EXHIBITION STATEMENT
Margaret Sprouse & Vijay Vanathayan
Concept:
We often feel powerless in the fight against climate change; it seems like nothing we do makes a difference, but this is not the case. As young people, we know fashion as a tool for self-expression. What we may not realize is that fashion also has the power to impact the environment, and that we as consumers have the power to change the magnitude of that impact. Every day, we choose how we wish to present ourselves to the world through our clothing, but our choice can mean much more when we take time to think about how the clothes we wear impact the world around us. This is why we chose to spend a semester teaching our students about sustainable fashion and how to create their own upcycled clothing.
History & Distinction:
The amount of textile waste that is created in the US has grown by over 750% since 1960. The rate at which we are consuming clothing is increasing faster than our population, and it has a detrimental effect on the health of the environment (Pierre-louis 1). Over the past decade, many retailers have been making pushes to combat fast fashion, but many have been culprits as well. Young people throughout the country are trying to find a solution, and the reuse and repurposing of clothing might provide one (Rhee 283). This movement is just now gaining traction and our workshop made efforts to do our part in it by teaching students lifelong skills that they can use to make a difference.
Approach:
Week to week, our lessons consisted of three key components: a presentation, a demonstration, and an activity or discussion. We focused our lessons on topics related to either environmental sustainability or self-expression. We’d start off with a presentation related to our topic for the week (ie. environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices). Afterwards, as a class or in student groups, we’d discuss the topic and its implications for the environment and/or our personal lives. Then, as leaders, we’d teach a technique to the class and the rest of the class time was devoted to students working on individual projects.
Audience & Impact:
Throughout the process of brainstorming a concept for our capstone project, we both found a common interest in thrifting and upcycling clothing. We felt that many of our peers never got the opportunity to learn how to create and alter clothing, so we decided to design a workshop to teach those skills. Our workshop was specifically designed with college students in mind, and the goal was to educate our peers about the environmental impact our consumer habits create, and give them the skills necessary to combat that impact by creating their own garments. This project has played a huge role in our lives this semester: we’ve learned how to create plans and follow through with them, to improvise and work with what we’ve got, to connect with students and keep them engaged and much more. Working as partners on this project has added the challenge of communicating and coordinating our schedules and responsibilities, which was well worth the advantage of sharing the workload of teaching a workshop.
Acknowledgments:
It takes a lot of support and nurturing to take an idea from simple words to reality. Our workshop wouldn’t be anything if it weren’t for the students. We’d like to thank them for giving us the chance to be their workshop leaders, but also for allowing us to learn with them. They were easy to work with, fun and patient with us. We couldn’t have had a better group. Of course, we also have to thank Harold, Heather, our lovely TA Josh, for giving us everything we could possibly need to create our workshop. They gave us the guidance and structure to make it all possible, and best of all the freedom to be as creative as possible. We’d also like to thank all of our fellow workshop leaders and TAs, for always making our meetings something to look forward to, and for providing us with valuable feedback throughout the semester!
References:
Pierre-louis, Kendra. “How to Buy Clothes That Are Built to Last.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Sept. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/climate/sustainable-clothing.html
Rhee, Jongeun, and Kim K. P. Johnson. “‘The Wardrobe Diet’: Teaching Sustainable Consumption through Experience with Undergraduates in the USA.” International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology & Education, vol. 12, no. 3, Nov. 2019, pp. 283–292.