Fashion is Power

Those outside of the fashion industry seem to have a difficult time genuinely understanding the power behind the “material” items that we spend countless hours designing, creating, and promoting for a living. When people ask what I am majoring in here at OSU, I confidently tell them despite knowing that they are probably thinking it is risky and most likely leading to nowhere as far as a career. What they are unaware of however, is that fashion is THE most powerful means of communication that we have in our lives today. Fashion satisfies our human need of identity, giving us the opportunity to express our individual selves while emphasizing our desire to be accepted into a collective group membership. Without people like me to pursue fashion as a career, society would have a much harder time figuring out how to express this vital human need. In coming up with my design concept this week, I combined the human need for identity with the issue of gender equality and the empowerment of women. My concept is based around providing women with the luxury of designing their own apparel that they believe will boost their self-esteem and enhance their authoritative image within the work place.

Fashion is more strongly a woman-based industry to begin with, so it is only fitting to focus my design concept to that particular consumer group. As a woman, I am notorious for being an over-consumer as I am constantly buying clothes that I already have multiples of in the same style but in different colors. An over-consumer is defined as someone who consumes a resource in excess. As a result, environmental degradation occurs and resources and materials are harder to replace. According to Fuad-Luke, transforming cultural perceptions about sustainability is crucial to developing positive solutions among society. Without altering consumer behavior, society is going to be much more resistant to change. And change is necessary if we hope to create a world more focused on sustainability.

Design activism, or “issue-led design,” is focused on creating entirely new products based on satisfying our needs as consumers. The issue of gender equality and the empowerment of women is the inspiration of my design concept, which is providing women with the empowerment and feeling of acceptance that they deserve in today’s corporate work environment. The work suit is the most commanding article of clothing that a woman can own. Therefore, I am giving this consumer group an opportunity to design their own eco-friendly suit out of recyclable materials via an online database. The suits can be made with unique appliques or a range of layers that can be shed on the outer layers of the jacket in order to prolong product use and postpone product replacement. Before gaining access to the online site, the women will be instructed to complete a survey that will lightly educate them on information regarding textile waste and environmental impact of material production and consumption. I hope that this will inspire them to do more sustainable research on their own and extend this unique concept to others. Fuad-Luke’s explanation of “halfway products” also inspired my design concept, as products are made with room left for the user to complete the making. The user then has their own matchless creativity to differentiate their work suit from others, satisfying their need of self-identity. Knowing who you are as a person and being confident in what you can bring to the table is what women in the work force must have in order to be seen as equals in executive decisions. Through offering them the chance to customize what they wear in a way so that aggressiveness and control is communicated, a positive change within society is formed.

The graph below was found on The Bureau of Labor Statistics website, and shows the substantial progress being made toward relative equality in the work force between men and women. As you can see, it is also slowing down the closer that we get to equality. I believe that the process can be accelerated if women took the initiative to communicate their power based on what fashion can provide.

A customized, eco-friendly work suit for women is only the start to improving the world of sustainability. Moving beyond form and function and promoting more powerful and emotional relationships with the objects that we consume is the key to halting overconsumption, according to Faud-Luke. It is also a promising start to changing the near future. Fashion is the answer for women to speak up and demand the respect that we deserve from men both inside and outside of the working world. So let’s start talking, ladies.

In this course, I believe that the most important thing I learned is that change is ultimately up to us. We have the power to put the concept of sustainability in motion, and until we do it is only going to get worse. There is an ample amount of information and suggestions to adopting a different lifestyle when it comes to production and consumption, but it has to be collectively adopted. With this knowledge, I plan to continue to research and find ways that I can contribute to this movement toward a more sustainable earth. I also want to educate others with what I have learned so that they become more aware of the severity of the situation and how simple it could be to resolve. Now that I have taken this course, I would like to learn more about how I could potentially market the sustainable concept in an effective and inspiring way. I feel as though there isn’t enough promotion and education regarding a greener environment, and so I would like to learn how to do so in a way that will lead designers and consumers to take action.

Save the Suits!

