Fashion Forward
Reshoring Fashion: Reflections on the Socio-cultural and Political Future of Fashion Design Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Chiara Colombi, Paola Bertola
While fashion design as a discipline aims not at producing single garments but at re-appropriating the meanings that a fashion design practice produces, both of an economic and socio-cultural level, the worldwide fashion system is still focused on the traditional production-consumption dichotomy and did not actually address the urgent need of promoting a creative innovation leadership, as during its glorious past. Fashion education is oriented toward a process-based/project-driven practice inspired by a design-driven approach where all fashion processes are integrated, balancing traditional know-how, tech-driven innovation and sustainability urge. However, in a changed and continuously evolving context, where the paradigms of Open Innovation and Open University look at the universities’ Third Mission and aim at growing skilled and conscious citizens, fashion design education needs to review its traditional framework to grow future professionals able to embrace the contemporary challenges of one of the most globalized and impacting sectors at international level. Fashion design professionals in the near future will be asked to promote a radical change, exploiting the potentialities of new technologies, and to advocate for a new critical and deontological vision of fashion. The paper discusses the theoretical and contextual conditions that are raising the need for a fashion design education oriented toward a “thinking through fashion” approach. Moreover, it positions the concept of “reshoring fashion as a system” --moving to the education of “process designers” instead of “product designers”, which avoid a fast-fashion logic which is all about clothing-- and the idea of “learning with fashion”.
Consumer Behavior Towards Textile Products Dyed Using Alternative Dyestuffs View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Dakota Batch
Alternative dyestuffs for textiles, such as fungi and industrial waste, have been well researched (Panche, Diwan, & Chandra, 2016., Sathianarayanan et al., 2010). Alternative natural dyes have been found to have health benefits (eg. antimicrobial and UV protectant properties) that consumers consider to be added value to textiles. However, there is little research examining consumer behavior towards textile products dyed using these alternative dyestuffs. The purpose of this study was to explore whether pre-consumer plant-based food waste, used to create dyes, could produce a color in a textile product that is satisfactory to consumers. The study involved 40 participants on a university campus where subjects were asked to evaluate the color of a textile product dyed using onion skins and spent coffee grounds. Subjects were then asked to evaluate the color of a product dyed using a synthetic dye. A benchmark product evaluation was taken before and after the explanation of each dye process. Subjects completed a survey that measured their desire for unique products and behaviors toward sustainability. Analysis of the data showed that participants’ opinions of the food waste products’ color became more favorable following an explanation of the dye process. Respondents described the naturally dyed products’ initial characteristics as “blotchy”, “uneven”, and “dirty”, but after the explanation, changed their reactions to “novel” and “tie-dye”. The study’s findings will prove useful for textile companies whose bottom line includes people, planet, and profit. The researcher recommends that investment in alternative dyeing processes must also include investment in consumer education.
Boundary Objects: Visible Narratives at the Intersection of Art, Culture, and Fashion
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sarah Easom
This paper examines the messages that objects can communicate in relation to cultural memory at the thresholds of art and fashion. Drawing on a number of collaborative interdisciplinary practice-based projects, it investigates the interface that occurs between craft and taste across a range of methods and materials. In particular, this research positions this work as boundary objects (Star and Griesemer, 1989) to provide fresh insights into issues of identity, gender, and values through questioning the nature and form of objects, both in their construction and embodiment. Using research through design methods (Frayling, 1993), these projects seek to create new dialogues that transform everyday objects and challenge dress codes to provide alternative understandings of cultural expression. At a time when identities are considered to be more fluid than ever, not least in relation to social media and the performative possibilities of alter-egos and avatars, the work also investigates the notion of the body as a canvas, testing ideas concerning text and hidden messages within garments and how these are visually communicated. Key to this approach is how narratives can be supported through the application of symbolism, contours, colour, layering, lines, patchwork, and intuitive forms. This paper then explores why certain stories resonate through these means before presenting a discussion on the role of visible narratives at the intersection of art, culture, and fashion.
Redesigning Identity - Fashion + Opera in the Me Too Movement : Case Study of Interdisciplinary Co-Design in Studio Based Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Barbara Trippeer
Artists often use their medium to express identity — both how society views others and how we view ourselves. This paper uses the case study of an experimental undergraduate fashion design studio and digital fabrication course, where various levels of undergraduate students work in tandem with opera singer trainees and student musicians to explore the relationship of identity and social narrative. Through their joint experience in concept development, which includes an innovative series of Opera Costumes for a modern take on Mozart’s Don Giovanni, a new vision for this classical piece is emerging through both artistic critique of the current social and political zeitgeist embodied in ‘me too’ movement, and the application of digital fabrication. Through discussion of this example, we hope to illustrate how critical application of social commentary can be utilized as a springboard for entry level fashion designers to apply their technical skills in garment construction, and how enabling these kinds of design challenges in undergraduate programs may help in preparing them for future innovative opportunities within professional practice.
