Proud owner of a Master of Applied Imagination title

And here is the written fruit of my work

How can online customization of apparel motivate people to attach greater value to their clothes through self-reflection?

Common Fashion, an online platform providing users with an opportunity to engage in self-reflection as they participate in the customization of an apparel illustration, explores how introspection can be used in product customization to help people reach their full potential for self-reflection and experience an emotional attachment to their possessions.

Increased level of consumption and decreased level of appreciation for clothing possessions necessitates…

How future generations deal with over-abundance, fair labour practices, and environmental concerns is of paramount importance to the well-being of the planet. Today’s rapidly changing styles and the ready availability of dozens of extremely cheap, disposable clothes has led to a dramatic increase in the levels of consumption and to our low degree of appreciation and feelings of emotional attachment to our possessions. Our hunger and disposal of cheap clothing results in a significant, long-lasting environmental impact. If the engagement in a meaningful customization process could offer mundane items greater potential for remaining important to their owners over long periods of time, then the likelihood of disposing of these items could be reduced.

...a new approach, addressing the need for a more conscious generation.

To reduce its negative impact on the environment, it is crucial for the fashion industry to give young adults more influence in the design and life-cycle of the garment. By doing so, the conditions can be created for greater levels of emotional attachment to our clothes. A self-reflective customization process, wherein the individual invests his/her mental effort in discovering himself/herself, rather than in specifying the characteristics of the garment, not only challenges the way clothes are endowed with meanings but also benefits the environment while allowing users to discover aspects of their personality.

Through combining human-computer interaction methods with customization, and self-reflection…

Initially conceived as a co-created fashion style, defined according to user online conversations, Common Fashion transformed into an individual, self-centered event due to the higher value attributed to self-designed products, eliciting greater feelings of authorship. With the rise of technologies that invite self-reflection and augment the practical importance of the so-called “I designed it myself” feelings, a human-computer interaction method turned out to be the most promising tool for providing meaningful self-discovery and for raising the value ascribed to an object.

… the impact of self-reflection was evaluated regarding the level of appreciation for a product

As part of the hypothesis testing, twenty people were asked to take three distinct exercises and then choose one of the outcomes as a T-shirt print. To measure if people would have a preference for an object solely on the basis of its ability to help them learn something new about themselves, two of the exercises were developed as to have more potential for greater self-reflection and to generate outcomes that do not have the ability to express the personality of the user; characteristics that endows objects with meaning. Outcome: regardless of their non-self-expressive quality, the visual illustrations corresponding to the exercises eliciting greater introspection were the preferred in 65% of the cases. Conclusion: given that at least one of the prerequisites for emotional attachment, namely preference, is present, a self-centered customization method generating non-self-expressive outcome has the real potential for endowing the object with meaning.

Common Fashion: a sustainable business concept

Thus, there arises the opportunity to offer processes of this nature not only for the purpose of turning products into valuable artefacts to remain in their owners’ possession over long periods of time but also for helping people develop their capacity for self-reflection and a habit of constantly looking for deeper insights into their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as they engage with and consume products. Therefore, the future of this project lies in its integration as part of a brand aimed at delivering such a shopping experience where the customer is always turning to self-reflection while customizing or purchasing the objects of desire. What if this brand could be brought to a mobile device that enables customers to scan a product and receive content triggering conversation with the customer himself/herself and resulting in self-insight? What would happen if the discovery of oneself was the focus of every product-related activity? Would this help us become more aware, accepting, and loving of ourselves and who we really are?

The most crucial lesson that this course taught me was the necessity to constantly experiment, take risks and adopt a more aggressive attitude towards risk-taking.

Last but not least, the collaborative work with one of my classmates did not go unnoticed by the reporters on environmentally friendly clothing porjects

1) Sustainability Initiatives Interview with Fashion Ethiquette Insider and Common Fashion  Slow Fashioned

 

Interview:

Tell us how you came up with the concepts for Common Fashion.

My original project was an Integrated Marketing Campaign aimed at raising the awareness about the social and environmental impact of “fast fashion” by dramatizing the consequences of over-consumption. However, I realized that this would have been only a temporary interruption into the lives of customers which would go away with the next fashion season, and then I started working on Common Fashion. In this era of overabundance, people do not attach enough value to their possessions unless they are expensive, well-designed pieces, or they carry some symbolic, emotional or memory value for their owner. I wanted to challenge the process of endowing objects with meaning by experimenting with a new way of making people feel emotional attachment to their possessions.

