The fashion industry is becoming more aware of environmental sustainability issues, however there are many who do not wish to sacrifice their creative designs to meet the requirements for sustainable design. The luxury apparel industry and the conspicuous consumers who purchase extremely high quality apparel and textile products usually do not have sustainability as a priority for purchasing. In order to change this, we need to focus on making sustainable design a more luxurious industry. To use the idea of design activism, we must create an event that will be for high class, wealthy, high status individuals who care about the social aspect of buying products. In the article Design Activism, Alastair Fuad-Luke quotes Ann Thorpe defining activism as, "taking intentional action to instigate change on behalf of a neglected group." The neglected group would be the consumer as defined earlier in this post.
I would like to create an event that would happen as often as fashion week in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Milan, etc. It would be a several day long event that would include shows and parties featuring 'socially active design' as Fuad-Luke states, "where the focus of the design is is society and its transition and/or transformation to a more sustainable way of living, working, and producing." To be able to attend the event, one would have to bring old clothing items that could either be recycled (if it was made from natural materials and natural dyes) or repurposed. It would be important to have an extensive, impressive guest list to encourage those to come, and join the "trend" of sustainable design. The hope would be to bring knowledge to this group of consumers, and to showcase the importance and also popularity of the new wave of environmental sustainability.
The most important thing I learned in this class is the affect of textiles and the production of fibers on the environment, and that there are high quality alternatives. I plan on using this information in the future while designing clothes, and using environmentally sustainable materials. This is also what I would like to learn more about after this class. I would like to learn more about the extensive textile alternatives, and the new developments that are currently in process.
Emily, I like your focus on "spreading the word" about design activism towards a more sustainable future. I think the very most important thing is knowledge, like you said. I knew a little bit about product sustainability, but after this class I know much more and that makes me want to DO more. Applying this thought, I think more consumers would act more if they were more knowledgeable. What ideas do you have to promote for the over-consumers verse the under-consumers? And which do you think would be greater affected by your cause? Great job this week!
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ReplyDeleteGood job on your blog. I think having a sustainable event like fashion week is a great idea. I think it would help people understand how important sustainability really is to our environment. I also think it is a good idea to have a very impressive guest list. Maybe invite some people of celebrity status to help set and start the trend. I think this idea would definitely benefit the over consumers but how do you think it would help the under consumers and in what ways do you think they could be incorporated to this event?
I really like your idea of an event, it's very creative and I think this would be awesome to attend! With so many creative minds in one place, the ideas and new concepts would be endless. This type of event is just what the apparel industry needs, as well as all other types of industries. The environment of this event would be a great place for people to work together and create great things with recycled materials. Good job!
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