Bridge Project 4
Argument and Outline
Lena Chen
Integrative Seminar 2: Fashion
Argument(Thesis)
Fashion designers should lengthen the potential lifespan of clothing by inventing creative design approaches and developing new business strategies based on observed consumer behaviors in order to encourage them to keep their garments for a longer time period.
Outline
Introduction
-Hook
The mass-produced fast fashion culture is consuming a large amount of resources in modern society.
-Cause
Fashion companies, retailers and designers are facing the pressure of balancing economic profits and environmental impact.
-Effect
The life cycle of clothing becomes a popular topic of discussion; Demand for sustainable garments increases
-Definition
Sustainable clothing is defined as “clothing which incorporates one or more aspects of social and environmental sustainability”
Clothing longevity refers to the lifespan of a garment to be used by people
Brief Summary of the paper
-the paper’s aim
-main argument
-structure of the paper
Background/Context
The fashion industry is one of the largest industries in the world that contributes to polluting the environment. With the rapid pace of production and consumption, the rates of disposal and wastage have always been rising. In order to reduce the number of textiles that go to landfills, we should put lengthening clothing longevity on the agenda.
Body Paragraph 1-Clothing Usage Phase.
Topic Sentence: Inappropriate usage, including wash, care, maintenance, could shorten the longevity of clothing.
-Price also affects how much people are willing to take good care of a garment.
Body Paragraph 2-Clothing Disposal and Re-Use Phase
Topic Sentence: How people dispose of or re-use garments is also crucial to determine the longevity of clothing.
-People give away their clothing for a list of reasons
-Fast fashion culture make the situation even worse
-Repair work is no longer prevalent: cultural and psychological reasons
Body Paragraph 3-Trasition
Topic Sentence: The obstacles to clothing longevity are difficult to resolve because the ways that people treat garments are developed and formed through a long history of changing perspectives on clothing, and constantly affected by cultural norms.
-Some people start to realize the problem
-Consumers’ purchasing choices are still influenced by many factors
Body Paragraph 4-Reasons Behind Consumer Behaviors
Topic Sentence: What influences consumers’ purchasing decisions is the first thing that designers consider when starting sustainable practices. Some consumers may choose to invest more money on an item that they value highly, but extending the lifespan of everyday clothes is less likely
-economic
-personal: preference, value
Body Paragraph 5-Designer’s Solutions-Purchasing Phase
Topic Sentence: By studying consumers’ purchasing behaviors, fashion companies and designers try to overcome the obstacles of clothing longevity with new business patterns or innovative designs. At the purchasing stage, cost is highlighted.
-vintage shops
-brand awareness
Body Paragraph 6-Designer’s Solutions-Usage Phase
Topic Sentence: At the maintenance stage, requirements on consumers to better take care of their garments would seem imposed not only because wash habits are difficult to change, but also because relevant professional knowledge is not popularized among the public. Designers should alter fabric choice based on observed consumers’ washing habits.
-correct maintenance methods
-better fabric choices
Body Paragraph 6-Designer’s Solutions-Re-Use Phase
Topic Sentence: To overcome barriers to repair at the re-use stage of garments, the idea that designers come up with is to create new meanings to clothing.
-innovative garment and pattern design that encourage re-use
Conclusion
People make purchasing decisions based on social, economic, and psychological factors, and thus clothing can be deliberately designed to meet consumer’s specific needs. The ways people maintain, discard or repair clothes also greatly influence the lifetime. By studying consumer’s behaviors, designers should be able to promote clothing longevity by raising brand awareness, choosing more natural and sustainable fabric, providing proper maintenance instructions and generating innovative design.
