Finally: Thesis is printed, bound and ready to be submitted :)

After a long and interesting journey, this master's thesis is finally ready for submission. Yesterday I could pick up it up from the bookbinder. Lots of handwork also in the binding. But I think the result looks good :) I m very happy, thanks again for everyone involved in the project. I would be glad to share the thesis with anyone interested, just drop me a line al.hirscher{at}gmail.com and I ll send you the preview PDF.

Some images plus abstract below. 
Next week I ll be presenting some research result at 'crafting the future' in Gothenburg, I am quite excited and nervous already... Looking forward to whats next!!!!


Joyful participation in new ways of designing and making clothes. 
Enabling person-prodcut attachment to potentially reduce unnecessary consumption. 

Abstract

This master's thesis investigates design opportunities to motivate and enable sustainable consumer behaviour, especially regarding wasteful fashion and clothing consumption. A literature review provides a theoretical framework and builds background knowledge for three explorative case studies. These practice-led case studies gradually increase the user-involvement in sustainable consumption behaviour. Each case study elaborates a particular research question, evaluating the opportunities to change consumer behaviour with a different design approach. The case studies build upon one another, thus the third case study is discussed in most detail. Selected findings from these three case studies provide an insight to the possibilities of design for person-product attachment with participatory design concepts like 'half-way products': design objects which are intentionally 'unfinished'.

The conclusion drawn is that designers can enable a joyful participation in clothes making, for example with half-way products, and thus foster a stronger emotional value towards garments. This emotional value is likely to facilitate a stronger person-product attachment and encourage longer lasting products. Additionally, the research shows that the participatory design concept – 'half-way product' was very much appreciated. The study concludes with possible future prospects.

Whats to come?

Past weeks (or months) have been rather quiet on this blog, as of much work related to summarizing the learning from my case studies and summing up with the master's thesis. The journey is bending towards an end. Finally. Great feeling of the experience, however still some things to are to be done... Beyond that I have been very involved with my latest project, in collaboration with a fashion designer and some other friends. 

Namely Makeable4u.wordpress.com – the Make{able} workshop series will continue!!! With different concepts we wish to bring clothing design and  a collaborative working to the people. The topics during the workshops will change according to the season, materials and suggestions by our participants. Therefore take a look at our blog and let us know what you would be interested in learning and making.

e.g. coming in autumn... rain cape made of a broken umbrella.

In spite of the positive feedback on the participatory workshops, the question arose whether a market implementation of half-way clothing and half-way products should be evaluated? I wondered if it is possible to reach the critical mass with an open and participatory design approach such as the half-way product? The research showed some potential to experiment further, if the concept – half-way garment in the context of a workshop setting would be appreciated by the average fashion consumer.

Half-way products in (online) stores, especially as a sewing kit, can rarely be found. What are the real market possibilities or are half-way products just another research tool? I imagine that a half-way sewing-kit can be an 'intelligent' product, that requires the consumer's interaction before the first use. The half-way product can offer different stages of difficulty, depending on the consumer's prior skills. However, every piece can be adjusted to measure and personal style. This will result in unique products, that offer more personal value, than prior discussed mass-customization.

On basis of the research, I discovered a broad variety of fashion activism strategies and projects, which were too many to be explained within this thesis. Surprisingly few projects go beyond the research approach and result in a self-sustaining market solution. Those new design solutions, still seem to be the subject of design research only, and not become established in the course of action of consumers and producers.

I came across a Slovenian brand 'PaulMalina' which offers ready-cut garments plus supplies and instructions in one package. This idea combines slow and local production with consumer independency in creation.

In respect of this idea, I interviewed two fashion brands and their respective designers, namely Sophie Schmuckermeier, from 'Fashion-Hackers' (interview on this blog), located in Berlin, Germany and Tjasa Avsec and Tina Hocevar from 'PaulMalina' (interview coming soon :). Both brands use either open source, fashion hacking or the half-way concept in their business strategy. 

Made-By 'Wet Processing Tool'

Made-By is a European not-for-profit organisation, working since 2004, based on the “rising consumer concern in Europe over social and environmental issues in the fashion industry.” Their aim is to change the fashion industry towards more sustainable business practice by improving environmental and social conditions.

(Made-By 2013)

With their newly released 'Wet Processing Tool' sustainable fashion companies are enabled to find the labels, which are best suitable for their practices, thus help the consumer to identify their standards. The tool if very user-friendly and can help interested companies as well as fashion-customers to make the right choices, regarding their ethical standards. 

Take a look to find out more: 

http://www.made-by.org/wet-processing-standards 

Wet-Processing tool - Made-By

Greenpeace for Detox the Fashion Industry

Take a look at Greenpeace Detox campaign and the already achieved comitment of big brands..

