Project by: Jen Ballie PhD Student, Chelsea College of Art & Design
E-co-Textile Design: How can a textile design practice sustainably influence an emerging digital consumer culture?
Design has transitioned from an era of designing ‘for’ people towards the current era of designing ‘with’ people.
Economic changes bound up with globalisation are increasing pressures for people to re-think current models of design and production. The fashion industry is exploring new models to enable consumers to participate through exploratory marketing campaigns and streaming fashion week live online. There is huge potential for digital media and design to collaborate to construct new ways of working. But a re-think of the relationship between the designer and the consumer is required to consider how new technology can be used to enable the exchange of skills and knowledge to bring us into the future with consideration to the users needs and wants.
This practice-led research project uses textile design to probe co-design through practice to argue the social, environmental and economic benefits of participation. The intention is to produce a body of work, both conceptual and physical, that explores and represents design propositions that integrate new technologies with textile design in relation to co-design. By engaging design students and consumers this research hopes to initiate a climate that will be welcoming and open to the possibility of leading an emerging new design culture.
The practical work developed will demonstrate how participatory practice could be utilised into paradigms of the future to demonstrate how potential new markets could emerge. This will be illustrated through a collection of scenarios and showcased on a digital platform.