The living wardrobe: a redirective fashion practice

How does a fashion design practice that takes responsibility for what it brings into being, operate? Is it enough to use 'environmentally friendly' materials and processes and instigate an ethical supply chain in the production of ever-increasing amounts of clothing? When a fashion practice asks of itself: "what will my designs design?" it invites a response that cannot do other than fundamentally redirect that fashion practice away from the accepted modes of practice towards one that prioritises sustain-ability. This paper outlines the work to date of the fashion practice research project: The Living Wardrobe. Responding to Tony Fry's Design Futuring (2009), Doug McKenzie-Mohr's Fostering Sustainable Behaviour (2011) and Jonathan Chapman's Emotionally Durable Design (2005), the research explores the idea of 'enduring product experience' as a means to create fashion products with sustain-ability.