Fashion and Memory

The fashion designers of the future are required to consider a more sustainable fashion system. One way of approaching this challenge is to prolong the lifespan of our clothes to reduce production and waste.

In a course on fashion sustainability, one student explored more durable fashion solutions through micro-studies of consumers’ emotional attachment to one of their favorite fashion items. These studies were a way of bringing the fashion student closer to the heart and minds of the consumers they will eventually design for. One of the informants, Bertram, shared a story about his grandmother who had knitted a sweater for him. He only uses it when he is sick and he would never get rid of it because he knows his grandmother thought of him, when she made it: “There is so much love in this sweater. That alone keeps me warm”. Identifying these emotional bonds between people and their clothes mainly through personal memories may hold knowledge for ways to slow down fashion.