Wicked Problems: Finding Fashion Solutions with Mary Ruppert-Stroescu
2025-02-21 • Sam Fox School
Wicked problems, as WashU Associate Professor Mary Ruppert-Stroescu defines them, are those solutions to problems that themselves create more problems, and often more complex ones. Think the Hydra from Greek mythology: remove one problem, and two more sprout up.
As the fashion design area coordinator at the Sam Fox School, Ruppert-Stroescu is keenly aware of the sustainability issues that challenge the fashion industry. She’s watched the industry carefully as solutions are proposed and then leave further problems in their wake. Here, she’s identified solutions to three wicked problems.
Problem #1: Plastic-based textiles
Textiles made from recycled ocean plastics are a great idea in theory. In practi
ce, the petroleum-based textiles shed microplastics in the laundry, which then end up back in the oceans, and the cycle continues with no real method to keep plastic out of our waterways.
The solution: A specialized filter for washing machines was developed to keep plastic out of the water stream. France has already adopted the innovation, and in 2025 all new washing machines there will be sold with such a filter.
Problem #2: Overconsumption of cheap clothing
Many shoppers have become accustomed to buying cheap clothing frequently. Up to 80% of clothing donated to secondhand stores is not sellable locally and is instead shipped to developing countries. Not only do those shipments cause waste problems in their new locale, they also prevent economic growth. “The textile and apparel industries have time and again been an impetus for economies to develop educated workforces and expanded infrastructure,” Ruppert-Stroescu said. “Textile and apparel production helped those economies get to the high-tech, high-salary industries they are known for today.”
The solution: Return to the circular economy and reclaim textile waste. With a research group exploring solutions to textile waste, Ruppert-Stroescu and her students came up with a way to reclaim textile waste and turn it into new clothes, without creating yet more waste. They applied for a patent for textile repurposing and sustainable garment design, which was approved in 2017, and Ruppert-Stroescu is operationalizing as RECLÉM.
Problem #3: Vegan leather
A well-meaning idea to protect animals, most vegan leather is plastic-based. This means it requires using resources which, when discarded, will sit in landfills for centuries.
The solution: Look locally to the invasive carp that fill the Mississippi River, which outcompete native fish and destroy microorganisms and biodiversity that are essential to water quality. WashU alum Kahan Chavda’s company, Inversa, turns skin from invasive carp into a leather textile called Dragonfin. One skin of Dragonfin could protect up to 150 native freshwater species. “Using invasive species leather is a triple win,” Ruppert-Stroescu said. “It protects local economies, restores biodiversity, and gives us a beautiful material.”