Handmade Tales-Sustainable Fashion through Craft Connections

2018

India is known globally for her rich heritage of textiles and handcrafts. Consistently decreasing number of artisans indicates need to revive the craft of artisans as an important source of livelihood. Vast availability of cheap, low-quality clothing allows fast fashion, conspicuous consumption and premature disposal of fashion products. Therefore, production of sustainable traditional modes of fashion design in affordable price is a challenge. Further, lack of knowledge and tools to build capacity, especially in the areas of skill development, design intervention, technical innovation, productivity enhancement and environmental sustainability; lack of working capital and access to credit/loan facilities and lack of access to markets leaves craftsmen vulnerable to middlemen. Waste is another growing problem associated with environmental and social impacts. Promotion of handcrafted innovative and exclusive fashion designs intrinsically from the use of natural resources with collabora...

Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 2022

The overcoming of outdated values embedded within the system of fashion requires a complete revamping of its very foundation toward a concept of cultural sustainability and preservation of material culture. Discussion about cultural sustainability and heritage preservation requires conservation and regeneration of the cultural beliefs and symbolic meanings embedded within the traditional processes and practices of craft. With meaning tied to place, and the evolution of ideas, attitudes, and practices, local knowledge of traditional handcrafts can be considered as a sustainable repository of culture. The purpose of this study is to interpret the most developed craft-based strategies in the field of fashion to promote positive and sustainable change and to disassociate from the practice of cultural appropriation. Through the presentation of selected case studies in the fields of fashion, design, and craftsmanship, this article provides an interpretative model for cultural sustainability through traditional craft. With a focus on the incorporation and valorization of material practices and knowledge in fashion, the proposition for design to act as a promoter of innovative processes and the nurturing and retaining of craft can ensue. This speculative model is built on case studies on cultural sustainability through traditional craft. It is focused on experimentation, innovation, and sustainability through the design and creative process expressed through cultural heritage strategies. The result is a range of possible outcomes, aligned with existing craft practices, that highlight opportunities for design to support traditional craft through innovative processes while maintaining their embedded codes.

In this study, we present a theoretical model, which draws together the elements of sustainability and fashion design. The data have been gathered from various sources, mainly academic literature, and a qualitative analysis has been carried out by following the principles of the grounded theory method: the data is analyzed by identifying and categorizing relevant concepts by using a constant comparative method, i.e. examining the internal consistency of each category. The aim of the model is to serve fashion designers, who wish to take sustainability into consideration. The analysis and the model answer the question of which principles and practices should be considered in sustainable fashion design. However, under further development, an integrated model helps to simultaneously see a number of facts and viewpoints that affect fashion production. The core category of the model is " considered take and return ". It is based on design philosophies that are linked to other categories: material sourcing; fabric treatment; production methods; saving resources; societal implications; information transparency; and attachment and appreciation.

In Australia and New Zealand the practice of outsourcing fashion and textile production has led to the parallel outsourcing of some of the resulting negative environmental consequences. However, the loss of manufacturing jobs and an increasing amount of consumer sales being directed to offshore brands also contributes to emerging social and economic problems. This practice-led research aims to encourage a broader perspective of waste minimization as a strategy to address the known problems of postconsumer textile waste that result from a consumer focused, global fashion system. The author proposes a theory of minimization, throughout the production cycle, as a potential design strategy to generate a stronger commitment between the fashion industry and more sustainable design practices. A culture of excess and wastefulness, that devalues fashion garments without conscious consideration of the raw material, production or design value, is impacting the potential for more sustainable consumer practices. In addition to textile waste, excess exists in manufacturing processes where the cost of labour is devalued and the need to develop designed, streamlined, efficient and ethical manufacturing methods is not as significant to reducing production costs. An exploration of design practice that engages with a reductive method of design development, through alternate strategies for garment cutting, patternmaking, grading and construction, provides the basis for an analysis and discussion of how design can contribute to reducing waste within the designer fashion industry. Design is proposed as a driver for a localized fashion scene focused on developing micro-fashion business models. The implications of this project are that a focus on waste as a physical byproduct of contemporary manufacturing systems, producing product for an international fashion marketplace, is leading to missed opportunities for developing localized, sustainable design solutions. Keywords: fashion, textiles, design, sustainability, waste minimisation, practice

The art of Knowing how to do - Fashion, Art and sustainability. Research of craft techniques (Atena Editora), 2022

This article aims to share the research and projects undertaken by Ateliê Escola Quidesign, a center for studies and research related to the universe of fashion and sustainable solutions for the textile industry, contributing to the inclusion of fashion issues in culture.Over the past four years of research and several projects and actions, REDESIGN already appears as a powerful option to offer creative possibilities and reduce solid waste in the textile chain, generating new products and enhancing the value of raw materials. The first projects were directed to give a new life to the companies' stock leftovers, scraps and pieces not accepted by the market, and leftovers from cutting that would be transformed into waste. In the last months, with the event of the pandemic caused by COVID 19, this option also stands out in consulting requests, after all, staying at home suggests a new look for the closet. We highlight some projects and products to illustrate this moment of reflection with an authorial production using the leftovers from the studio.

