Painting a Picture of Dorian Gray in Fashion Education

This chapter begins with a reference to Oscar Wilde’s literature and The Picture of Dorian Gray, building a connection between the unethical fictional character from the novel and the realistically unethical fashion industry. The chapter contemplates on how ethics, which include sustainability, should be embedded in fashion education and reviews the slow development of appropriate literature and educational provision for the field. Three action-based approaches that the author has developed and implemented are presented as a possible solution: the “Better Lives” module, pioneered by London College of Fashion, and two new theoretical frameworks that were developed as part of three new books by the author called “The Triple A Approach to Ethical Activism” and “The Fashion Carousel with Ethical Considerations”. The module and frameworks are designed to adjust teaching and learning, equipping students and their lecturers with adequate sustainable education. The chapter concludes that this is a small contribution to a field that needs to do much more for ethics and sustainability to be properly integrated.