Feature photo by Paul Allister
As part of the research project ‘Lasting: Sustainable prosperity through product durability’, led by colleagues in Oslo, Norway; I am leading a small team at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, UK, exploring ideas and practices of clothing durability outside of the usual focus of Europe and North America.
We seek to diversify and multiply conceptions of durability, including by thinking about themes such as: how long-lasting clothing is viewed in diverse non-Western cultures; how durability is practised; how it is talked about; the sorts of temporalities involved; the sorts of infrastructures that support durable clothing cultures, economies, cosmologies….
As we start out on this exploration, we humbly ask:
Do you know of projects / papers / knowledge about clothing durability from plural perspectives?
With gratitude
Kate Fletcher email: k.t.fletcher@fashion.arts.ac.uk
Professor of Sustainability, Design, Fashion
Centre for Sustainable Fashion
London College of Fashion, UAL
United Kingdom
Kate Fletcher (PhD) is Professor at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, University of the Arts London, UK. Her work, including that on post-growth fashion, fashion localism, and design, nature and clothing, defines and challenges the field of fashion and sustainability.
Research Collective for Decoloniality & Fashion 