Re-birthed fashion handbags as a collaborative design project

Yoon Kyung Lee,Marilyn Delong

doi:10.1186/s40691-018-0131-7

Yoon Kyung Lee, Marilyn Delong

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-018-0131-7

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Abstract

The term ‘re-birth’ refers to the redesign of stock items originally released through the distribution route for sale to consumers but returned to headquarters as unsold stock. As a sustainable fashion practice, products are analysed and redeveloped by designers for resale as new products. During this 4-month project, a South Korean handbag company partnered with senior apparel design students in Seoul to execute a re-birth collaboration for fashion handbags. This study addresses some of the issues that arose in the process of interpretation and application of this re-birth exercise, including the relationship between the university and company, the roles of the student designer and company design team, characteristics of the product selected, and the communication required to implement the project. The concept of re-birth was introduced to the students, followed by a collaborative design exercise. Finally, 2 of the 50 re-birth designs were selected by company designers and altered for resale.

Highlights

Clothing has always reflected the values and aspirations of the wearer, and accessories have contributed as vital indicators of fashion
The student designers developed most of the re-birth handbag designs at re-birth design level 2
Through the analysis of stock items, the student designers were able to understand users’ product evaluations and the brands’ inveterate issues, which were reflected in the re-birth designs

Summary

Introduction

Clothing has always reflected the values and aspirations of the wearer, and accessories have contributed as vital indicators of fashion. The life cycle of a fashion product involves the stages of production, sales, usage, collection, and reproduction. This life cycle can vary according to the model used, i.e. recycling model, maintenance model, etc. Within the product life cycle, the entire process from production to sales includes the societal distribution route (Lee and DeLong 2016a). Fashion accessories such as handbags could well be targeted as sustainable items.

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