• Catalogue/look book of how pre loved clothing can be portrayed as new and/or glamorous
• Looking at way finding for op shops
• Op shops service experience
• Peoples difficulty to op shop. How can we help with this in order for them to be encouraged to thrift shop, therefore be sustainable
• Could this be something such as an app or website? Maybe something which is like a personality test that then applies you on what to look for at an op shop.
• This could be colours? Brands?
• Research into what brands have designed in the past in order to help know what to recommend?
• Stick to the catalogue, type focussed.
• Recycle boutique as a brand.
• Could this be a sponsored one for recycle?

The topic and idea for my major project was taken from an assignment I did in an elective that focussed on art direction.

For this assignment I chose a poem where I picked a line or couple of words that triggered something personal for myself. From this I created a form of typology design to represent it.

Below is my final work for this assignment.

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With this I included a rationale explaining my assignment:

Rationale:

“I want to know if you can live with failure” was a sentence that featured in my poem which channelled something that I struggle with personally.  Atychiphobia, a fear of failure is something that has been consistent in my life from when I can remember. I particularly took the two words of “Live Failure” as once I thought into it more I discovered these words could be taken how you please. For me however, it was almost a harsh statement of living through your failure, I wanted to play with this idea through making the fabric of the hoodie be that you can interpret it as Love or Live. Being that it is down to myself and how I decide to let failure control my life, that I become failure or I learn to love the failures I experience. I wanted this to be on the fabric as a representation of something that is close to me and is always with me, almost fitting to the expression of “carrying it on my back”. The background is the original words of “Live Failure” as I wanted to represent the anxiety of living failure taking over my life. This image was created to be busy and almost uncomfortable to look at. Nothing is necessarily meant to be “aesthetic” as the design itself however the presentation as a look book is. The idea of a look book relating back to fashion, something which holds great importance to me and my everyday. Having failure and fashion being combined creating an unsettling contrast for myself. Purposely making myself hyperaware of a phobia yet in a way which I’ve used something that I hold passion for.

Art direction has always been my main focus and interest so I wanted to incorporate this into my final assignment. Ideas, direction and photography are all points of design that I want to continue to explore. Other projects outside of uni that I have completed along with this assignment are the main influence for my final project.

Personas:

Jack: Jack is a 21 year old student and part time worker at Tommy Millions. Jack is super passionate about being sustainable and living a waste free life. He has always loved fashion particularly in an ethical way. Jack has thrift shopped from a young age but can definitely still find it difficult to find what he’s looking for, he finds being male and having an interest in second hand shopping can be quite the obstacle.

Ciara: Ciara is a full-time working 20 year old who loves shopping and clothes. Ciara knows how much she buys but wants to try keep it to second hand since she wants to try do her part in sustainability. Ciara doesn’t know where to start since there are so many op shops and always so much in them. Working full-time, Ciara also finds she struggles to find the time to do so.

Emma: Emma is a 23 year old young professional. She loves shopping, especially nice brands. Emma would love to help the environment but doesn’t know where to start. She also finds second hand shopping difficult with such a time consuming job when online shopping is so much more accessible for her. Emma has no problem with second hand clothing, vintage pieces as well but finds it difficult to know where to start.

NOW

“There is growing interest in organic cotton, with H&M and Inditex, the parent company of Zara, featuring among the world’s top five users of organic cotton by volume in 2016. But overall use of organic cotton represents less than 1 per cent of the world’s total annual cotton crop.” – https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/environment-costs-fast-fashion-pollution-waste-sustainability-a8139386.html

“The fashion industry is one of the biggest in the world, accounting for 2% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Unfortunately, it’s also now one of the biggest polluters in the world—second only to oil. The reason? Fast fashion.”

fast fashion retailers grew by 9.7%between 2010 and 2015—is deeply concerning from a sustainability perspective. 

– https://sustainability.uq.edu.au/projects/recycling-and-waste-minimisation/fast-fashion-quick-cause-environmental-havoc

 We don’t really wear our clothes. Worldwide, clothing utilization (how often we put something on) hasdecreased by 36 percent compared to 15 years ago.

By 2030, it’s expected that fashion waste will increase to a 148 million ton problem.
 We don’t really wear our clothes. Worldwide, clothing utilization (how often we put something on) hasdecreased by 36 percent compared to 15 years ago.

