7. Lessons from Vietnam: Culture, Craft and Footwear's Place in Sustainable and Regenerative Fashion Research

Overview: In this episode, Dr Alexandra Sherlock debriefs Dr Emily Brayshaw on her recent attendance at the 28th Annual IFFTI (International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes) Conference, hosted by RMIT University's Vietnam Campus in Ho Chi Minh City. The conference theme, ‘Cultural Connections for Sustainable Fashion Futures: Rebuild, Renew and Regenerate’, drew Alex to Vietnam with a clear purpose: to put footwear on the radar of fashion sustainability researchers, and to ask what the field's most progressive thinking means for an industry that has long been left out of the conversation. Alex shares insights from key conference papers, translates their themes for a footwear audience, reflects on a visit to a Vietnamese footwear factory, and makes the case for culture as the essential foundation of any genuinely sustainable fashion future. Credits:Presenters: Dr Alexandra Sherlock and Dr Emily BrayshawEdited and produced by: Dr Alexandra SherlockPhotographs and images: Credits in captions Chapters:[00:00] - Show Intro[00:47] - Acknowledgements and Corrections[05:22] - Vietnam and IFFTI: Cultural Connections for Sustainable Fashion Futures - Rebuild, Renew and Regenerate[08:23] - Footwear: The Blind Spot in Fashion Research [14:41] - School Uniforms and Permaculture[20:31] - School Uniforms, Government Funding and Repair Economies[25:55] - Inside a Vietnamese Shoe Factory[31:12] - Digital Product Passports, Blockchain and Storytelling[36:43] - Taming, Rewilding and the Capitalist Co-Option Problem[40:30] - Boro, Kintsugi and the Repair as Ritual[51:13] - Waste Not Want Not[56:01] - The Evolving Role of Higher Education[59:13] - Culture as the Fourth Pillar of SustainabilityAll links, images and verified transcripts at the Footwear Research Networkwww.footwearresearchnetwork.org