First Week back, Fast Fashion Project Briefing

So last Wednesday was my first week back at university after the Christmas break and although the 5:30AM wakeup call was anything but fabulous and the 2 and 1/2 hour commute rather than 1 wasn't much appreciated either, I left Uni later that day, feeling excited about the new term and the next steps, not only in terms of my own MA project, but the group project which I would be specifically focusing on as part of my creative innovation and entrepreneurship module this term.

My group project is called the "One Thing Collection" and was inspired by the idea of one garment which is used over and over again over the course of decades, something that you love and treasure and consider a staple within your wardrobe, no matter how old it is, and the issues that lie within the fashion industry today, specifically when considering slow and fast Fashion and is being undertaken in order to help a PHD student with her research into emotionally durable fashion.

Within the fashion industry today, production and consumer demands continue to push designers to meet increasingly faster trend turnarounds, resulting in what otherwise is known as fast fashion. Although within the same breath, it seems that consumers are unhappy with some of the many designs created as a result of fashion, due to them being low quality and the same old uniform styles, perhaps which you seen churned out in Primark season after season. But why are we so obsessed with having to change our wardrobe staples every few months to fit in with that seasons trends? Why can't we just buy fewer pieces of clothing which we truly love and will wear till there thread bare instead of wearing these garments once or twice and then throwing them away, because you either didn't like them in the first place, or they are no longer in-fitting with the latest trend?

As a fashion designer, I can relate to this particular topic incredibly well, I've always felt even when aspiring to be part of the industry when I was younger, that I had to dress a certain way and wear certain things as I was studying fashion, so therefore I had to be on trend? This ultimately leading me to be a consumer of "fast fashion" and not actually buying things because I really liked them and they would last, but because they were trendy and "in" that season. But why? Why can't I wear clothes that I love and feel show my style, just because they aren't in fashion?

The answer is I can, I just don't feel like I can because of these "rules" within the fashion industry and social judgement. But why is this, who invented these rules? Why don't we treasure our most favourite pair of jeans or skirt and wear them over and over again anymore? Is it because certain things will always stay "in" fashion and others are only a passing trend?

I don't really have the answers to the above questions, but they're questions I hope to have answered by the end of this project through personal and group research into both Fast and Slow Fashion within the industry today.

Jess xo