Sustainable Fashion and Textiles through Participatory Design: A case study of modular textile design

Sustainability in fashion and textile design is growing in importance due to environmental and social issues related to both production and consumption processes in the fashion industry. In 2013, the Danish Fashion Institute (DAFI) reported that fashion is the world’s second most polluting industry (cited in European commission, 2015), where significant environmental footprints and social issues occur at every stage of the product lifecycle (Defra, 2008) . There are direct and indirect environmental and social impacts associated with the production, use, reuse, resilience and sustainable action surrounding the system of fashion production and consumption (Defra, 2008) . Although these impacts arise at every stage of the product life cycle, from material exaction to the final sale of the product, it has been argued that the most significant environmental impacts of clothes are commonly associated with consumer use and the after-purchase phase (Fletcher, 2008) . The popular phenomenon of ‘fast fashion’ trends encourages people to engage in excessive levels of consumption. According to Black (2008) , clothing sales have increased by 60 percent over the last ten years, and clothing is now far cheaper than it was a few decades ago. The fashion cycle today is also much shorter than it was in the last decade. Black (2008) claimed that consumers now discard clothing after wearing it only a few times, whether the materials are recycled or virgin. It seems logical to argue that the fast fashion trend encourages even greater levels of consumption and, eventually, waste production. The traditional design approach would find it difficult to tackle the sustainable design goal. Typical design approaches commonly emphasize designing the visual element of new products, highlighting the importance of aesthetics, artistic experimentation, and commercial values in design, while little consideration is given to the integration of sustainability. Indeed, sustainability is not considered as an essential part in design processes or is often regarded as self-examination (Heeley, 1999) . Furthermore, the current fashion system has encountered increased criticism with regard to the fractured relationship between the fashion and consumer value chain. Consumers have little knowledge about how and where products are made (European commission, 2015) or the impacts of related consequences of both production and consumption processes in fashion. We are now faced with the fact that these approaches are not sufficient to encourage sustainable fashion and that a new approach is needed. This research explores the way in which participatory design processes might contribute to sustainable fashion and textiles through utilization of a modularity and disassembly system of design. The researcher reviews the meaning of sustainability in fashion and textiles, and discusses the challenges to incorporating sustainability in fashion design. This paper also reviews the concept of participatory design and how this concept could be utilized to overcome the challenges of addressing sustainability in fashion and textile design. This research proposes an alternative way to tackle sustainability issues in fashion and textiles through the exploration of a modular textile design that encourages consumer participation in the design process. Instead of throwing away clothing and replacing it with something new, consumers of modular clothing design systems will be able to transform their purchases, allowing their clothing to adapt to numerous fashion styles through the assembly and disassembly of each modular textile—a revolutionary approach that could potentially minimize excessive consumption. Modular design also seeks to develop a co-design approach to fashion that will allow users to participate in the design process by giving them freedom of design through playful experiences and diverse applications of modular designs in the apparel field. More specifically, this modular tool aims to address the issue of rapidly changing consumer needs and wants, as well as to reduce clothing consumption levels by increasing clothing’s emotional durability.