But consumer attitudes for ethical fashion are increasingly favorable. Sixty percent of millennials say they want to shop more “sustainably.”

About 2,000 different chemicals are used in textile processing — yet only 16 are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Only 15 percent of consumers recycle their used clothing.
About 2,000 different chemicals are used in textile processing — yet only 16 are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. – https://www.rubiconglobal.com/blog-14-sustainable-fashion-facts/

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I am a communication designer that holds a great interest in sustainable fashion. As someone who considers fashion to be a large part of their identity I am aiming to encourage an audience to become aware of the effects fast fashion is having on our environment and to encourage them to help shrink this industry.

I want to break the barriers between second hand, fast fashion and high fashion by producing a piece of work which will portray pre loved clothing to appear high end. I hope to break down the negative light that is shed on thrift shopping. The main concept of this assignment is small action, large effect.

It is well known that as time goes on more and more people are becoming interested in living a ethical lifestyle but don’t know where or how to start.

Fast fashion production is known to be one of the largest polluters in our world. Second to Oil.

60% of millennials say they want to shop more sustainably.

Principles:

My audience needs to be encouraged to shop primarily second hand.

My audience need to be shown the diversity of possibilities through pre loved clothing.

My audience needs to be educated on the affect the fast fashion industry is having on our environment.

How might creating a media which promotes second hand shopping influence the harm the fast fashion industry is having to our environment?

How can I encourage people to do so?

THE BIG PICTURE: FUTURE

Ideas:

• A catalogue like book or mag displaying pre loved clothing to look high fashion like
• Showing a range of personality through imagery to encourage all kinds of consumers to second hand shop
• To display the diversity of op-shopping and that it can apply to anyone
• To encourage to wear what you like not what you are told to like
• Creative process film or imagery to be displayed alongside this catalogue

Strategy:

The idea is to make it mainly visual with minimal text. I want to include a small section of text, describing what the book is dedicated to and a bit of an insight into the issue itself however my main aim is to make a piece of work which is extremely visually appealing. Small action, large effect.

OBSERVATIONS:

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Look books and catalogues are very popular amongst all types of clothing companies as they inform their customers of the new and latest seasons. Brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior etc. have all made books which beautifully display their garments or the history of them. These of which are commonly seen on coffee tables, at cafes or shops and are an easy look through. All of which are kept simple but very aesthetically pleasing to look at.

Above are some personal images of which I have captured or help directed for a couple different displays. Both hold a different style and this is one of my main focuses of my final product.

Pop culture figures are beginning to take action to raise economic awareness. SZA below discusses her brand that she intends to help clean the ocean. Many solutions to the fashion industry harming our environment are being suggested however the idea that one change can’t help is a perspective that needs to be changed.

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EXPERIMENTS: Going forward

What do I want to acheive?

• To create a book that displays the possibilities of pre loved clothing and discourages fast fashion.
• To create a fashion catalogue that is out of the norm
• To use photography to communicate that pre loved clothing is suited to everyone
• To eliminate the negative stigma around it ‘old and tatty’
• To give people a look into ‘small action, big change’
• To captivate my audience with an aesthetic approach
• To tackle a topic that is not paid enough attention to

Where from here?

• To move this assignment forward I will begin planning the layout and categories of the book. I will look in to any information I want to include.
• Survey people online and receive their opinions on the subject.
• Design a brief for myself and extend on my target audience.
• Explore ways to possibly push my topic further
• Continue research
• Explore a title for it

I have decided to focus on fashion and it’s sustainability as my topic. I am wanting to create a look book/catalogue challenging how the barrier of pre loved clothing and high fashion can be broken all while discouraging fast fashion. From this post I will explore and create something of which I hope to glamourise the idea of second hand shopping and erase any negative stigmas around it. I want to show that vintage and second hand go hand in hand and it’s something to be valued. That the life cycle of the fashion industry and its trends seem to come back around especially in a normal working class like environment. If it is that we are going in circles we should be reusing the garments we are creating rather than recreating ones that already exist. So far, this is an idea that has a lot of leeways to change and become even more unique however I’m currently in the midst of discovering how I might portray these concepts through photography and art direction and typography.