The textile world is full of innovation; new materials, production methods, and ways to recycle. Although exciting and necessary these don’t truly address the elephant in the apparel room: Over consumption!
Our wardrobes are full to bursting with clothes we don’t wear and charity shops are overwhelmed with donations as people try to ‘responsibly’ clear out their closets, however even when shopping second hand or in ‘ethical’ stores we continue to buy so much more than we really need.
As a clothing designer, I’ve been considering how to use my skills and knowledge effectively without adding to the endless piles of stuff already on the rails. A key element to slowing down the system and reducing the quantities of clothes in our wardrobes is around giving garments more worth. How can we design in value and at the same time design out the notion of clothes as temporary, disposable items? The answer is no quick fix. We’ve been conditioned for decades to desire and value newness, to keep up with trends and give ourselves a boost with ‘retail therapy’.
I have been spending some time exploring ideas around how designers in particular can practically contribute to a more climate positive apparel industry. I began with a straightforward question; What clothes do people love and why? First I considered some of my own favourite garments.
As a functional and outdoor clothing designer I often look to Japanese brands and magazines for inspiration. I love their approach to technical clothing; so when my other half came back from a trip to Tokyo with a pair of shorts from Aldies (the clothing brand not the supermarket) I was over the moon. These are THE best shorts - they are not too long nor too short. They are neutral in palette so can be worn with a variety of colours. They do however feature some colour and print, so they don’t feel dull! I can wear them in a multitude of ways depending on the weather and the occasion. But most importantly to me they have so many practical pockets! I can carry all my essentials without fear of losing them. They also make me very happy because they are not something you see everywhere on the high street
Another example is my first Denim Jacket: I was 16 when I desperately wanted a denim jacket, specifically a Levi’s one. I saved up, went into the store to look at it and tried it on multiple times before I had enough money to actually buy it. Once it was mine I wore it at every opportunity. I didn’t buy it because it’s ‘a classic’, my 16 year old brain had no interest in classic/timeless dressing, I bought it because I perceived it to be cool.
I really treasured that jacket and wore it repeatedly until it came to the end of its wearable life. It had holes in the elbows and frayed cuffs but I was still unwilling to let it go. By this time I was a design/textiles student so I got out my sewing kit and reworked it into a skirt. Once again I had an awesome garment to wear over and over again. I was proud because it still had its Levi’s label and also because I’d remade it myself. It was unique and in my late teens /early 20’s looking a bit different was very important to me. Sadly I’m not the same size or shape as I was when I was in my early twenties and the skirt has long since parted company for a charity shop. I do still however have the small denim bag that I made from the offcuts!
For me at least, the key to a garment being a favourite and having longevity in my wardrobe is a combination of;
• Uniqueness: things I don’t always see everyone wearing, either through rarity, being home-made or being customised.
• Fit: comfortable, flattering and easy to wear.
• Versatility in use: so it can be worn in different ways for different occasions.
• Joy: it needs to allow me to feel like myself. I want to be comfortable and authentic in it, and then I’ll be happy to wear it over and over again.
A quick anecdotal survey via social media indicates I’m not alone in my thinking. Lots of people referenced good fit, multi-use and ease of wear. Function came up too - although that might be a reflection of my connections within outdoor/ sports/technical clothing. Value for money was important – it’s important to note that this doesn’t necessarily mean ‘cheap’ but if an item was bought at a reduced price or found second hand and deemed as ‘a bargain’ that definitely boosts its appeal. There were also comments about ‘feeling wonderful’ in favourite garments, and happy memories attached to them which I found particularly interesting. So there are some obvious things a designer can do to boost the practical and emotional durability of a garment:
• Design for function and really understand the purpose of the garments you’re creating. Don’t let that purpose be only ‘to follow the latest trend’.
• Pay attention to fit, consider adjustability or ease of altering to allow garments to be worn despite changing body shapes.
• Choose the most suitable materials that allow the garment to do all of the above whilst also having an appropriately long life and a low impact end of life
So far so practical! As a designer of technical apparel it’s not a million miles away from the process I already follow. I think the real challenge is how to design in ‘making someone feel wonderful’. Is that even possible? How do we create something that can hold memories and foster affection? How can we ‘design in’ that ‘emotional attachment’ that gives our clothes more longevity?
