Who is the work for and what impact do you hope it will make?
My project aims to appeal to both consumers and designers of the fashion industry. Through highlighting issues we face within the fast-fashion industry and questioning the constant discarding of clothes, my project targets buyers as well as designers of clothing products.
Often when sustainability is promoted, it is urged to use less materials, and to therefore do more with less - this tends to be a guide for appropriate design. Alison Gwilt & Timo Rissanen (2011) make an interesting point in relation to this, “Why design anything at all if all it is doing is contributing more stuff to the environment that we don’t need?” They discuss that if we are able to alter our products and systems then it’s not necessary for us to have to manage with fewer materials in order to be sustainable. Rather than having to cope with reduced items, we could instead redesign and reuse the things we do have and utilise on a day-to-day basis and therefore keep appreciating certain services and products.
A key concept of mine for this project has been trying to prevent the concept of waste. With the aim of designing and creating sustainably, it is important to not only reduce or down-cycle waste, but to in fact remove waste from the process entirely and to assure that all elements of any item are used at some point along the way.
But rather than appealing to only designers or consumers, it’s vital to hold both accountable for the issues we face within fast-fashion. For designers its vital to start considering the environmental and social impacts relating to the production of clothing, as well as the production of clothing itself and realising the impact a fashion designer can have in shifting our existing habits used in the manufacturing approach.
Consumers on the other hand also play a significant role in the cycle of a fashion garments. While they have the opportunity of slowing down fashion consumption, its also essential to consider how a person uses and cares for the items after they’ve been purchased. Choice, use, cleaning, care, mending, and discarding clothing are all fundamental contributions that need to be considered carefully by each buyer.
I managed to acquire an entire bag of what was considered ‘waste’ by one individual and use all of the items for my project. By focusing on only one persons waste I believe my project will have a bigger impact when its seen by my audience; rather than showing them waste that has been accumulated from a variety of many sources. Once people start to see the amount of waste that has come from only one person they might start wondering: How much waste do I have in comparison? If this is the waste of only one person, how much waste is that of 100 people?
Where do you see it existing?
I was having some trouble figuring out where to place my work in the real world. Initially I thought of having my work placed as an installation of some sort surrounded by well known clothing brands, such as H&M, Primark, Zara and many others. Or I could have it situated in an area such as Oxford Street, as it is one of the largest and busiest shopping streets across Europe. But then I also realised that if my work was placed in such a busy place it’s very likely to be overlooked with so much happening around. Also, if buyers are already out and aiming to purchase something, an installation might not have as big of an impact, or onlookers might easily become aggravated rather than understand my intentions behind the project.
With my work being made from used items, I then reflected on places such as second-hand shops or organisations that fight against fast fashion instead. There are dozens of second-hand, thrift stores and vintage shops across London, including Beyond Retro, Traid, Oxfam, Bohemia London and many more. Organisations including Greenpeace, Waste & Resource Action Programme, or Centre for Sustainable Fashion would also be interesting places where my work would fit in well. Institutions with the same principles behind their work who are aiming to create fashion at a lower environmental and social cost or have projects aiming to improve the textile industry and educate people on fast-fashion would be a more suitable place to situate my work. Rather than being overlooked and ignored, I feel that people would be intrigued by my project and also interested in how its come to shape.
How will it change how people think about the world?
After seeing how much waste has been discarded by only one person, and also seeing what that waste can actually still be made into and used for countless other things I’d hope that viewers might start to consider their own wardrobe and methods of throwing away materials. While items of clothing have become cheaper, consumer spending has increased, with serious effects on the environment. With clothing being inexpensive and easy to get hold of, it may be easier for a consumer to discard a garment and replace it with little consideration. As both industry and consumers continue to embrace the fast-fashion concept, the volume of goods to be disposed of or recycled has increased substantially. And most fast fashion goods do not have the inherent quality to be considered as collectables for vintage or historic collections.
Clothes fulfil different kinds of material and non-material needs and to many, clothes are a source of pleasure. Fashion can be a reflection of peoples aesthetic, intellectual and emotional needs and they seek these responses whether they are buying artworks or fashion as wearable art. Most of us own garments that we have cherished and treasured for years but perhaps we should begin to question the responses a garment may elicit from us. What are our emotional attachments to particular pieces of clothing, and why do clothes connect with us emotionally?
I’d like people to start considering where wasted fabric could be used elsewhere, and when purchasing items how they could maybe choose clothing that fit and how to care for them for maximum use-life. While also taking into account rather than simply throwing out clothing how they might make new clothes out of old ones. Or if not clothes, then maybe a bag, a purse or something else that could be reused.
There are simple ways of matching sustainability with fashion in unique, modern, and different ways all while making informed choices for the environment which are all things that I hope people will start to think about when seeing my project.
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