"Greenpeace is campaigning to stop industry poisoning waterways around the world with hazardous, persistent and hormone-disrupting chemicals. Launched in July 2011, the Detox campaign has exposed links between textile manufacturing facilities causing toxic water pollution in China, and many of the world's top clothing brands.
Nike, Adidas, Puma, H&M, M&S, C&A, Li-Ning and Zara have committed to Detox, in response to the growing international campaign. Other top clothing companies still need to get a move on, to Detox their brands and help Detox our future." 
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/toxics/water/detox/

Screenshot from a short video for the campaign by Greenpeace.

 See the full video here:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/multimedia/videos/Detox-Fashion/

Make{able} in Martha Magazine

Thank you all again for the lovely workshop beginning of September. The Martha Magazine published a nice article about the workshop and the idea of Half-way product behind it. For those who are interested and speak swedish, I ll add a scan of the article in this post.

THANKS and have a great week!

Article from Martha Magazine 2012

From birth, life and death of a T-shirt

Nice visualisation of the life-cycle and environmental impacts of a cotton T-shirt.
Including suggestions how to reduce CO2 and waste by line drying and the 3 Rs
(Reuse, Recycle, Redesign)

Orginal here: http://urbantimes.co/2012/11/life-of-a-t-shirt-infographic/

Need & Greed

'Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.' (Mahatma Gandhi)

How does the industry changes our needs into desires, which overwhelm our thoughts and make us purchase things beyond what we really need? Are we simply victims of the greediness of the industry? For understanding a bit of the theory behind my project, I will share in the coming posts some theoretical background I came across during my readings.

Through planned and aesthetic obsolescence the industry encourages fast changing fashion cycles (Burns, 2010). Every year, the fashion industry runs between 30 to 50 trend-driven fashion seasons which result in a very high resource depletion (SiegleI, 2012). They emphasis low prices per item, which is provoking a rather poor product quality. 

Clothes Collecting Center: Clothes collected during 2 days (image by the author)

For understanding the basic actions and motives of the consumer, we need to go way back, and follow the main drive and motivation for their behaviour. At the beginning are human needs, which are for example defined by the American psychologist and philosopher Abraham Maslow and Manfred Max-Neef, a Chilean economist.

Needs are motivators for actions of acquiring something. Humans have specific needs, which are independent of our nationality, religion or culture. “Needs cannot be programmed by society or modified by the will of the conscious mind. (Ekins and Max-Neef, 1992, 182)”

Maslow categorized all human needs in a pyramid of five levels. This pyramid is widely known as the Maslow's hierarchy of needs. He divided the levels into physical needs like water, food and air to breath. The next level build safety and security needs e.g. shelter, form one section. On top of the pyramid are social needs, ego needs and self-actualization needs. In the western world, where most of the physical and safety needs are provided, consumption is mainly driven by ego, social or self-actualization need.

image from: ontaria.ca

Manfred Max-Neef accomplished an extensive research study in Latin America. They were researching on the connection of human needs and economic development. In the resulting research publication “Human Scale Development” he identifies those 9 needs as subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, idleness, creation, identity and freedom. Those again can be clusters into material (physical) and nonmaterial (psychological) needs.

Max-Neef is explaining the possibilities of satisfying different needs with according satisfiers. He categorizes them into five sections, namely: violators or destroyers, pseudo-satisfiers, inhibiting satisfiers over-satisfy, singular satisfiers which satisfy only one given need and in the best case scenario, one satisfier is able to satisfy several needs at the same time: a synergic satisfier. At its best, fashion can become a synergetic satisfier and satisfy physical and psychological needs.

Kate Fletcher suggests, that Max-Neef's taxonomy of human needs, can build a base when designing for value and social sustainability. Designers can use it as powerful tool to analyze and identify potential ideas, strengths and weaknesses towards social responsible design. (Fletcher and Grose, 2012)

References:

Brian Burns in Tim Cooper (2010) Longer Lasting Products: Alternatives to the Throwaway Society, 'Re-evaluating Obsolescence and Planning for it.” UK: MPG Books Group, pp. 39-61

Kate Fletcher and Lynda Grose, (2012), 'Fashion & Sustainability – Design for Change', London: Laurence King Publishing

Paul Ekins and Manfred Max-Neef, (1992) 'Real Life Economics: Understanding Wealth Creation', Routledge, London

Manfred Max-Neef, (1991) 'Human Scale Development – Conception, Application and further reflections', New York: The Apex Press

Lucy SiegleI, 'H&M the new home of ethical fashion?', The Guardian, April 07, 2012

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/apr/07/hennes-mauritz-h-and-m, accessed: 25.07.2012