I’m pretty sure such things are not on the radar for most high street brands, which means it doesn’t apply to clothes that are most accessible to the majority of people. The high street is full of micro trends that are in and out in the blink of an eye designed to be worn once and discarded, often sold at a misleadingly cheap price point which only lowers the perceived value of all clothing even more.
I got to thinking that perhaps the answer is in how we used to do things? The fast fashion model of the current high street is actually pretty new. It wasn’t so long ago that clothes were made to order or made on demand or simply in smaller amounts. You had your ‘best clothes’ for special occasions, you had clothes for seasons more dictated by the weather than fashion fads. And the high street, as we know it, used to have just 2 - 4 ‘seasons’ a year.
When I was young I remember looking at high profile designers and seeing them create stories for catwalk collections - there would be themes and ideas interpreted into clothes - clothes were used as a medium to express messages or tell stories. Garments were crafted with care and intelligence to be works of art and that art and creativity was well respected.
As I entered the garment industry I was disappointed to find that so many fashion design jobs involved ‘interpreting’ (copying) catwalk trends, cheaply and quickly, for the high street market. Where is the joy of creativity in that?
It’s not that our clothing should all be the work of famous designers, I believe that good quality clothing should be accessible to all, but surely there can be a happier medium? If “Fashion” as an industry were to move away from microtrends and constant newness, updating your wardrobe could be more about adapting existing clothes or getting them altered. Using what you already have and evolving it to suit changing tastes or trends would not only be a creative solution but also open up different types of work within local communities.
I’d love to see a shift to a more service based industry where those with the skills to sew and create new garments can also alter, rework, mend and adapt to changing preferences and body shapes. There could be so much more scope for creativity and customisation. A shift from prescriptive trends to personal style!
There will, of course, always be ‘trends’. What we wear has and will continue to be influenced by changing environments and cultural/historical events. This can be a much slower and organic process than the recent fast fashion model. A slower system still allows for different style tribes or aesthetic preferences - designers and brands can still have ‘signature looks’ and ‘handwriting’ that cater for the spectrum of tastes and finances but in a way that doesn’t leave 4 shops in a row on the high street offering slightly varied versions of the same item.
In today’s world shopping is used as a dopamine fix. We get a buzz out of hitting the shops, but that buzz can quickly wear off and often the garment we just bought falls out of favour with us just as quickly as that buzz. We need other ways to get
our ‘fix’ other than endless shopping. Perhaps it’s possible to get the same dopamine hit from simply looking and trying on and having a joyful experience experimenting with looks and different garments, with no need to actually purchase anything. Or maybe you just rent for a special occasion? If you do decide to buy then having a garment tweaked to your shape or preferences might just stop it sitting unworn in your wardrobe as an impulse buy that wasn’t quite right.
There is a business local to me that already plays with this concept - offering ‘dress up’ sessions to try on their range of preloved and vintage pieces, offering an experience you can share with friends without having to actually buy clothes you don’t really need. You get the dopamine hit of newness and style experimentation without having to add clothes you won’t wear to your wardrobe.
As designers we could share the creative process more often, explain our material choices and the thinking behind our designs. If the process is more visible then it’s more valuable and respected and that value and respect can extend to mass produced garments not just artisan one offs. By sharing the skills and knowledge and educating not just budding fashion designers but all consumers we can increase the value put on clothing across the board - whether you’re talking about a garment that costs GBP£20 or GBP£200.
As a designer we can and should
• Design things that can be altered and customised and encourage this! Offer services to make this part of the wardrobe system so a garment can evolve and change with its owner over time.
• Educate people about the skilful art of designing and making by sharing stories and teaching others about your creative process.
• Slow down - don’t regurgitate microtrends, be true to your individual design style. Design with purpose and quality in mind combined with your signature aesthetic.
I would love to see a shift in value, an emphasis on creative thinking and an appreciation of craftsmanship as opposed to simply ticking the latest microtrend box. Increasing the understanding of the skills needed to design and manufacture garments is a key to shifting habits. If designers can help reconnect people with materials, and the processes involved in creating textiles and garments, then we can in turn, help people value their clothes more.
By increasing understanding we encourage mindful choices of well made, durable, garments that will be loved and cared for, for many years. We can then, I believe, slow the whole system down, and genuinely reduce our overconsumption of fashion.