It’s that time of the year again when the weather is steadily getting warmer, shorts are coming out from the bottom of our drawers, and relaxing poolside is drawing nearer. Summer time is one of the best times, but with it comes minor environmental setbacks. When signs of the summer season are approaching, the first thing that I think of to do is to go shopping for a brand new swimsuit. Despite having about five other perfectly usable suits already, shopping for swimsuits is like shopping for a new wardrobe. Styles, colors, and cuts change drastically from one season to the next. To address this inevitable situation, I have come up with a new design concept to transform our used bathing suits into bracelets that are the perfect summer accessory.

My design concept once again utilizes the technical metabolism concept from cradle to cradle, which is a process of which a material is maintained and reusable through multiple product cycles in a closed-loop system. In this system, used materials can create new products or be used to replenish the lives of previously used products. In my idea of creating bracelets out of swimsuits, an entirely new product is made that is eliminating excessive waste and providing consumers with an eco-friendly way to sport a new fashion trend. This idea also will appeal to those consumers who refuse go the extra mile to recycle their used products since it gives them a personal incentive, an addition to their wardrobe. If you are even remotely interested in fashion, then you possess an internal knack for innovativeness and creativity. These unique characteristics can continue to flourish in a way that benefits both us and our environment in this technological process.

My idea of transforming used bathing suits into bracelets involves one item: a pair of scissors. In order to create the bracelet that appeals to you, simply cut a strip of the fabric into a length long enough to wrap around your wrist. To resemble the current bracelet-stacking trend, the swimsuit fabric can be wrapped around the wrist as many times as is desired. Once a solid length is determined, the fabric can be easily knotted and excess fabric at the ends can be snipped. Most swimsuits today are made out of synthetic materials including polyester, nylon, and spandex. Since these are not the most environmentally-friendly materials upon disposal, turning them into a new product such as the bracelets is a great first step to decreasing their overwhelming production amounts. These fibers are also known for durability, which means that the bracelets can be worn for multiple summer seasons. The picture below shows an example of how the bracelets could look depending on the colors of the used swimsuit.

In the reading, Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart point out that it is less expensive for industries to make new products to be shipped out than it is to build up infrastructures to process the used items themselves. Basically, the time that it takes each individual or “industry” to make new products from the old is insignificant to the time and money that our economy will spend to create foundations or “industries” that will do it for us. Making these bracelets is a direct way for us as citizens to assist in saving expenditures in the long run, opening up even more opportunity for the apparel business. McDonough and Braungart also explain the notion of a technical nutrient and what it means to be a “product of service” rather than something that is bought, used, and thrown away. Consumers of fashion items are seeking something that they can enjoy, and my idea of the swimsuit bracelets achieves that exact hope while capitalizing on sustainability.

In Textile Futures, Quinn brings up a process called “resurfacing” that is a collective approach to reprocess discarded fabrics using studio-based and digital practices. This new method was adopted early by London-based designer Becky Earley, who performs reprinting on used fashion textiles. While my swimsuit bracelets do not involve technological expertise, her idea to transform used materials into something wearable again inspired me to think along those lines. Kate Goldsworthy, also a London-based designer, ponders the thought of a future that has a “rediscovered delight in the value of recycled resources”. Kate’s analysis of sustainability in textiles also inspired me to think of an idea that would ignite this same delight within swimsuit consumers.

The reading C2CAD, emphasizes collaborative approaches to sustainability in textiles and how important it is to share knowledge and resources. The fashion industry is one where unique ideas are exchanged between many people to come up with a single trend or an entire clothing line. Sustainability can be achieved just as easily if communication regarding eco-friendly production efforts were discussed as often. My idea starts with the bracelets, but can be expanded to chokers, headbands, or ankle bracelets by collaborating with others and sharing thoughts. The apparel design process as defined by Gam of problem definition and research, creative exploration, and implementation is only successful in a cooperative environment.

My idea of transforming used bathing suits into bracelets will address the overconsumption and disposal problems we as consumers constantly battle. It will also jolt the creative and collaborative juices necessary in order to be successful in our ecological efforts. The concept of sustainability is really very similar to how simple it is to transform swimsuits to bracelets: it requires little effort and leads to bigger opportunities.

Picture: http://www.google.com/imgres