On December 4, 2025, a workshop was held at the Kyiv National University of Technology and Design as part of the implementation of the project "SusWearTex: Baltic Neighbourhood Cooperation in Sustainable Workwear Initiatives - Driving Recycled Fiber Excellence in Workwear Textiles". The event aimed to identify the problems and prospects for sustainable development in the textile industry, in particular in the production of workwear, and brought together practitioners in the textile industry, scientists from the Faculty of Design, graduate students, and project implementers.

The event was moderated by PhD, Associate Professor Lyudmila Melnyk, coordinator of the SusWearTex project, and Dean of the Faculty of Design, Doctor of Engineering, Professor Kalyna Pashkevych.

The event was joined by Bohdan Kass, designer, entrepreneur, founder of the KASS brand, owner of the Factory KASS clothing production (Kyiv); Tetiana Pushkarova, Development Manager of the company Re:inventex; Kateryna Marchenko, sales manager, company "Reklamnyi Tekstil"; Iryna Makhinko-Dumih, director of brand clothing studio "І-CHEF by Irina Makhinko" (Kyiv); Hanna Suvorkina, technologist-designer and Mila Ogly, designer of the clothing production "Veteranka" (Kyiv); Sofiia Nikolayenko, designer of Ukrainian brand of the anatomical clothing MAN’s SET (Odessa); Alena Kravchenko, designer-constructor, sewing enterprise "DANA-MODA" (Kyiv); Olegoslav Serbin, fashion designer, specialist in the field of replication and quality control of designer clothing, fashion brand FROLOV; Nataliia Chuprina, Doctor of Arts, Professor, Head of the Department of Art and Fashion Design, KNUTD; Olga Yezhova, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Professor of the Department of Graphic Design of KNUTD; Olena Gerasymenko, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Art and Fashion Design, KNUTD; Iryna Davydenko, Associate Professor of the Department of Art and Fashion Design, KNUTD; Galyna Kokorina, PhD, Associate Professor of the Department of Art and Fashion Design KNUTD; Maryna Yatsenko, PhD, Associate Professor of the Department of of Art and Fashion Design, KNUTD; Nadiia Lyuklian and Anastasiia Yukhymchuk, postgraduate students of the Department of Art and Fashion Design, KNUTD.

The Dean of the Faculty of Design Kalyna Pashkevych presented the participants and gave a welcoming speech to the workshop.

Lyudmila Melnyk presented the main stages, goals and prospects of the project "SusWearTex: Baltic Neighbourhood Cooperation in Sustainable Workwear Initiatives - Driving Recycled Fiber Excellence in Workwear Textiles".

The topic of the meeting sparked a lively discussion among the participants of the event. Bohdan Kass emphasized the importance of the topic of the work and the need to popularize such initiatives. These are modern trends that many consumers will join. He spoke about his experience using recycled materials, emphasizing their limited range and narrow circle of foreign suppliers.

Olegoslav Serbin's experience using recycled materials in knitwear demonstrated the need for specific production processes. Today, the company uses zero-waste product design, but it is impossible to completely eliminate waste, so the issue of recycling is important.

Sofiia Nikolaienko also emphasized the potential for reducing waste through efficient cutting and shared her experience working at an international facility where synthetic waste was recycled for reuse. Kateryna Marchenko confirmed the trend of significant volumes of workwear on the Ukrainian market and the need to develop recycling infrastructure. She also noted that the main way to reduce overproduction of workwear in Ukraine today is through minor renovation and the use of leftover materials for the production of experimental products.

Tetiana Pushkarova emphasized the relevance of this topic, particularly for Ukraine, and shared her own experience working at a textile waste recycling facility. She expressed hope for further development in this area, with the potential for recycling waste into textile materials.

Mila Ogly spoke about her experience with responsible design using used clothing and waste, and the possibilities of combining craftsmanship with contemporary sustainable development.

The results of the discussion of the current topic of recycling textile production residues will become a strategic direction for further research and implementation stages of the "SusWearTex" project.

The workshop organizers are sincerely grateful to all participants for their participation, opinions, practical experience, and collaboration!

08.12.2025