A special session titled ‘Fashion economies in transition: urban and place-based dynamics’ will take place during the 2026 Annual Conference of the Regional Studies Association in Gothenburg, Sweden. Organised by the Horizon Europe-funded projects FABRIX and CRAFT-IT4SD, the session will explore how ongoing sustainability, digitalisation, and circular economy transitions are reshaping fashion and textile industries across different urban and regional contexts. The discussion aims to bring together researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders working at the intersection of regional development, sustainability transitions, and textile ecosystems.  

The session will focus on the relationship between fashion economies and urban development, examining how cities and regions support, enable, and are transformed by changes in textile production, consumption, innovation, and circularity. Topics will include urban textile manufacturing systems, digitalisation and platform-based fashion economies, circular economy practices, collaborative consumption models, labour and migration dynamics, place-based sustainability transitions, and governance approaches within the fashion sector. Organisers have highlighted the importance of understanding how different urban environments influence experimentation and transformation in the textile industry, particularly beyond major global fashion capitals. The session is supported by the Horizon Europe projects FABRIX, CARE, and CRAFT-IT4SD, all of which focus on sustainable and circular transitions within the fashion and textile ecosystem.  

The session will take place between 15 and 18 June 2026 as part of the RSA Annual Conference hosted by the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. The wider conference will bring together academics, policymakers, and researchers from around the world to discuss regional development, innovation, governance, sustainability, and economic transformation.

For more information and event details, readers are encouraged to refer to the ECOSYSTEX website.