2008

Fashion's consistent ranking amongst the top 3 global polluters has become a decades old fact struggling to gain a proportionate response amongst the brand startup and sourcing community. With industry revenues set to exceed $1 trillion, there is an opportunity to critically address existing revenue models predicated on traditional metrics, such as constant growth, and singular bottom lines. "Sustaining" this defunct persona of a fashion business implies a contradictory strategy for an organization envisioning ethical and social relevance with the 21 st century consumer. This environment demands a systems-change approach to thoroughly investigate recent initiatives and pioneer business models that promise shared value amongst planet, people and profit. An ethnographic review of hierarchical relationships within fashion's sourcing matrixes is required to evolve an exploitative foundation with a regenerative consequence. The course attempts to create a nexus between the fashion entrepreneur and systems thinker to explore strategic solutions that address sustainability though an environmental, social and economic lens. It focuses on dismantling a one-dimensional notion of success, scale or pragmatism with initiatives that thrive and sustain their impact within micro communities. We aim to foster a mindful, yet critical discourse on fashion industry initiatives, past and present, as we practice various tools that help transition existing organizations and incubate new startups towards sustainable outcomes. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: • L1: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the history of sustainable fashion initiatives; an applied vocabulary of the current global fashion system; its key stakeholders and incentive mechanisms across cultures and supply chains; and its regulatory bodies and certification systems.

2014

Sustainable Fashion: An Ethical Future Ahead?, 2019

Fashion is one of the most polluting industries and one of the most influential one. Currently, total greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production, at 1.2 billion tonnes annually, are more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping combined, that’s really alarming. By some estimates, emissions in this sector is expected to rise by more than 60% by 2030. In 2015 two large agreements realized the way to where we have to go, what direction to take and what we need to do to live in a more sustainable planet, this is how the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change adopted. But when we talk about the SDGs and fashion we also refer to the human and labour exploitation of textile production, because sustainability must be analyzed around its three dimensions, i,e. social, economic and environmental. We can meet our needs without accumulating things and buying what we don’t need, without compromising with resources and possibilities for future generations. We have innovative ideas and this is our opportunity to take care of our planet because there is no planet B.

IFFTI, IFM Paris, 2011

"Sustainability in fashion continues to be viewed as a fringe activity, both within the industry and the high street, perhaps due to a perception that creating or using sustainable fashion demands a radical change in process or behaviour. While it seems that it is the fashion designer who carries the responsibility for solving the problem, little accountability is placed upon the wearer (other than to consume less). Moreover, the misconception that engaging with sustainability is difficult is further confused by the use of specialist terminology, which acts as a barrier to accessibility. This paper intends to explore the proposition that both the fashion designer and the wearer should be equally engaged in the lifecycle of a garment and that examples of inspired techniques and processes can be located within the historic traditions of craftsmanship in the luxury sector. Fashion designers who are unfamiliar with the principles of sustainable design often consider it as an after thought to design practice, relying upon computerised tools to reduce the negative environmental impact associated with the production and use of a garment (Black, Eckert and Eskandarypur, 2009). However this solution-focused approach does not challenge or encourage designers to seek alternative strategies for designing and making clothes. Furthermore, few designers consider a lifecycle approach to design, and yet there is great scope for integrating sustainable strategies in fashion design practice where the engagement of the wearer becomes critical. While the fashion designer needs to be empowered to behave and think sustainably, the wearer also needs to become an active participant in the use phase of a garment’s lifecycle. Within the luxury sector the creation of a couture garment provides the wearer with an experience and a means of engaging in the world on both a rational and emotional level. Through the lens of ‘emotionally durable design’ (Chapman, 2005) the lifecycle of a garment relies upon developing a relationship between the garment and the wearer, and historical case studies can be drawn from couture that demonstrate such a relationship can exist. Moreover, by revisiting the historic techniques and processes of the luxury sector that are relative to sustainability, this paper intends to reveal and recontextualise the notion of traditional craftsmanship within contemporary sustainable thinking. "

2011

The fashion industry has been aware of social responsibility and sustainable practices for some time recently. It is still a challenge for this industry to successfully incorporate and interweave these issues in the current concept of commodity culture. Though fashion today impacts most, if not all, aspects of consumerist culture, the primary impact is on the lifestyle industry particularly clothing. sustainable practices in the fashion sector, this role of designers has to go beyond. This would mean the designer incorporating a sustainable framework in the Design and Product Development Process. Much of the Design education today deals with issues of sustainable strategies and practices as add-ons to the basic design and product development process course work. This paper aims at identifying possible areas in the Design process where the issues of sustainable strategies and practices can be interwoven into the process itself. Information and data will be gathered from design institutes, design educators and design businesses in India to identify points in the Design and Product development process that are conducive to enhancement leading to innovation for sustainability. It is proposed to use this research as a base to further determine the barriers, constraints, facilitators and enablers to incorporating sustainable strategies in the Design Process course work and develop a teaching model that is more inclusive of these issues.