Sustainable Fashion: A Handbook for Educators

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aIM

This resource gives a summary and overview of the
experiences of educators in teaching and supervising
dissertations at undergraduate level, with a focus on
issues around design, sustainability and responsibility, on
BA (Hons) Textile Design at Chelsea College of Art and
Design. It includes our experience of the strengths and also
the pitfalls of student dissertation work in this area, case
studies of student dissertations and a selected reading list.
It is not intended as a guide as such, but as a way of sharing
our experience.

contExt

Whilst environmental issues have been on the curriculum
in several colleges for over a decade, drawing upon
seminal texts such as Papanek’s The Green Imperative or
Datschefski’s The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products, the
focus has often been on design in general. The 21st century
has seen a growing involvement within education and also
within the industry itself, to identifying concerns and issues
specific and relevant to designers and emerging designers
in fashion and textiles.

Students at undergraduate level are developing a body of
theory and practice that is emerging and continuing to be
defined and re-defined. The field is a field in process. Kate
Fletcher’s book, Sustainable Fashion and Textiles (2008), has
been a very valuable recent contribution to the field.

crItIcal wrItIng and rEsEarch on EthIcal and
EnVIronMEntal rEsponsIBIlIty IssuEs:
thE strEngths and thE pItFalls

Some of the most successful dissertations embody both
primary and secondary research. Dissertations often focus
on case studies and cite key practitioners working within
the field. As emerging designers, it has been important
and relevant to students’ studio practice for them to
be forward-thinking and to look for design solutions.
This can result in a speculative approach which requires
the research not only to be underpinned by excellent
primary research – on where we are now – but to be
combined with excellent secondary research that provides

theoretical and historical context. It is important that

this balance is achieved for students to demonstrate an

understanding of the broader issues that have contributed

to the development of the fashion and textiles industry.

For example, a dissertation that frequently refers to

‘consumerism’ and ‘shopping’ and ‘fast fashion’ will benefit

from research around critical theories of consumption and

shopping, and then applying and interpreting these within

their context.

The range of books available on ethical issues and

sustainability is increasing all the time. These texts can be

read in conjunction with existing texts from a broader

range. We encourage students to seek out relevant texts

from a wider subject area. This has been part of the

approach that critical thinkers have been using for years

• for example, the fields of Cultural Studies or Material
  Culture Studies draw upon texts from a wide range of
  perspectives: anthropology, philosophy, psychology, etc.

synthEsIs oF prIMary and sEcondary rEsEarch

Good dissertations have drawn upon a broad range

of reading that includes theoretical texts, government,

marketing and industry reports, articles from magazines

and academic journals, TV documentaries, exhibition

visits, interviews with companies, designers, buyers,

spokespeople, campaigners, etc. We have found that, if the

research focuses too much on reports within the field,

the dissertation can become more ‘report-like’ in its style

and needs to be balanced with critical evaluation, analysis

and context – cultural, social, economic, etc. If there is a

significant imbalance between primary and secondary

research with a heavier weighting on primary research,

the work can become too subjective. The strongest

dissertations marry both well. Equally, if the research

focuses too heavily on a campaigning approach, and

presents only one side, it can lose credibility as an objective

piece of work for some readers. Whilst students are

encouraged to ‘position’ themselves with their viewpoint,

it is important that this is done through a reasoned

argument and debate, presenting different points of view

and then arriving at a conclusion. Some dissertations we

have supervised can be very enthusiastic in style and we

have experienced students actively engaging in a significant

amount of primary research, some of which has been at a

level higher than undergraduate. This can sometimes result

in work that is of a very high standard and has

pEdagogy and InstItutIonal approachEs