THE STORY ABOUT US
“
We create products that we wish existed,
explore new territories and dedicate our work to imagination with a human-centered approach,
as we believe that design has an added value to the world, apart from aesthetics.
“
Cristina Dan
Founder
Solve is an award winning multi-disciplinary social innovation studio in design and sustainability, whose expertise lies in
co-creating solutions for the circular economy through design, within the fashion & lifestyle industry. The studio’s design work is strongly connected to the academic research that Cristina Dan, the founder of SOLVE, conducts in circular fashion design.
We work with design thinking, new technology, and circular economy to co-design sustainable innovations, offering design and consultancy services.
The results of Cristina's research also translate into circular fashion products that we carefully manufactured in our studio and sell online via our webshop.
We engage with enthusiasm in collaborations with companies, public institutions, NGO’s and researchers that share our vision of bringing to life circular products and systems within the fashion and lifestyle industry.
Through design we act as a binder for circular fashion stakeholders and wish to scale the impact of our knowledge and help create new agents for change. Hence we enable companies to create products and product-service system innovation for a circular economy.
Form Follows Feeling.
The Team
Cristina is a pioneer contextual fashion designer, researcher and lecturer in circular fashion design, with a strong vision on the clothing of tomorrow and the added value it will bring to our everyday lives. In 2016 she created the world’s first circular and multifunctional fashion collection – Omdanne. In 2022 she introduced Refashion - a zero-waste circular design strategy. Since 2023 she is a partner in Circular Lab, a central hub for the circular economy in the Lake Constance region, where she conducts research on circular fashion in an interdisciplinary setting. Her work has been published in reputable international research journals, books, and online publications. She also shares her knowledge as a guest lecturer at VIA Design University in Denmark, and Malmö University in Sweden. Learn more about her research work here.
​
Vlad is an architect, artist and an experimentalist of visuals and music.
He is an explorer and thinker of ideas, currently residing in Bucharest, where he works on architecture, interior and product designs, as well as collaborates with several media labs and art collectives.
​He is also the Founder & Principal at RITE.
Proficient in multi-lateral thinking and a natural-born solution seeker, Calin pursued an education in mechanical engineering at Northampton University. However, his passion for creating and tinkering, as well as designing innovative gadgets, took him through both the realm of watch design, 3d printing and crafting musical instruments.
He makes his passion obvious in both highly-rational applied sciences as well as in music, being an accomplished bassist, guitarist and composer.
Up to 80% of the environmental impact of
​a product is determined at the design stage.
(European Commission, 2020).
OUR DESIGN PRINCIPLES
When designing, we follow our own impactful & ethical set of tools for creating long-lasting products
Design for increased consumer value
Bring more value through product-life extension & increased utility
Design for attachment & trust
Create products that will be loved, liked and trusted longer​
Design for durability
Use materials that can withstand long-term wear
Design for ease of maintenance
Consume less energy & time when caring for the products
Design for optimized & clean supply chain
Not only the final garment is green, but also the process behind it
Design for a closed-loop system
A safe return to nature/ continuous recycling
Some of our collaborators
Exhibitions, awards & keynotes
2023 / Reset The Trend / Speaker / The European Commission / ANTWERP, BELGIUM
2023 / Romanian Design Week / Exhibitor / Main Exhibition, Piața Amzei / BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
2022 / Circular Talk / Speaker / Lund University, Circle Centre Lund; Collect and Affect / LUND, SWEDEN
2021 / Circular Fashion: Making the Fashion Industry Sustainable / Speaker / Fashion and Textile Museum / LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
​2020 / International Good Design Exhibition / Exhibitor / Museo del Design MOOD / ITALY
2019 / A' Design Award / Silver in Sustainable Products, Projects and Green Design Category / International Design Academy / COMO, ITALY
2019 / Changemakers in Retail Conference / Speaker / Retail Trends Media / UTRECHT , THE NETHERLANDS
2019 / FashionTech Works / Residency / 1 week / United Fashion EU, Creative Europe Programme; FlandersDCforFashion / ANTWERP, BELGIUM
2019 / Conscious Fashion Week / Speaker / AARHUS, DENMARK
2019 / Romanian Design Week / Exhibitor / Main Exhibition, BCR building / BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
2019 / Lund University - The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics / Speaker / LUND, SWEDEN
2019 / VIA Professors Circular Competency Course / Speaker / VIA University / HERNING, DENMARK
2018 / Future of Fashion & Technology / Exhibitor / MAS Museum Antwerp / With Jasna Rok, Marina Toeters, Maartje Dijkstra / ANTWERP, BELGIUM
2018 / Unleash Your Sustainable Thinking / Speaker / Storm / MALMÖ, SWEDEN
2017 / Circular Economy International Conference / Speaker / Department of Business Development and Technology at Aarhus University / DENMARK
2016 / Sylab / Residency / 12 months / IKAST, DENMARK
2016 / Sustainability in Fashion / Speaker / Dansk Mode & Textil / DENMARK
2016 / VIA University Teacher's Conference on Sustainability / Speaker / VIA University / DENMARK
Research publications
Dan, M. C., Ciortea, A., & Mayer, S. (2023). The refashion circular design strategy—Changing the way we design and manufacture clothes. Design Studies, 88, 101205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2023.101205
Dan, C. (SOLVE). in Vezzoli, C., Conti, G. M., Macrì, L., & Motta, M. (2022). Designing Sustainable Clothing Systems. Politecnico di Milano. Franco Angeli.
Dan, C. in Global Solutions - The World Policy Forum (2022). Intersecting. Bending the Linear Economy on Global Value Chains.
Dan, C. and Østergaard, T. (2021). Circular fashion: The New Roles of Designers in Organizations Transitioning to a Circular Economy. The Design Journal, DOI:10.1080/14606925.2021.1936748
Dan, C. and Østergaard, T. (2021). Circling Round Circular Change. Paper presented at the International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education, Denmark.
Dan, C. (SOLVE) in Blum, P. (2021). Circular Fashion. Laurence King Publishers.
Chapter Dan, C. and Østergaard, T. (in press). From vision to practice in Design Educations for Sustainable Development and Circular Economy. In R. T. Clausen & A. L. Bang (Eds.). Building Better Business – Designing New Futures: New Sustainable Path in Design and Business Education. Denmark: Frydenlund Academic.
​
Dan, C. in A’ Design Award & Competition (2019). Winner Designs 2018-2019, Award Winning Product Design. Designer Press.
​
Dan, C. (2017). Clothing that creates zero-waste while discouraging consumption through user-participatory design: Omdanne. Paper presented at Circular Economy International Conference, Department of Business Development and Technology at Aarhus BSS University, Herning, Denmark.
​