DESIGN, SUSTAINABILITY, AND AUSTRALIAN MASS-MARKET FASHION: THREE CASE STUDIES Alice Ruth Payne BVA (Hons), U.Syd, BDesign (Hons), UTS. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Design Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology August 2013 Keywords Fashion, design, sustainability, mass-market, Australia, design process, fast fashion, fashion designers, product development, design for sustainability Design, sustainability, and Australian mass-market fashion: Three case studies i Abstract The production and consumption of fashion garments has negative environmental and social impacts that extend from the extraction processes of raw materials, through to the waste generated at end of life. The design process is a crucial point of intervention, in which decisions made by the designer can potentially mitigate these impacts. However, to what extent can mass-market fashion designers consider environmental sustainability within their design process? To explore this question, this study presents three case studies from different market levels in the Australian mass-market fashion industry. The case studies are assembled through interviews with designers, along with an analysis of the Australian mass-market fashion industry. The need to reduce risk, to respond to trends at speed, and to lower the cost of production are major constraints on the design process, regardless of the designer’s personal commitment to environmental sustainability. Hence while Australian companies may make interventions for sustainability in other areas of their business, intervention in the design of the garment is a difficult proposition. This research attempts two contributions to the knowledge surrounding fashion and sustainability. First, it maps the design processes within the Australian mass- market fashion industry, itself an under-examined aspect of Australian fashion studies. A corollary of this mapping is the presentation of the unheard voices of the ‘invisible’ designers working in the industry. This data guides the analysis into how designers in each market level may or may not be able to respond to environmental sustainability. Second, the study provides an analysis as to how design operates in the wider mass-market fashion industry. It identifies the intangible elements of fashion design – branding, style tropes and trends – and proposes these as unidentified ‘actors’ within the design process, shaping and delineating what can be designed. The study finds that designers in the mass-market are largely unable to consider environmental sustainability in product design due to the tyranny of immaterial fashion knowledge, the dependence on design imitation, the delocalisation of manufacture, and the quasi-monopolistic structure of the industry. ii Design, sustainability, and Australian mass-market fashion: Three case studies Table of Contents Keywords ............................................................................................................................................i Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ ii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ iii List of Figures................................................................................................................................. vii List of Tables ....................................................................................................................................ix List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................... x Statement of Original Authorship ................................................................................................... xii Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 15 1.1 Framing the research question ................................................................................................... 17 1.1.1 The symbolic value of fashion design ............................................................................ 21 1.2 Context ....................................................................................................................................... 24 1.3 Discussion of the chapters.......................................................................................................... 30 1.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 32 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 35 2.1 Sustainability ............................................................................................................................. 35 2.1.1 Historical background ..................................................................................................... 36 2.1.2 Triple bottom line sustainability ..................................................................................... 39 2.1.3 Questioning growth ........................................................................................................ 41 2.1.4 The spectrum of sustainability ........................................................................................ 45 2.2 Design ........................................................................................................................................ 48 2.2.1 Defining design and designing ....................................................................................... 49 2.2.2 Design for sustainability ................................................................................................. 50 2.2.3 Design, sustain-ability and redirective practice .............................................................. 53 2.3 Fashion ....................................................................................................................................... 57 2.3.1 The fashion system ......................................................................................................... 57 2.3.2 Fashion as an aesthetic marketplace ............................................................................... 60 2.3.3 The fashion designer ....................................................................................................... 62 2.3.4 The fashion design process ............................................................................................. 64 2.4 Fashion and sustainability .......................................................................................................... 69 Design, sustainability, and Australian mass-market fashion: Three case studies iii 2.4.1 Environmental and social impacts across the life cycle .................................................. 70 2.4.2 What would ‘sustainable fashion’ look like? .................................................................. 78 2.4.3 Reconceptualising the role of the designer ..................................................................... 82 2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 87 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................... 89 3.1 Methodology and Research Design ........................................................................................... 89 3.1.1 Methodological context .................................................................................................. 89 3.1.2 Research Design ............................................................................................................. 91 3.2 Participants ................................................................................................................................ 93 3.3 Other data sources ...................................................................................................................... 98 3.4 Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 101 3.5 Ethical considerations .............................................................................................................. 105 3.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 105 CHAPTER 4: THE AUSTRALIAN MASS-MARKET FASHION INDUSTRY ............... 107 4.1 Structure of the Australian mass-market fashion industry ....................................................... 108 4.1.1 Market mapping ............................................................................................................ 109 4.1.2 Ownership .................................................................................................................... 112 4.1.3 Industry restructuring ................................................................................................... 115 4.1.4 Retail performance ......................................................................................................