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Knowing more about how clothes were made can have a transformative effect on people’s relationship with fast fashion, a new study shows.
Learning about clothing production and how to make, repair and modify garments can encourage the adoption of more sustainable clothing choices, such as buying fewer new clothes and repairing them.
The study shows that people will not be persuaded to avoid fast fashion if there are attempts to “educate” them; those involved in the study said they felt it was alienating and discouraging.
The research was part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded “S4S: Designing a Sensibility for Sustainable Clothing project”. The academics followed the participants for nine months.
Experts from the University of Exeter and the University of Wolverhampton asked people in Cornwall and the West Midlands how they felt about clothes and how they acted when they shopped, and whether the workshops would have an impact on their feelings, thoughts and actions. As part of the study, they partnered with community venues, consultants who delivered workshops, videographers, and the NGO Fashion Revolution.
Many of the participants in the West Midlands had previously worked in the garment industry.
During the 40 workshops, participants learned how “lint” becomes dyed yarn and woven fabric and used the yarn and woven fabric in deconstructive and reconstructive weaving sessions.
Participants in Cornwall learned about zero waste and learned how to knit using wool from old frayed knitwear. The West Midlands turned old men’s shirts into aprons which the Cornish group embellished in their mending and repair shops. The West Midlands group dedicated themselves to visible repair, inspiring the Cornwall group to recycle and re-invent otherwise useless charity shop waste.
Conversations during the workshops were recorded, and additional discussions were facilitated by the research team, both individually and in groups. Participants also kept reflective journals and participated in short reflective videos.
The workshop tasks were designed to make people think about the life of clothing and its materials, the ethical issues raised by fast fashion, and to teach the skills of making, repairing and modifying clothing.
Participants also engaged in wardrobe edits at the beginning and end of their participation time, estimating the number of items in their wardrobes, before making an exact count of the number of items.
The study, published in the Material Culture Magazine, says that to encourage more sustainable behavior, people must be given the space to learn rather than be taught “approved values and behaviors.” A participant from the West Midlands said: “We’ve had quite a few good conversations about cheap clothes and not demonizing them and the privilege of being able to dress appropriately… We’ve been talking about… the privilege of being able to make ethical clothing choices when you’re on a low income and … one of the dangers is that it gets a little bit, there’s some snobbery in it.”
At a pre-workshop wardrobe audit in Cornwall, another participant said: “I don’t think it’s about shaming people for what they buy and saying ‘and that’s wrong’, I think it’s more about helping people make more informed decisions.
Dr Joanie Willett, from the University of Exeter, said: “We found that the driving factor in avoiding fast fashion lies in the realization that clothes and the materials they are made from are precious and represent work and time. In the workshops, people expressed a desire to reduce their clothing either by buying fewer, better-quality goods that they hoped they could keep longer, or by choosing not to buy anything at all for an extended period of time.
Professor Clare Saunders, from the University of Exeter, said: “We found that inviting people to immerse themselves in the materiality of clothing enabled potentially transformative affective encounters that, like seeds, can be nurtured and nurtured. The workshops helped participants to become more ‘fluid’ as people who create with textiles, and to find their enjoyment in doing these activities.”
Appetite for fast fashion fades as people learn about the impact of mass-produced clothing, study shows
More information:
Joanie Willett et al, The affective economy and fast fashion: Materiality, embodied learning, and developing a sensibility for sustainable clothing, Material Culture Magazine (2022). DOI: 10.1177/13591835221088524 Provided by the University of Exeter
Citation: Learning how clothes are made has a ‘transformative’ effect on people’s relationship with fast fashion (August 12, 2022) Retrieved September 3, 2022 at https://phys.org/news/2022- 08-effect-people-relationship-fast-fashion.html
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Source: phys.org