Parsons School Of Design brings United Nations migration data to life through textiles crafted with ECONYL® regenerated nylon
Textiles to be featured in shows in New York, Chicago, London, and Geneva
Trento, Italy, May 12, 2025 – The New School’s Parsons School of Design, the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), and Aquafil have launched a textile exhibition called “Passage Patterns”, which interprets displacement and migration data through textile design. The Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) of the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration, challenged Parsons MFA Textiles students to translate data from DTM’s displacement and migration reports that included histograms, graphs and pie charts, into textiles. The IOM is part of the United Nations System as the leading intergovernmental organization promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. DTM is IOM’s primary data collection programme, gathering and analyzing data on the mobility, vulnerabilities, and needs of displaced and migrant populations in over 100 countries to inform context-specific assistance. These innovative textiles made with Aquafil’s ECONYL® regenerated nylon visualize DTM’s data of displacement and migration patterns from different parts of the world.
“In an era where global migration shapes our world’s social fabric, this collaboration stands at the intersection of sustainable design and humanitarian care,” said Preeti Gopinath, Associate Professor of Textiles at Parsons School of Design. “At Parsons, valuing humanity and the environment through conscious making and innovation, we harness the power of textiles to raise awareness and transform art, industry and society.”
The textiles will be featured at various shows throughout the year to engage audiences in dialogue around migration issues and trends. The first show is in New York at Parsons in May, then the show continues to Chicago where pieces will be featured at Aquafil’s showrooms at both NeoCon and Fulton Market Design Days in June. Finally, the collection heads to the United Nations offices in London and Geneva to reach European stakeholders.
“We are excited to see designers from the Parsons MFA Textiles program bring these displacement and migration stories and data to life,” said Laura Nistri, DTM Global Coordinator from the Displacement Tracking Matrix. “Throughout history people have migrated in search of better lives. Addressing displacement is central to confronting today’s global challenges—from conflict and crisis to natural hazards. Safe, dignified migration and mobility are essential parts of the solution. These textile works powerfully capture the human impact of displacement, making it tangible in a way we were proud to showcase.”
Examples of displacement and migration data featured in this textiles exhibition include:
- 2,317,254 people temporarily displaced across 11 districts of Sindh province in 2022 after heavy monsoon rains caused widespread flooring and landslides across Pakistan
- 55,290 individuals displaced across central and southern Iraq due to climate change and environmental degradation
- 57,562 migrants apprehended by the Turkish Coast Guard while attempting to cross the sea to reach the European Union
“Our team is excited to continue our partnership with Parsons School of Design and the MFA Textiles program for the fourth year in a row to create textiles that are not only sustainable, but create a shared human experience and understanding of one of the most pressing issues of our time–migration,” said Maria Giovanna Sandrini, chief communication officer for Aquafil, Group. “We truly value the work that the UN IOM and Parsons are doing to raise awareness about these critical social issues, and that they chose to create these pieces with sustainability in mind.”
To view the lookbook of the project, please visit: https://econyl.aquafil.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Passage-Patterns_digital-spreads_econyl.pdf
About Aquafil
Aquafil is a pioneer in the circular economy having developed the ECONYL® regeneration system, an innovative and sustainable process able to create new products from waste and give life to an endless cycle. The nylon waste is collected in locations all over the world and includes industrial waste but also products – such as fishing nets and rugs – that have reached the end of their useful life. Such waste is processed to obtain a raw material – caprolactam – with the same chemical and performance characteristics as those from fossil sources. The polymers produced from ECONYL® caprolactam are distributed to the Group’s production plants, where they are transformed into yarn for rugs, carpet flooring, and for clothing.
Founded in 1965, Aquafil is one of the main producers of nylon in Italy and worldwide. The Group is present on three different continents, employing about 2,400 people at 19 production sites located in Italy, Slovenia, United States, China, Croatia, Chile, Thailand and Japan. Learn more: https://www.aquafil.com/
About Parsons School of Design
Parsons School of Design at The New School is one of the leading institutions for art and design education in the world. Based in New York but active around the world, the school offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the full spectrum of art and design disciplines, as well as online courses, degree and certificate programs. Critical thinking and collaboration are at the heart of a Parsons education. Parsons graduates are leaders in their respective fields, with a shared commitment to creatively and critically addressing the complexities of life in the 21st century.
Students in the Parsons MFA Textiles program hybridize craft and hi-tech to address issues of justice, sustainability, well-being, and beauty through hands-on textile making.The MFA Textiles studio serves as an innovation hub where students are guided to expand and explore the boundaries of what textiles can do, thus serving the industry, both conceptually and through the creation of prototypes.
Contacts
Aquafil Media Contact
Jacqueline Chen Valencia
CONNECTIVE Agency
start@connectiveagency.com
Parsons Media Contact
Will Wilbur
wilburw@newschool.edu
United Nations IOM Contact
Shreya Jain
sjain@iom.int
