What’s in my Room?
What’s in My Room? is a conceptual event prototype developed by a student of the Polytechnic University of Leiria as part of the Events Management course. Designed for ModaLisboa, Portugal’s major fashion week, the project proposes an interactive installation aimed at raising awareness of the environmental and ethical impact of fast fashion.
The installation would guide visitors through the journey of a garment—from production and use to disposal and upcycling—using sensory, visual, and digital elements. Features include a “Clothing Route” with QR-linked stories and a “Sustainable Ideas Tree” where visitors can reflect and contribute ideas for change.
While not yet implemented, the concept demonstrates strong potential to promote more conscious consumer behaviour and could be transferred to fashion events, schools, or festivals. It supports SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) by fostering public engagement with sustainability through creative, experiential learning.
Challenge
The project addresses the growing environmental and social impact of fast fashion. Many consumers remain unaware of the lifecycle of the clothes they buy and the broader consequences of mass production and overconsumption—ranging from water pollution and textile waste to poor labour conditions in garment factories. Fast fashion has evolved the way we consume fashion. This term expresses the rapid creation of new collections launched weekly by large textile companies at affordable prices, fueling the desire to buy. This mass production is allied to a bigger problem, which is the negative impact it has on the environment
Collections created through micro trends, just for the consumer to wear in a short space of time and discard. This has had irreversible effects on the planet and devalued labour. Each fast fashion item carries a significant footprint throughout its life cycle. From production, which uses huge amounts of water, energy and chemicals, to disposal, which often ends up in landfill, the true cost of these clothes goes beyond the price we pay. It is estimated that the textile industry is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, as well as polluting rivers and oceans with microplastics and chemical waste. At the same time, ethical issues also arise, with workers in developing countries subjected to exploitative conditions and precarious wages to support the demand for cheap and abundant garments.
What’s in My Room? responds to this challenge by proposing an immersive, educational installation that makes the hidden realities of fashion visible and tangible. It seeks to engage fashion-conscious audiences in a reflective experience that promotes upcycling, ethical awareness, and more responsible consumption choices.
Target Groups:
People interested in fashion and Assistance of ModaLisboa show.
Solution
Rethinking our consumption and supporting ethical practices are fundamental steps towards transforming fashion into a force for positive impact, for people and for the planet. After all, the footprint of our clothes should tell a story of respect and balance, not exploitation and waste.
The solution is a creative installation with several rooms showing how clothes are created, various fabrics used, their disposal and their reuse.
- Interactive ‘Clothing Route’: A timeline that allows participants to follow the life cycle of a garment, with QR codes for multimedia content.
- Sustainable Ideas Tree: An art installation where participants can hang suggestions for more conscious fashion practices.
What’s in my room?” is an interactive installation that invites participants to explore the life cycle of a garment, from its creation to its disposal and reinvention. Through a visual and sensory narrative, the experience aims to make the public aware of the impacts of fast fashion, while presenting sustainable alternatives such as upcycling and the circular economy.
Innovation
ModaLisboa is one of the most important fashion events in Portugal. This multidisciplinary project focuses on promoting and developing fashion at a national level. Held in Lisbon since 1991 and with the support of Lisbon City Council, it has quickly become a landmark in the country’s cultural and fashion calendar, promoting emerging designers through fashion shows, conferences, workshops, mentoring and exhibitions, being a platform for national and international audiences and markets.
Its mission goes beyond a simple fashion show, it is the representation of a community, raising awareness of sustainability, inclusion and transparency, a safe space for Portuguese talent to gain recognition on the global stage.
Lisboa Fashion Week is the main project of the ModaLisboa Association, which takes place twice a year and presents autumn/winter and spring/summer collections. In addition to its fashion shows for Portuguese designers and international guests to show their collections, it also includes workshops and talks with discussions and educational sessions on current topics such as sustainability and technological innovation; exhibitions and installations; and LAB platforms, which are interactive spaces that explore art, fashion and design.
Impact
The concept of ‘upcycling’ is what inspired the creation of a project. Realizing that an apparently worthless item of clothing can be given a new lease of life through different creative processes and at the same time have such an impact on someone’s life is inspiring.
This project arises from the need to make people realize that what we already have but don’t use can be reinvented and revivified. Clothes were made to be worn, and there are no rules limiting how this should happen, and creativity is the tool that gives new life to garments, promoting more conscious and sustainable consumption.
ModaLisboa remains the ideal choice to present this project.
Feasibility and Transferability
This project is easy to implement in others fashion shows but could be implemented also in schools or other events such as music festivals as a way to get into more people and transform more lifestyles.
This student project is submitted through:
School of Tourism and Maritime Technology, Polytechnic University of Leiria