Fast fashion is an issue that has been highly publicised over the last few years. There are so many concerns linked to it, from the environmental impact, the conditions within factories, and the throw-away culture that is taking over the world. I want to explore the issues around fast fashion and see if there are things I can do as a product design engineer that might make a difference.
Clothes are such highly designed products, yet they are something I never consider when thinking of good or bad design. I believe that clothes are one of the most emotionally driven purchases we make, and I think this will provide a good opportunity to investigate the links between emotion and design. We use clothes as a way to express ourselves and feel good about ourselves, and I think that this makes the solutions to the problem of fast fashion harder to find. It is also a more complex situation when you consider the current financial uncertainty of the UK population, these are important areas to consider within all areas of design.
I have been thinking about this issue more than usual recently as I have been trying to buy a pair of jeans. Not having a straight up and down figure, I find buying jeans a nightmare, and generally have to settle on a pair that is too large on the waist to fit elsewhere. I know that there are so many people that have the same problem and I think the generic body that women’s clothing is designed for represents such a small group of people. The picture below shows some 'body types', and I don't think it is easy to purchase clothes for all of them.
This time I decided I would invest in a more expensive pair of jeans that would be higher quality (supposedly) and then pay for tailoring if it was necessary. Jeans are expensive! Jeans from the brands you would think of for traditional high-quality jeans such as Levi’s and Tommy Hilfiger are around £100. However, my thinking, which I hope isn’t proven to be wrong throughout this project, is that they will last for several years, in which time I would have to buy several pairs of £40 jeans, making it a good investment. I also wanted to consciously not contribute to fast fashion.
I think this topic will provoke interesting discussions and I also hope it allows me to learn more about this issue that none of us can avoid.
Comentarios