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Usership in fashion : a grounded theory on wearer-clothing relationships
Publication . Neto, Ana; Ferreira, João Carlos Batalheiro Cortiço Ribeiro; Forman, Gabriela Alexandra da Cunha Santos
This thesis reports a qualitative, exploratory study on wearer-clothing relationships. It departs from the notion that, on par with the fleeting experiences people have with so many clothes, there is the simultaneous experience of wearing and caring for some items for a very long time, signalling a capability to cultivate the skills and habits of mind linked to resourceful, engaging and pleasurable clothing practices. Such practices constitute a potential pathway of addressing the societal challenge of living better with less clothing production, consumption and waste. Focusing on people's relationships to clothing beyond acquisition and before disposal, this investigation seeks to understand what makes these relationships last and how related practices can be amplified by design as a strategy to mitigate early clothing disposal and overconsumption. Through a grounded theory methodology, and an interdisciplinary lens that combines design, psychology, sociology, and systems thinking, this project addresses the main question: ‘how do wearers develop long-lasting relationships with their clothes?’, and the aim of generating a substantive theory to answer it. To reach this objective this investigation comprises two main data collection phases: (I) a qualitative online survey prompting participants to write about a garment they had owned for a long time and still used, and (II) a study of a community gathered around the challenge of wearing the same dress for 100 days, where participants’ experiences were investigated through community observation and individual inquiry. Additionally, and more directly related to design as practice, this thesis addresses the question: ‘what is the role of design in supporting wearer-clothing relationships?’, both throughout the different stages of theory development, as well as through a satellite study in the context of higher education, which aims to open up possibilities to foster in future fashion designers the skills to support wearers towards extended enjoyment of the clothes they have. This thesis compiles 6 publications which, together, offer both theoretical and methodological contributions to knowledge. The main contribution of this thesis is a substantive theory which provides a new way to understand wearer-clothing relationships and their complex links to clothing consumption and waste, industry activity, social norms, and design: it calls attention to the inevitable occurrence of conflict in wearer-clothing relationships, which reframes previous research on clothing disposal, as it shows that disposal is intentionally postponed when wearers have the will and ability to overcome conflict with their clothes; it identifies wearers’ capabilities and practices that contribute to sound, long-lasting relationships with clothes, while articulating how these relationships can help mitigate premature disposal; it points to the value of meaning that evolves through clothing practices which, emerging in the form of memories and a sense of reliability, sustain wearer-clothing relationships with an emotional connection to the past and the future, emphasising the importance of nurturing clothing practices from which meaning can follow; it offers a broad view of the landscape where these relationships take place, as it highlights several aspects that recurrently undermine wearer-clothing relationships, rooted in wearers’ limited abilities, and in industry practices and social environments which deeply affect how wearers relate with their clothes. Through the vision brought by theory, this thesis offers direction to design practice. It emphasises the limits of focusing solely on product design to tackle premature clothing disposal, proposing a refocus on designing for relationships, which implies supporting wearers in their capabilities and practices, and shaping the environments where these relationships can flourish. Moreover, it calls attention to the need to end industry practices that undermine wearer-clothing relationships and, consequently, any attempt to shape the fashion sector to operate towards people’s well-being within planetary boundaries. Additionally, it stresses the value of proximity in design practice as opposed to the distancing of industrial activity, as it allows designers to effectively cater for wearers and their needs. The theory presented in this thesis enables designers in their task. Moreover, this thesis offers methodological contributions: it highlights the usefulness of grounded theory in design research, providing an example of how this methodology is suitable to deeply investigate complex design situations; it stresses the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to design research, as it strengthens the understanding of how design, concerning ways of being in this world, is bound to learn from many other disciplines in order to improve its understanding and practice; it shows the value of systems thinking to design research, as it broadens designers’ vision and understanding on complex issues, and, more importantly, helps designers ask invaluable questions on where to intervene to shape preferable fashion futures, and to anticipate the beneficial and detrimental consequences of their designs; and it shows the benefits of wardrobe studies not only as methods to gather information about wearers and their clothes for research, but also as educational tools that can prompt fashion design students to engage in a symbiotic mix of research, design and reflection.
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Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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2021.04933.BD