Creating a global vision for sustainable fashion

Textiles, the fastest growing sector in household waste, have created an exponential rise in the export of second hand clothes (SHC) to overseas markets such as Kenya and Tanzania. Despite the few advantages for the destination markets (eg, enterprise opportunities), this has exasperated a difficult situation for domestic production. Increased cheap imports from Asia have also led to decline in SHC markets, resulting in increased land filling and the associated environmental impacts. Our research proposes remanufacturing fashion from the unwanted SHC, embellishing using local (destination market) craft/design. From literature review conducted, reuse and remanufacture of clothing causes the least impact on energy use and appears to be the most environmentally and socially friendly approach to sustainability efforts. Remanufacture of clothing is currently practiced at niche market levels, for it to have a broader impact; it needs to gain entry into the mass-market retail arena. In the mass market arena, the apparel value chain is organized around several parts with a marketing network at the retail level. Lead firms predominantly construct these value chains, are predominantly located in developed countries, and may be large retailers and brand-name firms, playing a significant role in specifying what is to be produced, how, and by whom. Our goal is to understand how designers, manufacturers and retailers may work together in a remanufacturing process. We present findings from interviews with Tanzanian second hand clothes retailers and artisans, UK fashion remanufacturers and retailers. We discuss the implications on the fashion design process and propose a new product development method for sustainable consumption of fashion. We conclude by reflecting on potential mechanisms of the supply chain integration and how the large multinationals may become engaged. Key words: remanufacturing, design process, supply chain, second hand clothe

Revolutions Come in Cycles: Mapping New Paradigms in Fashion Research and Practice To Social Change

Clothing holds a unique place in our society. It touches our skin and helps in the formation of our identity. It is an outer to our inner and contains within its makeup both intrinsic and extrinsic values. Fashion, with its reliance on inbuilt obsolescence has oft been viewed with scepticism by those who see the speed of change contributing to overconsumption and leaving in its wake mountains of waste. This paper will take these negative practices and drawing on contexts from developmental and environmental perspectives, investigate how new paradigms in fashion research and practice are both responding to and pushing forward social change for the better. Concepts such as zero waste pattern cutting, recycling/ upcycling, anti-consumerist tendencies all have at their root the potential to revolutionise ways in which items will be consumed and made in the future and how they may contribute to the emerging circular economy. Transcending boundaries between practical and theoretical work this paper will discuss research carried out to date that has explored local manufacturing and aspects of social enterprise in the formation of a fashion design collection and show how in revolutionising approaches to fashion design, make and consumption we may be able to view the fashion industry in a new light. The paper will argue the case for a further embedding of practice-led research into academic conventions and the ways in which this form of research can transform our knowledge of fashion systems and approaches to making and consuming. In considering key tenants of social change it will analyse the impact these have on the ways in which we view and consume clothing and fashion. These will include notions of thrift and approaches to pattern cutting that hold at their root methods for both the conversion and reduction of waste. Key words: Circular development, new paradigms, recycling, zero waste, social chang

Development of A Tanzanian National Dress: Explroations in Co-design , Recycling and Identity

The demand and desire for a National Dress for Tanzania has been recognized by several agencies including the Tanzanian Government, local tailors, NGO’s and the people themselves. It is anticipated that the development of a National dress will help to project a unified image of cultural heritage, traditional norms and potentially galvanize the indigenous textile and clothing sector. This paper shows the current process of the development of Tanzanian national dress with a focused literature review, techniques applied during a fieldwork study for qualitative data collection and co-design workshops. It is accepted that second-hand clothing dominates the textile industry in Tanzania. The purpose of the workshop was to seek the most beneficial recycling techniques to incorporate into the design and manufacture of items such as a national dress. A range of qualitative methods were used to collect data from the Tanzanian society. During a co-design workshop, useful information were provided for designing a Tanzanian national dress. Moreover, the data obtained suggested important design principles that would guide designers in the design process and other essentials concerning traditional culture in relation to strengthening a national identity and for recycling