Abstract
The current patterns of production and consumption of clothes are known for their negative impacts on our planet, and the efforts towards a responsible fashion system must come from industry and users alike. Whereas the fashion industry may focus on achieving eco-efficiency, designers need to engage the wearers in long-term commitment with their clothes to counteract the ongoing increase of textile waste. However, current design strategies for product attachment have proven that it is difficult to succeed at this mission. In this paper we introduce the focus and theoretical framework of a research project that aims to study the relationship between wearers and clothes. We present our research perspective through a literature review that is supported by empirical testimonies of dozens of women, whose words illustrate the complexity of human relationships with garments. When we compare our connection with clothes to interpersonal love relationships, we find that the similarities are significant enough to justify a different approach in design practice, and we suggest a re-focus on the existing wearer–clothing relationships.
Highlights
Consider your experience with clothes: have you ever fallen in love at first sight with a dress? Have you felt the heart-warming comfort and confidence of wearing the perfect clothes for the occasion? Have you ever grieved over some irreparably damaged trousers? From a toddler ecstatic about wearing his favourite dinosaur-themed underwear to the businesswoman towering over a meeting on a perfect pair of power heels, our relationship with clothes is inherently emotional.Notice that if wearer–clothing relationships were mostly rational, fashion would not have become a multi-billion-dollar industry, employing millions of people around the world [1]
We find the western female standpoint in the sample presented to be a fitting example of the wearer–clothing relationships that we discuss in this paper
The current clothing consumption patterns in the Global North are one of the biggest challenges we face in our path towards a sustainable fashion system
Summary
Consider your experience with clothes: have you ever fallen in love at first sight with a dress? Have you felt the heart-warming comfort and confidence of wearing the perfect clothes for the occasion? Have you ever grieved over some irreparably damaged trousers? From a toddler ecstatic about wearing his favourite dinosaur-themed underwear to the businesswoman towering over a meeting on a perfect pair of power heels, our relationship with clothes is inherently emotional.Notice that if wearer–clothing relationships were mostly rational, fashion would not have become a multi-billion-dollar industry, employing millions of people around the world [1]. The issue is important for several reasons: from a global perspective, the clothing industry has a huge negative impact on the planet, as current figures show that up to one hundred billion garments are produced every year worldwide, and unsurprisingly, the equivalent of a truck full of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every second [2]. These figures reveal that we can fall in love with a garment as quickly as we can fall out of love with another, and if the speed at which we change our relationships with clothes were to slow down, the production and waste rate would follow suit. The decreasing quality of fabrics and workmanship that prevailed in high street fashion during the last three decades has led to clothes being less costly to produce and cheaper to acquire, which has profoundly changed the way people relate to what they wear; clothes, once valued and kept in pristine condition to last a lifetime, have become objects of low value, subject to wardrobe lifespans as fleeting as the changing fashions [3]
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