Slow Factory is opening a climate school in Sunset Park, Brooklyn as part of an upcoming fashion manufacturing hub. Known as the Garment Hub, the space will serve to create jobs and expand workforce training in the fields of fashion design, garment production and other related businesses.
The new facility will house the organization’s Open Edu program, which provides a holistic curriculum encompassing climate-positive design, justice and solutions. Dubbed the Slow Factory Institute, the school also acts as a lab where it upcycles clothes and grows new materials. “This school presents a revolutionary opportunity to offer a pragmatic, future-oriented curriculum,” Céline Semaan, the brand’s executive director, says in a statement. “We are working diligently to fill a critical educational gap that focuses on climate justice and human rights, while creating a community hub for knowledge sharing, education and skills training,” she adds.
Participants in the program will work with 10,000 pounds of textile waste delivered to the institute via Slow Factory’s brand partners. Residents of Sunset Park will also have unmitigated access to all events, including skill-focused sustainability workshops and climate adaptation events catered to the youth.
