Author: Dominick Nardone

While reading Alice Payne’s study, especially the section on transformable design practice, I was reminded of a decent bit of my wardrobe as a child in the early 2000s. During this time period, the practice of reversible clothing was a huge hit, everything from shorts to hoodies, where either side were either a different design or color. Although I really liked this design choice as a child, as opposed to Payne’s Australian study, I find that the implementation of a similar idea would be unfavorable as a 22 year old. Yet, I really do like the idea of compartmentalizing garments, so that if I were to, say tear a pocket in a pear of jeans or stain in with red wine, I would easily be able to replace it without the need to throw them away. This practice does have the potential to make the fashion industry more sustainable, but I feel like the laziness of the majority will prevent this from becoming a mainstream practice for years to come. There is potential for designers to appropriately, and most likely slowly, move this into the mainstream consumption of garments, but as Payne highlights, budget constraints and the gears of capitalism tend to prevent this. 

Although the ethnographic research that I have done in my previous ethnographic related course have focused primarily on long term ethnographic research that takes course over several months to years, I really appreciated Pink and Morgan’s approach to short-term ethnography or rapid ethnography. Although these short term ethnographies don’t allow the researchers to understand certain nuances that are found in long term ethnography, they definitely have their uses. In terms of David Millen’s Rapid Ethnography, The practice of focusing on specific details can effectively allow for the development of empathy and acknowledge assumptions. These practices can be very beneficial in several situations, including the preliminary phase of long term ethnographic research. With an intense experience within an ethnographic zone, speculation off-site and digging into specific details can efficiently allow researchers to understand the position of those involved in the ethnographic zone. I believe this practice can effectively assist long term studies, in which researchers may forget the importance of certain ideas as they become comfortable within the ethnographic zone.

Considering I have taken both Ethnographic Methods and Ethnographic Thinking throughout my attendance at NYUSH, I absolutely appreciated Woodward’s approach to understanding sustainable fashion. Consumer practices heavily influence the way in which producers market their clothing lines, and the way that other consumers view specific clothing brands and styles. As individual consumers develop their style, they tend to stay within that style, and their closet exemplifies that. With some individuals, those prone to operate within the means of fast fashion, their clothing can become out of style, or they can outgrow that style. Personally, I tend to find myself purchasing clothing that can be used in multiple scenarios, and try to avoid clothing that is too specific to a certain season. Due to the versatility of my closet, I have effectively been capable of holding on to my clothing for extended periods of time. Her approach also led me to think about the car market, and the practices that some people take in order to prolong the life of their car. It is practices as simple as prompt oil changes, changing the tires for the season, safe driving practices, that effectively prolong the life of the vehicle. 

In her essay, Kate Fletcher looks into the implications of fast fashion, a process that she defines as being used as an economic tool by the fashion industry in “order to increase throughput and grow profit.” Although she accepts that this business model is the universal goal for business globally, she pinpoints on several issues that arise from this model within the framework, from the use of cheap materials and labor, to exploiting the consumers desire for novelty. Yet, she argues that the fashion industry contains several more negative externalities, increase pollution, resource depletion, and climate change. With this in mind, she questions the impact of the volume-budget model on society and the environment. With this in mind, she argues that the other end of the spectrum, slow fashion, which involves the creation of durable products, traditional production techniques that tend to have a smaller impact on the environment, and designs that are season-less, lack the credibility that it deserves. Following this idea of slow fashion, opens the floodgates for an evolution within the fashion sector that can effectively change the world for the better. I found her paper very interesting because it effectively questions the traditional business model in the fashion industry, and the problems that arise from the ideas of fast fashion. Personally, I have never been a consumer of fast fashion, purchasing clothing maybe once a year and wearing them until they are effectively worn beyond use. I completely agree with her arguments, and think that further support for slow fashion, especially when locally produced, can have a massive impact on revolutionizing the way people think about fashion, and effectively improve the relationship between the fashion industry and the environment. 

In her talk, Li Edelkoort argues that the issue with the fashion industry is that they are outdated, and questions the unethical practices in the fashion industry still used today, such as the use of unsustainable production methods. I loved her idea on of labeling the origin, content, and labor of the product to rationalize the price. Nowadays, when you go to the store to buy salmon, it is law that the above labeling is in place in order to assure the consumer that they are buying from an ethical, sustainable source, thus enforcing the relatively higher price than that of the alternative. Consumer awareness in the choices that they are making is of utmost importance in revolutionizing any industry, even the fashion industry.