Auerbach George, H, Tregenza, L, Stenton, M et al. (3 more authors) (2023) Challenging perceptions of fast and slow in contemporary fashion: A review of the paper dresses trend in the United Kingdom and the United States during the 1960s. International Journal of Sustainable Fashion & Textiles, 2 (1). pp. 29-52. ISSN 2754-026X
Abstract
Writing in 2022 we are at a global crisis point, as our use of the planet’s finite resources outstrips supply. Our current lifestyles continue to perpetuate this problem by encouraging excessive and wasteful models of consumption. One of the most detrimental industries for this is the clothing industry. Our fashion cycle is now programmed to be ‘ultra-fast’, encouraging excessive consumption of garments causing myriad environmental issues. This article argues that there are developing models of both manufacture and consumption, which can satiate this need for ‘fast’ fashion whilst being part of the wider sustainable fashion conversation. Rather than understanding the short-term life cycle of clothing as inherently unsustainable, this can be reframed as matching a garment’s use phase to the longevity of the material it is made from. This article uses a material culture approach to explore original 1960s paper garments, alongside a critical analysis of the sustainability of their manufacture and disposal from a green chemical perspective. Using the combined knowledge and experience of its authors, from historians and sustainable fashion designers to green chemists and biochemical engineers, this article demonstrates how such garments could inspire new models of sustainable fashion production and consumption. We argue that the current paradigm of slow fashion as the only antidote to fast fashion must be challenged. Instead, the fashion and textile sector must consider a range of solutions to the environmental burden of fast fashion that are human-centred and sympathetic to all consumer demographics and needs.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. |
Keywords: | paper dress, disposable fashion, fashion fads, sustainability, paper fabric, speed cycles, fast fashion, slow fashion |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Design (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council) AH/S002804/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 26 Apr 2023 09:49 |
Last Modified: | 26 Apr 2023 09:49 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Intellect Discover |
Identification Number: | 10.1386/sft_00019_1 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:198604 |