By Kaley Roshitsh

NEW YORK—“Sustainability” is out and “ecology” is in, so to speak.

“We do not want to sustain. We want to grow, to evolve, to adapt,” said Neri Oxman, a designer, architect, inventor and associate professor at MIT Media Lab who along with earning a PhD in design computation also earned her keep at the Museum of Modern Art, with her work being included in permanent collections in the museum. She focuses on digital fabrication, materials science and synthetic biology applied at scale and across disciplines — including fashion design.

The fashion industry is increasing its awareness, intention and interaction with academia in an ongoing quest for newness and innovative solutions that redefine sustainability.