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sustaInaBlE FashIon : a handBooK For Educators
real currency, but would benefit further from substantial
secondary research to underpin the empirical research.
ExaMplEs – casE studIEs oF dIssErtatIon
QuEstIons and rEsEarch
The Textile Environment Design (TED) research group led
by designer and Reader, Rebecca Earley, has been influential
in supporting students at Chelsea College of Art and
Design and externally in their research into sustainability
and textiles. Emphasis is on research into teaching, where
TED members deliver part of the theory programme. This
is complemented by visiting practitioners working in the
field of ethical approaches to design, who are invited to
give talks about their work in Stage One and Stage Two
of the course. The TED archive has a very good selection
of reading material, books, and CDs. Expert staff offer
students advice on locating up-to-date reports within the
field and guide students towards potential avenues for
primary research.
Following is a selection of dissertations and a reading list on
key themes that have recently been explored by students
who have graduated from BA (Hons) Textile Design at
Chelsea College of Art and Design. The selective reading
list below offers a ‘taster’ and a starting point for students
researching particular themes that are currently of issue
within discussions around sustainability and responsibility
in fashion and textiles. Examples of student dissertation
titles are given alongside a synopsis of their key focus and a
selected reading list from their bibliography to demonstrate
the kinds of research materials they
have used.
The following case studies are quoted from synopses
written by the students. As part of their final theses,
this work is subject to the usual copyright laws and the
authors’ ideas must be acknowledged and must not
be altered.
case study 1
studEnt: FrancEs contEh“The Devil Wears... Can We Afford An Unethical
Manufacturing Industry?This dissertation explores ‘Fast Fashion’ and the capitalist
ideology of mass consumerism. It questions the West’s
role in the perpetration and perpetuation of modern day
slavery (sweat-shop case study: documentary, China Blue)
in the third world and the consequent unethical sourcing of
labour and materials as both opportunistic and exploitative
and considers the practice as clearly immoral. It looks
to solutions, citing The Slow Movement as a progressive
model, alongside activism, NGOs (nongovernmental
organisations) and Fairtrade. The dissertation also covers
consumer fetishism and draws on Theodor Adorno’s
philosophical teachings, which propose that a commodity
is a ‘deception’ as it conceals the way it is produced behind
an attractive veneer.” (Frances Conteh, 2008)sElEctEd KEy tExts and othEr rEsEarch:Adorno, T. W. (1991) The Culture Industry: Selected essays on
mass culture, London: Routledge
Alam, K. and Hearson, M. (2006) Fashion Victims: The true
cost of cheap clothes at Primark, Asda and Tesco, London:
War on Want
Craig, G. and Parkins, W. (2006) Slow Living, Oxford: Berg
Miller, D. (1987) Material Culture and Mass Consumption,
Oxford: Basil Blackwell
Ross, A. (1997) No Sweat: Fashion, free trade, and the rights
of garment workers, London; New York: Verso
Klein, N. (2001) No Logo, no space, no choice, no jobs,
London: Flamingo