Event Spotlight — Fast Fashion Mini Hackathon

The Fast Fashion Mini-Hackathon, a 1-day virtual event on March 13 hosted by student leaders from Smith college, sought to tackle and raise awareness about the detrimental effects that the fast fashion industry has on our environment.

Earth Hacks @ Smith recently put on a mini-hackathon — so called because of its much shorter run time compared to traditional hackathons — focused on the environmental and social impacts of the fast fashion industry. The event took place on March 13, 2021, and sought to tackle and raise awareness about the detrimental effects that the fast fashion industry has in various sectors. The purpose of the hackathon was to create a space which inspired participants to take action through brainstorming and ideation.

With guest speakers like Boris LeMontagner from the United Nations Environment Programme, Najah Onn, environmental engineer and editor of sustainable fashion blog Fashinfidelity; and the editor for Citrus — Smith College’s first fashion magazine — facilitated discussions around the problematic history of fashion arose, and also explored the intersection of fashion, race, and class as a way to demonstrate how certain communities have been harmed by the textile industry’s waste and excess.

The organizers focused on one challenge track, tasking participants with addressing the effects of the fast fashion crisis through any medium they saw fit (policy plans, apps, educational campaigns, data viz, etc). Although it was a smaller-sized event, over 100 students registered and the attendees represented 3 continents. The organizing team shared,

“We are proud of our ability to pull off a virtual event during a global pandemic with a small team and no funding. We are also proud of our ability to source such amazing speakers and mentors with diverse knowledge areas. Lastly, we are proud that we made this hackathon feel welcoming and inviting to all regardless of skill set or background. All that was needed to join was an interest in solving the fast fashion crisis, which is an issue that’s particularly important to the younger generation specifically today.”

They look forward to planning more events that are not only a full 48-hours, but also are held in-person!