Call for Chapters: Futures Thinking, AI, and Sustainable Transitions in Fashion Education

Editors

Clara Fernandes, LASALLE College of the Arts, Portugal

Call for Chapters

Proposals Submission Deadline: July 19, 2026
 Full Chapters Due: November 1, 2026
 Submission Date: November 1, 2026

Introduction

The fashion industry is experiencing a period of unprecedented, simultaneous disruption. The widespread adoption of generative artificial intelligence in creative processes, increasing regulatory and consumer demands for sustainability and circularity, the fragmentation of traditional retail due to digital-first models, and geopolitical instability affecting global supply chains are not isolated events. Rather, these are interconnected forces advancing more rapidly than current educational frameworks can accommodate. Fashion education has predominantly addressed these challenges in isolation, focusing on training students in specific tools, regulatory requirements, or trend cycles. This approach does not sufficiently develop the intellectual capacity required to navigate ongoing uncertainty. The field requires a fundamental transformation in how it prepares students and academics to anticipate, reason across, and actively influence potential futures. This edited volume, Futures Thinking, AI, and Sustainable Transitions in Fashion Education, utilises insights from futures studies, particularly the concept of 'futures literacy' as developed by the UNESCO Futures Literacy programme and advanced by scholars such as Riel Miller. The volume proposes a comprehensive pedagogical and research framework for the next decade of fashion education. In this context, futures literacy is defined not as futurology or trend forecasting, but as the ability to engage with the future in diverse and intentional ways: to question assumptions, explore possibilities, and act with increased agency in the present. The volume will convene scholars and practitioners from design research, futures studies, education, sustainability, cultural theory, and the creative industries to address the most pressing future-oriented challenges in fashion. Topics will include algorithmic aesthetics, AI authorship, circular economies, post-growth design, decolonial pedagogy, and inclusive practice. The central inquiry concerns which thinking frameworks, research methodologies, and curricular strategies are necessary to engage meaningfully with each area. Contributors will be invited to submit chapters that are theoretically robust, pedagogically focused, and responsive to the transformations affecting both the fashion industry and the educational institutions preparing its future professionals.

Objective

This volume seeks to achieve the following objectives: - Establish futures literacy as a unifying pedagogical framework for fashion education by synthesising perspectives from design research, futures studies, sustainability, and cultural theory into a coherent intellectual foundation for curriculum and program development. - Address a critical gap in the scholarly literature: although existing research examines AI in fashion and fashion sustainability separately, no edited volume currently integrates futures-oriented thinking across these domains within a unified pedagogical framework. - Equip fashion educators and curriculum developers with transferable conceptual tools, practical methodologies, and case studies for redesigning courses, modules, and programs in response to systemic uncertainty. - Advance transdisciplinary research at the intersection of fashion studies, design pedagogy, futures studies, AI ethics, and sustainability science by providing researchers with a reference text that bridges these fields. - Support industry strategists, innovation consultants, and design practitioners by providing a scholarly foundation for strategic foresight and futures-informed design practice. - Contribute to institutional and policy discussions regarding accreditation, program design, and the future readiness of higher education in the creative and cultural industries.

Target Audience

This book is intended to serve multiple communities across academia, education, and industry engaged in navigating the futures of fashion: - Fashion design and fashion studies academics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels who seek theoretically grounded frameworks for understanding and responding to systemic disruption. - Design educators and curriculum developers at higher education institutions globally who are redesigning programmes and seeking a coherent intellectual foundation for futures-oriented teaching. - Researchers in design studies, futures studies, education, and sustainability who require a transdisciplinary reference that bridges their fields with fashion-specific contexts. - Students in fashion, design, and creative industries programmes looking for scholarly frameworks that connect their practice to broader societal, technological, and environmental futures. - Fashion industry strategists, innovation consultants, and design practitioners seeking scholarly grounding for strategic foresight, scenario planning, and futures-informed design leadership. - Policymakers and institutional leaders in creative and cultural education engaged in curriculum reform, accreditation, and institutional futures planning.

