality outdoor yarns and fabrics, shows us what sustainability looks like as a lived priority. Production here was converted from "wet to dry" ten years ago. This means that all water-intensive processes - such as dyeing and other surface finishes - are now carried out using dry processes that reduce the use of water and chemicals.
Also exciting: our visit to the Textilmuseet. The museum on the campus of the textile university combines historical machines and iconic fashion design with current research into sustainable textile production.
Before our return journey, we are allowed to take a look at the small but excellent Syverket textile factory, which develops textile products for various clients with contract seamstresses, produces small series, implements collection changes and produces and distributes its collections for its own denim brand Jeansverket.
Maintaining a small manufactory in a constantly changing market requires inventiveness and adaptability. Syverket masters this with a great deal of creativity - and at the same time maintains the ability to take a stand in a resource-intensive and sometimes wasteful industry.
Borås has deeply impressed and inspired us. The city is small, but thanks to the density of textile companies and the campus of the Swedish School of Textiles, it is a hotspot for textile innovation. It is an impressive example of how design universities, industry and the city council can revitalise a traditional industrial location with a spirit of innovation and determination.
The fact that the textile sector in Borås is at the forefront of the perception of industry and investors is of course also due to the limited size of the city. Such a monothematic focus is less easy to achieve in a large city like Hamburg with its diverse creative and industrial sectors.
Nevertheless, Borås offers important impulses for Hamburg, for example for our FABRIC - Future Fashion Lab. In particular, the intensive exchange between research, industry and creatives as well as the consistent promotion of sustainable fashion could be more firmly anchored here. The structures are in place - more determination is needed to make Hamburg a centre of innovation for fashion.
The excursion to Borås, Sweden was the start of our new Designers on Tour format. The designers Liesa Balzer (OMEN), Zena Lily Okra (Bonprix), Tahrim Zahid, Tanja Tummers (Buntastic Design Studio), Laura Dieckwisch and Svenja Lühr took part. The group was accompanied by Dorothe Wenzel (Dean, Faculty DMI) and Sabine Gärtner (Head of Weaving, HAW Hamburg).
Our sincere thanks go to Jonas Widerström, International Business Coordinator of the City of Borås. He organised the programme and acted as our local guide throughout our stay.
Photos: Ninu Dramis
