Transitioning Design Activism

When thinking about the industry that I chose to make a living off of, I think about what first drew me to the apparel industry. For me, fashion is wearable art that allows me to express my creativity and personality. To some this is a fickle industry but once you take the time to learn about how much depth there is to the industry you learn how many needs are met because of this industry. For example, clothing meets the personal needs of protection, freedom and identity. For utilitarian purposes, one chooses whether they are going to wear a long sleeve, tank or shirt based on the weather and then next comes the freedom to express your identity with the personal and unique details of the particular item chosen by the wearer.

I have chosen to base my design concept on young women transitioning from college to the work-world. I feel this is a large target market that can often times be over looked. Specifically, it is hard for me to find clothing that is still unique but mature at the same time. It is hard to find transitional pieces that can be worn to work and interviews but also to outings with friends. As a result I feel that I have two separate wardrobes based on whether I am going to job interviews or hanging out with my friends which means I can be categorized as an over-consumer. With overconsumption, there is a negative relation to the sustainability and environmental degradation makes it more difficult to replace materials and resources. According to our reading, Fuad-Luke believe that in order to make it a positive relation between our industry and the environment we must stress how important it is in not only creating positive solutions but practicing them as well.

Design activism combines the concepts of designing new products and satisfying basic needs of the consumers. This relates to targeting to a large group of consumers but allowing them to express individuality along the way. My design concept is creating a company that is solely interested in meeting the needs and wants of young women going through the transition from college to the working world. This company will hold a standard for designing and manufacturing apparel in the most sustainable ways. The company will stress and educate the consumers on the recycled materials, eco-friendly dyes they use and how they are limiting their environmental footprint. There will be a representative that will meet with the individual customer and take her measurements. After the measurements are taken, the rep will sit down with her and go through a look book of unique designs from shirts, skirts, pants and jackets that can be customized with different fabrics. For a specific example, a button down shirt can have one type of print of the body and the cuffs could be in a different pattern or color along with the little details of which buttons are used. While going through the book, the rep will discuss the importance of being environmentally conscience and how to be aware of over-consuming but still remain a unique individual. Once the garments are manufactured the rep will deliver the garments and work with the client to create different looks with the pieces that can transition from work to friends. I feel that this design company combines the concept of design activism and Fraud-Luke’s idea of halfway products because there is an element of personal designs being combined with a sustainable outlook.

This course has enlightened me on how sustainability goes beyond just identifying the problems but taking a proactive mental mode towards creating solutions and actually putting them into practice. I plan to use the knowledge that I have gained and putting them into practice in my future purchasing decisions. I will think more about whether it is necessary for me to buy the product and the possible multiple outcomes and repercussions of my actions as a consumer. I would like to learn about how to empower others, beyond myself, to be conscious of their buying decisions and how to make sustainability a realistic life choice, not just an unattainable idea.

from apparel to interior

When thinking about the cradle-to-cradle concept, it requires one to contemplate the term and go beyond the surface when deciphering how to apply the concepts to apparel and interior design. When contemplating the biological and or technical metabolisms, I feel that it makes more sense to apply technical metabolism to our industry. To me, technical metabolism is a more in-depth form of recycling through a closed-loop system. Since the apparel and interior industry combine multiple textiles and fibers together to create a durable and desirable product, it would be hard to produce a product that could be considered completely biodegradable.  The technical metabolism system helped to inspire my design concept along with past and this week’s readings and videos.

In a past reading, Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart discussed the importance of shifting our mental modes from cradle-to-grave towards cradle-to-cradle. Meaning, it is in our power to be able to think of new ideas for old products instead of just throwing them out. We have to take a proactive approach to recreating the apparel and interior products we already posses in order to become more environmentally sustainable. This concept blends well with, Textile Futures, in which, Quinn, applies a concept called resurfacing. This concept basically values finding a new use for a product that would normally be discarded. With a few enhancements to the old product, you can create a completely new product that is beautiful and helps limit your impact on the environment. Transitioning from Quinn’s concept of resurfacing, I found most interesting from reading C2CAD is the importance of combining resources and industry involvement of working together to exchange valuable ideas on how to maintain sustainability. Like I mentioned in my last post, I think it should be an industry standard to help consumers understand the full potential of the garment or product they are purchasing and all the uses and the value of recreating the product over and over again. The combination of the past readings and videos have led me to think of a specific design concept that I think will enhance the concept of cradle-to-cradle by combining the apparel and interior industries.

When thinking about applying the readings and videos to a design concept, I thought about what products I have an excess of. That’s when I looked at my wall by my door and saw the plethora of scarves I have decoratively hung. Technically I only need one for utilitarian purposes but I find that I can not get enough of the flowy and beautifully crafted materials.  I then began to think of how to recreate these products into something that could transition them from apparel to interiors and I found inspiration from Anthropologie and thought of layering the long pieces of fabrics and creating curtains. By taking curtains that are already hung in my room, I sewed and glued the scarves to add life to old curtains and therefore changing the entire look of my room. From then I added some unique touches by applying paint I had in my craft box and sewing old buttons that I have collect from garments that provide extras incase one were to fall off. The concept applies all the concepts from technical metabolism to resurfacing to C2CAD and combining apparel and interior products.

Picture: http://casadiseno.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/anthropologie-flamenco-shower-curtain.jpg - Anthropologie Shower Curtain