Recommended Topics

The volume is structured across four thematic parts. Chapter proposals are welcome on, but not limited to, the following topics: Part I. Frameworks for Uncertainty: Futures Literacy as Pedagogy - Futures literacy as a conceptual and pedagogical framework for fashion and design education - The UNESCO Futures Literacy programme and its application to creative disciplines - Speculative and critical design as pedagogical modes in fashion schools - Scenario planning methods and anticipatory thinking in design studio practice - Systems thinking approaches for fashion curriculum design and complexity - Foresight methodologies adapted for creative and cultural education contexts Part II. The AI Horizon: Algorithms, Aesthetics, and Authorship - Generative AI in fashion education: tool adoption, pedagogical implications, and paradigm shift - Algorithmic aesthetics, creative authorship, and the future of design literacy - Environmental and ethical dimensions of AI adoption in the fashion industry - Intellectual property, authorship, and legal futures for AI-assisted fashion design - AI and the transformation of design workflows, research practices, and creative identity - Critical approaches to data, bias, and representation in AI-generated fashion Part III. The Sustainability Horizon: Circular Economies and Post-Growth Design - Post-growth and degrowth frameworks for fashion education and design practice - Circular pedagogy, with teaching circularity as a design logic rather than a marketing tool - Material futures: biomaterials, smart textiles, and teaching emergent material practice - Slow fashion, repair culture, and the ethics of making in design curricula - Sustainability transitions, regulatory futures, and their implications for fashion education - Life cycle thinking, environmental accountability, and responsible design pedagogy Part IV. The Cultural and Social Horizon: Identity, Inclusion, and Decolonial Futures - Decolonising fashion futures, whose imaginations are centred in education and research - Disability, accessibility, and inclusive fashion design education - Creative entrepreneurship as futures practice: the designer as futures agent - Building futures literacy into accreditation and institutional programme strategy - Fashion identity, cultural heritage, and the politics of futures-oriented design - Gender, embodiment, and social justice in future fashion education frameworks

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before July 19, 2026, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors will be notified by August 2, 2026 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines.Full chapters of a minimum of 10,000 words (word count includes references and related readings) are expected to be submitted by November 1, 2026, and all interested authors must consult the guidelines for manuscript submissions at https://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/ prior to submission. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-anonymized review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication, Futures Thinking, AI, and Sustainable Transitions in Fashion Education. All manuscripts are accepted based on a double-anonymized peer review editorial process.

All proposals should be submitted through the eEditorial Discovery® online submission manager.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global Scientific Publishing, an international academic publisher of the "Information Science Reference", "Medical Information Science Reference", "Business Science Reference", and "Engineering Science Reference" imprints. IGI Global Scientific Publishing specializes in publishing reference books, scholarly journals, and electronic databases featuring academic research on a variety of innovative topic areas including, but not limited to, education, social science, medicine and healthcare, business and management, information science and technology, engineering, public administration, library and information science, media and communication studies, and environmental science. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit https://www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2027.

Indexing Information for Prospective Authors

IGI Global Scientific Publishing meets the criteria for inclusion in major indexing services such as Scopus; however, it is important to note that all indexing decisions are made independently by these services. IGI Global Scientific Publishing books are selectively indexed by the indexing organization after publication. Indexing cannot be guaranteed for any book prior to publication, and the indexing organization has complete control over the final selection and timeline.

Important Dates

July 19, 2026: Proposal Submission Deadline
August 2, 2026: Notification of Acceptance
November 1, 2026: Full Chapter Submission
January 3, 2027: Review Results Returned
February 14, 2027: Final Acceptance Notification
February 28, 2027: Final Chapter Submission

Inquiries

Clara E. Fernandes
LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore, UNIDCOM/IADE Research Centre
fernandes.clara1@gmail.com
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