 

We haven’t seen a lot of ethical fashion initiatives targeted at the younger age range that you have. Why is it so important to develop awareness and expand the values of fashion to this particular group?

There is a lot going on on the other side of the world (both in the positive and negative directions). By walking down Oxford Street it is a little bit difficult to get a sense of the real environmental and social problems caused by the fast fashion phenomenon. We need to find innovative and interesting ways of, as Jane Shepherdson (the woman who turned around Top Shop) says: “tempting people into buying beautiful, ethical, sustainable clothes.” By offering creative tools and imaginative products we not only satisfying generation Y’s needs for quality and value but also raise the awareness about the causes these solutions support.

 

What role do you think technology plays in future fashion and sustainability initiatives?

It has the potential to both speed up and slow down the process substantially. Like everything else, it can bring us to unknown territories, unlocking opportunities for innovation while addressing problematic issues. The advent of the Internet has augmented the practical importance of the so-called “I designed it myself” effects. Technology is changing rapidly and is opening more and more opportunities for sense-making and reflection.

 

 

Are there any examples of companies/people doing things in fashion that you are particularly inspired by, and would like to share?

Emotional Wardrobe brings together a diverse cluster of people for the purpose of advancing design that is personal and communicative. I was also introduced to Jennifer Rode’s work on smart closets for girls in support of sharing clothing and advice where clothing is framed as a type of social currency that brings girls together.

 

What is your ideal future for the world of fashion?

Provision of quality, beautifully designed pieces that last and with whom the owner develops a strong emotional attachment.

 

What can Slow Fashioned readers do to get involved with your work, and what your future plans for Fashion Ethiquette Insider and Common Fashion?

I would love to see my project become part of a movement towards slow, self-reflective, sense-making customization. As of now, I just want people to pause, think for a moment, and realize the important contribution they can make to the fashion industry and the environment as a whole by simply curtailing their consumption of unethically sourced clothing, by holding onto their clothes for longer, and attaching greater value to their possessions. I would be really happy if people experiment with what I have developed so far and share their experience with me so that I can develop a much more meaningful customization journey for them in the future!

 

2) Imagining a common etiquette through responsible fashion  Social Alterations

 

Interview:

The moment I moved to London, the moment I discovered it had much more to offer in terms of sights and attractions. Tourists, as well as locals, enjoy the outside view of Buckingham palace as much as the inside experience of Primark. I witnessed this trend of people investing in their wardrobes every week and throwing clothes away after wearing them just a couple of times and I wanted to change this.
With no experience in Fashion Design, I knew I could not offer any well-designed, sustainable clothing solution. However, as someone who is deeply interested in understanding consumer behavior and motivations, I decided to tackle the problem from a psychological perspective. Therefore, my options were narrowed down to two: convince customers to decrease their levels of clothing consumption or make them reduce their disposal of their clothes.

Convincing people to buy less and voluntarily adopt a frugal lifestyle in this era of overabundance and overconsumption is extremely difficult. As a result of my investigation of people’s attitudes and buying behavior towards fashion in general, the focus of my research efforts shifted from encouraging people to buy less to making them attach greater value to their clothes.

With the rise of technologies, inviting self-reflection and supporting personal sense-making, I started investigating, designing, and evaluating different online methods of engaging the user in a meaningful personalization of apparel process. Through my work, I explore how digital media might increase our feelings of attachment to our clothes, strengthen our relationship with and reduce our disposal of them. I determined that customization, and ultimately consumption, can become a more meaningful and thought-provoking experience for the consumer. Therefore, I started developing different online customization tools, triggering self-reflection via thought-provoking questions and storytelling. Each online method represents different self-reflective activity and generates personalized visual outcome. What would happen if we could discover aspects of our personalities in the course of individualizing our garments? What if this personalization process could also let us leave an imprint of our personality on its visual outcome?  Would this help us get closer to ourselves, become more attached to our possessions, and ultimately protect the environment from further pollution? My answer is Yes, Definitely!