Source Material: Lessons in Responsible Fashion
At a moment when the environmental toll of fast fashion feels impossible to ignore, Source Material: Lessons in Responsible Fashion, on now at the George Washington Textile Museum until 11 April 2026, offers a thoughtful, historically grounded counterpoint. The exhibition pairs historic garments with contemporary innovations to explore how makers past and present have grappled with scarcity, waste and the responsible use of materials.
Piña blouse, Philippines, 19th century. The Textile Museum Collection 1996.18.14A-C. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. George W. White.
Curator Katrina Orsini structures the exhibition around three key strategies: extending the life of garments, encouraging recycling and reuse, and embracing fibres sourced from the immediate environment. In doing so, she highlights a truth long understood across cultures — that textiles are precious, resource-intensive and worthy of care. From the museum’s own collection, visitors encounter a 19th-century Japanese child’s kimono ingeniously pleated to expand as its wearer grew, a Central Asian patchwork assembled from worn garments, and an airy Filipino blouse made from pineapple fibre — a material extracted from agricultural waste.
Charlotte McCurdy algae-based bioplastic raincoat.
These historical examples are placed in conversation with contemporary designers attempting to unravel the culture of disposability that underpins the modern fashion industry. Nkwo Onwuka’s Dakala Cloth™, woven from secondhand denim, sits alongside Charlotte McCurdy’s shimmering algae-based raincoat — a carbon-negative textile created from biopolymers found in fast-growing marine algae. Walid Al Damirji contributes a meticulously crafted coat assembled entirely from vintage materials, a reminder that reuse can be both luxurious and deeply individual.
Farmers Coat, Japan, second half 19th century. The Textile Museum Collection, 1986.12.1
The exhibition also nods to the global scale of the problem. One of its provocations stems from the clothing dumps of Chile’s Atacama Desert, where mountains of discarded garments accumulate in one of the driest places on earth. In response, designers and students showcase materials reclaimed from these waste streams: a sweatshirt pieced from offcuts that would otherwise be destroyed, and spools of rustica yarn spun from textiles salvaged from the desert.
By Walid, Georgina Coat, London, 2024.
Orsini’s exhibition draws inspiration from her undergraduate course Responsible Fashion, part of GW’s sustainability minor. Contributions from her students, including an interactive map tracing the origins of unusual fibres, underline the show’s educational spirit. Visitors are invited to continue their learning with the museum’s Rethink Fashion guide, an accessible resource for anyone wishing to shop, mend or make more responsibly.
While some newer materials may not yet rival the aesthetic refinement of historical textiles, Source Material suggests that innovation and tradition need not stand apart. Instead, by looking back to longstanding practices of thrift, ingenuity and respect for natural resources, today’s designers may chart a more sustainable — and ultimately more beautiful — path forward.
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Further Information:
Source Material: Lessons in Responsible Fashion, is on now at the George Washington Textile Museum until 11 April 2026
George Washington Textile Museum
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Image Credits:
Lead: Hanging (Detail), Central Asia, Afghanistan, 1900-1970. The Textile Museum Collection 1995.2.1. Gift of James W. Lankton.
All further images as credited in image captions.