Category: Sustainable Fashion

I really enjoyed reading about the design principles in the Cradle to Cradle approach. Reframing the problem statement and reworking the goal makes a lot of sense to me. The goal isn’t to produce less, as they mentioned, because that would mean that the ideal goal is to produce zero, which is completely unrealistic. Rather, the goal is to produce more in a way that contributes to “nature’s bounty”. I believe that this optimistic view is what drives innovation and encourages designers and engineers to embrace creativity in creation.

I was particularly struck by this: “Imagine an economy where a designer designs not just for single use, but for a legacy of products with a storyline that has no end” (300).  What an exciting and challenging task!  Suddenly, designers have to think more deeply about their creations: what will it look like, how will it feel, what will it be made out of, what should it be made out of, how will it contribute to society, how will it feed into the next cycle?  It is simply not enough to think about design as merely a visual task because it is so much more than that. Designers determine the “storyline” of the product, whether it’s a piece of clothing, bag, shoes, necklace, phone, laptop, or TV.  Hardware designers, software designers, digital designers — all kinds of designers must take ownership of the product’s storyline in order to support change in production, manufacturing, buying and selling.

The social fairness design aspiration (“honor all natural systems and the people involved in creating products”) also left an imprint on me. Respecting workers, ensuring good conditions, committing to fair wages, and promoting safety really just boils down to empathy.  And, this is something that all designers should be familiar with already, especially if they practice design thinking. I really do think that designers can push companies to make better choices. UX designers already take ownership of building empathy for the end-user within the organization.  Fashion designers can do this too. And, they should not just focus on empathy for the end-user (consumer), but also for the workers.

Link to Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iNvMvz7Ji-ptSl8qfeCjFiyNxah_8k8OSF8iZecHM0g/edit?usp=sharing

Reflection:

For our Topic Presentation, our group researched existing sustainable fashion practices. We started our research by doing a general google search on existing sustainable fashion practices. We read a number of articles and company websites/advertisements and eventually got an idea of the areas of sustainable fashion practices. We tried to ensure that we found examples of sustainable practices in all levels of the fashion cycle, from design and production, to advertising, consumer use, and disposal. After doing all of our research and taking notes on it together as a group, we created our presentation and each worked on refining a section of the presentation to present. 

Overall, I found our topic research quite interesting. While we have learned about a number of sustainable fashion practices through our readings and class discussions, we also found some other practices which seem to have an exciting future in sustainable fashion. For example, 3D printing is currently used not only to make fibers and raw materials, but is also being innovated to be used to make clothing directly by individuals.

One of the challenges I found while doing this research and presentation was attempting to narrow down our findings into a concise and limited list under defined sections. There are currently so many (hundreds, likely) of sustainable fashion practices, that it was somewhat difficult to sort what the most popular, most effective, and most relevant ones were. Although this was somewhat challenging from a presenter point of view, it is encouraging as a whole for the bright future of sustainable fashion practices.

I really admire Eileen Fisher’s story. She has done what all fashion companies could and should do: take ownership. She seems to be an almost perfect example of a passionate, dedicated, and ambitious leader. Not only does she concern herself with environmental, ethical, and social concerns, but she also encourages the designers to express themselves and to embrace creative freedom. Fisher actively helps the consumer make better choices when they shop her products so that the consumer does not have to feel guilty. Regardless of this, though, I personally do not have a lot of experience with the Eileen Fisher brand, and I have never felt compelled to explore her NYC SoHo store several times. Perhaps I looked at her clothes once and didn’t identify with the brand? Perhaps it was a bit too pricey? I am not sure.

I am actually not surprised by the fact that, in 2009, the company was struggling to gain traction with younger customers. Even today, when I think of the brand Eileen Fisher, the first person who comes to mind is my friend’s mother who is in her 60s. Her style is simple, elegant, and professional. And funnily enough, sometimes I realize that we are wearing very similar things. Reflecting upon this reading and my experience with the Eileen Fisher brand, I am not sure why my gut instinct is “that’s not my type of brand” because, well, it seems like it totally is!  It is interesting to me that even after IDEO came in and helped deliver surprising results within just 2 weeks, I still have this kind of perception. On top of that, I cannot think of a single one of my friends around my age who shops at Eileen Fisher, but then again, perhaps they do and I just don’t know.  I like that IDEO made the EF employees have one on one interviews with customers, conduct field research visiting customer’s houses, and collect data on consumer shopping habits out in the wild. There is something uniquely special about witnessing your end-user interact with your product (or a similar product) in a relevant context that I believe will almost always inspire new and innovative ideas.