Remake Design Foundations
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
One of the major challenges faced by today’s global industries is what to do with the leftovers, waste, and surplus generated by increasing production REMAKE and consumption of material goods. Their problem is not new, and over the last decade the search for a solution has given rise to various theories about and technologies for resource recovery and waste management. In ANNA LIDSTRÖM the fashion and clothing industry, designers have explored ways to reuse and remanufacture production and consumption waste and surplus before recycling material components on a fiber level, thereby aiming to realize DESIGN greater environmental savings. While several examples of design practices building on different forms of reuse and remanufacturing approaches exist, foundational theoretical methods for design remain poorly researched. UNIVERSITY OF BORÅS STUDIES IN ARTISTIC RESEARCH NO 32 2020 32 NO RESEARCH ARTISTIC IN STUDIES UNIVERSITYBORÅS OF FOUNDATIONS This thesis explores and analyzes the aesthetic potential in textile and clo- thing waste and surplus for new design expressions and functions. Fashion design students performed initial methodological explorations through practicing redesign to find central concepts in design thinking that present ANNA LIDSTRÖM opportunities and challenges for remake methods. The exploration shows a challenge to go from thinking fashion design as a method of remembering, preserving and showing, to remake fashion design as a method of forget- ting, destroying and searching. In this thesis one method has so far been developed. However, the findings point to several methodological challen- ges in selecting and reworking materials within the context of the remake. These methods need to be explored and developed further to strengthen remake models and practices, and the central characteristic of traditional fashion design thinking needs to be developed further for a fundamental shift in thinking towards remake and redesign fashion design. Key words: waste, surplus, redesign, remake, design, method, clothing UNIVERSITY OF BORÅS STUDIES IN ARTISTIC RESEARCH NO 33 2020 REMAKE DESIGN FOUNDATIONS ANNA LIDSTRÖM Licentiate thesis Editor: Lars Hallnäs Designer: Anna Lidström Cover image: Anna Lidström Layout: Anna Lidström ISSN: Published: 2020 Printed and bound: Stema Copyright 2020 Anna Lidström Unless otherwise noted UNIVERSITY OF BORÅS STUDIES IN ARTISTIC RESEARCH NO 32 2020 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT Thanks to the many inspiring and helpful people who encouraged me to work in this field of design and supported me as I worked on my thesis. To Birgitta Nilsson at Västra Götalandsregionen for sharing her network and know- ledge about sustainable development and for believing in me when I was given the opportunity to work with Studio Redesign, a pilot project connecting design with textile waste from the Swedish textile industry. To Erik Bresky at Science Park Borås, University of Borås, for his trust and confidence in my ideas, for inviting me to be part of his encouraging and inspiring environment, to develop the Retextile research platform, and for his investment in this work. To Lars Hallnäs for his visionary guidance and teachings in research and for his pa- tience, encouragement, and delightful conversations. To Ulrik Martin Larsen for his playful and humble approach to materials, his confi- dence in improvisation, and his vast artistic knowledge. To Hanna Landin and Delia Dumitrescu for their thesis guidance and oversight of my work. To Jan Carlsson for his personal encouragement and his emphasis on the bigger picture available through design. To Gudrun Bonér for her friendship and design support and for her always reminding me what I’m good at. To Jennifer Larsson for joining me in thinking out loud while we were testing, trying, doing, and making. To Adrian Zethraeus and Jonas Larsson for their project ideas and inspirational work environment. To Ricarda Bigolin for her artistic guidance and friendly criticism. To Stefanie Malmgreen de Oliveira and Erika Blomgren, for their artistic critique, their sharp eyes, and their friendship. 4 5 To my doctoral colleagues and friends in the research school at the Swedish School of Textiles, who listened to my doubts and problems and followed the development of this thesis. To Mats Johansson for his technical advice and creative solutions with endless pos- sibilities. To Stefan Dahlin and Chalmers Innovation Office for showing me the way to see more clearly what I do and for developing and applying my research. To Lars Wahlqvist, David Njie, and Nina Adler for opening up crucial resources for redesign exploration. To Jan Berg and Daniela Ferro for their high-quality photography . To Alice Jardesten for her sewing and technical support. To the design students at The Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås. To Cilla Ramnek for her artistic conversations over coffee every once in a while. To Vinnova and Sparbankstiftelsen Sjuhärad for funding various stages of this re- search. To my mother, grandmother, and aunt for their resourceful and creative approach to things that are at hand and for their constant urging to be curious and creative. My father for his fearless approach to materials challenges and for his positive spirit. My sister for her unending support and her everyday phone calls. And for my family my daughters and my husband for pushing me to complete my work and for their inspi- ring inventiveness, patience, and love. 6 7 ABSTRACT One of the major challenges faced by today’s global industries is what to do with the leftovers, waste, and surplus generated by increasing production and consumption of material goods. Their problem is not new, and over the last decade the search for a solution has given rise to various theories about and technologies for resource recovery and waste management. In the fashion and clothing industry, designers have explored ways to reuse and remanufacture production and consumption waste and surplus before recycling material components on a fiber level, thereby aiming to realize greater environmental savings. While several examples of design practices building on different forms of reuse and remanufacturing approaches exist, founda- tional theoretical methods for design remain poorly researched. This thesis explores and analyzes the aesthetic potential in textile and clothing waste and surplus for new design expressions and functions. Fashion design students performed initial methodological explorations through practicing redesign to find central concepts in design thinking that present opportunities and challenges for re- make methods. The exploration shows a challenge to go from thinking fashion design as a method of remembering, preserving and showing, to remake fashion design as a method of forgetting, destroying and searching. In this thesis one method has so far been developed. However, the findings point to several methodological challenges in selecting and reworking materials within the context of the remake. These methods need to be explored and developed further to strengthen remake models and practi- ces, and the central characteristic of traditional fashion design thinking needs to be developed further for a fundamental shift in thinking towards remake and redesign fashion design. Key words: waste, surplus, redesign, remake, design, method, clothing 8 9 CONTENTS 1. SUSTAINABLE DESIGN ...................................14 1.1 Design for Sustainability ..................................15 1.2 Sustainable fashion design ................................17 1.3 Waste and redesign ......................................20 1.4 Remake methodologies - Aim and Challenges ................22 2 REDESIGN APPROACHES ..................................26 2.1 Recycling ..............................................27 2.2 Upcycling ..............................................28 2.3 Downcyclingg ..........................................39 2.4 Remanufacture .........................................40 2.5 Repair .................................................41 2.6 Do-it-yourself [DIY] ......................................43 3 FASHION AS REMNANTS ..................................42 3.1 If garments are waste - what is fashion design then? ..........44 3.2 If garments are obsolete - what is fashion design then? ........47 3.3 If garments are dirt - what is fashion design then? ............49 3.4 To design from waste, obsolete and dirt .....................51 4 INITIAL EXPLORATION ....................................58 4.1 Experimental setup .....................................60 4.2 Results ................................................61 4.3 Analyzes ...............................................83 4.4 Summary ..............................................95 10 11 5 TOOL DEVELOPMENT .....................................98 5.1 The Scanner (tool) .....................................101 5.2 The Swatches (method) .................................102 5.3 The Captions (result) ...................................103 6 DISCUSSION ............................................192 7 REFERENCES ...........................................196 12 13 1 SUSTAINABLE DESIGN One way to understand sustainable design is to look at how it emerged as a critical response to the question of the role of design in the globally developing industrial landscape; the vision grew into a movement during the 1960s and 1970s (Packard 1963; Boulding 1966; Papanek 1971; Moldanado 1972). Designer Victor Papanek for one expressed his criticism in the context of human ecology