Higher Studio - Research and Development Document by Emily Kelly

THE SUSTAINABLE FASHION MOVEMENT

emily kelly kel15452179 creative direction for fashion year three final major project: research and development jason kass | kim coleman

INTRODUCTION EVALUATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS pollution culture RECYCLED PLASTICS

theoretical context sustainable fashion

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TABLE OF

activism eco-activism

THE ACEy SANCTUARY SPACES VETEMEENTS POP UP

conscious consumption slow living

ALGAE THE TRASH ISLES POLLUTION ART stella mccartney

12 fashion revolution activist campaigns

access over ownership THE SHARING ECONOMY

CONTENTS

BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES LIST OF IMAGES

moving image- CONCEPT Two moving image- CONCEPT three space- CONCEPT one space- CONCEPT two

design tests moving image- CONCEPT ONE

Apartment stores creative hubs fashion RENTAL SERVICES HIGHER STUDIO

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INTRODUCTION

fig.2. white comme des garcons top (2017)

EVALUATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS Before beginning my research, I had a basic understanding of the impact fast fashion retailers were having on the environment, but I wanted to learn more about this in detail in order to inform how best I could challenge this norm and communicate an alternative consumption lifestyle. I wanted to find out what sustainable fashion actually meant and how people were reacting to this phenomenon. I expected I would find sustainable fashion to be very bohemian and not very contemporary or appealing to a young, millennial audience and that the only people investing in sustainable fashion pieces were those with a significant amount of disposable income. However, as my research progressed, I found many existing communication channels effectively reaching out to a younger consumer, successfully encouraging them to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. Beginning with secondary research, industry reports and theoretical texts highlighted the topic of consumerism and in particular, the counterculture of the Slow movement. I found that the work of theorists such as Veblen and Bauman, who have commented on society’s obsession with consumption, was easily comparable to the current societal behaviours.

“Novelty is such an important part of expression and creativity and [it] normally hurts the environment. So, it’s always about how can we be more creative without creating damage.” – Sara Arnold

Trend reports from sources such as WGSN, LS:N Global, Mintel and Unique Style Platform challenged my thoughts on sustainable fashion and demonstrated results portraying Millennials as the most conscious generation yet. Most interestingly amongst the reports was the sharing economy, with services such as Airbnb and Netflix rising in popularity with experience-seekers always looking for newness to satisfy themselves. Once I had identified the gaps within my secondary research, I set up a survey on sustainable fashion and millennial shopping habits, which was completed by over a hundred Millennials, aged between 18 to 35. I also lead a focus group to identify opinions on sustainable brands and concepts from this age range. Whilst exploring the idea of conscious consumption, I interviewed Holly Allenby, founder of The Acey, an ethical online retailer, which gave me an insight into the process behind curating a sustainable service. However, once the interest of the sharing economy had grabbed my attention, I turned to fashion rental company Higher Studio and met up with the founder, Sara Arnold, to further my knowledge on the concept and grasp more of an understanding of the brand’s values. In order to apply the knowledge I had learned from reports, readings, interviews and audience responses, I performed a series of textual analyses of existing moving image and spatial examples. This research journey has revealed many key insights into the industry, demonstrating four key areas of sustainable fashion: pollution culture, conscious consumption, activism and access over ownership. Innovative material development is providing the industry with an opportunity to use alternative resources, such as recycled plastics and algae. Parley for the Oceans have collaborated with fashion brands including Stella McCartney and Adidas

introduction

to introduce recycled plastics into their shoes and swimwear collections. Other innovative and technological solutions have included Algaemy, a portable dyeing station using natural dyes made from algae seaweed as an alternative to harmful, chemical dyes. Imagery of polluted waters and landfills was prominent throughout my research. Stella McCartney’s Autumn/ Winter 2017 campaign juxtaposed the luxury of fashion against the overwhelming image of a landfill, conveying a powerful message about the wasteful, ephemeral nature of fashion. The use of such imagery from brands with such status should be having an impact on the way consumers think, but it is unclear how much direct impact the campaigns actually have, therefore it is critical that communicators are engaging with experiential design to ensure the consumers are authentically relating with the intended message. It is imperative for consumers to become more aware. Theories of conspicuous consumption and societal behaviour towards material objects revealed that we want instantaneous gratification and often forget to slow down and appreciate things, something the phenomenon of the Slow movement is opposing. My survey showed that only 36% knew what sustainable fashion is and only 37% were aware of the impact the industry is having on the environment. (Appendix A) As these results demonstrate, not enough people are aware of the impact of their overconsumption. This low statistic contradicts statements that Millennials are so invested in a sustainable future and instead suggests that the movement is only just beginning to gain momentum. Consumers are shopping to satisfy their desire for new things and as a Greenpeace market report states, “by far the biggest factor of the environmental footprint of the textile industry is the rising volume of clothes produced and consumed” (Greenpeace, 2017) conveying waste reduction as a main challenge within fashion and communication.

The Slow movement started in 1986, which introduced the idea of encouraging people to be more mindful of their consumption. This reaction to the fastpaced modern world allows consumers to improve their own wellbeing as well as having less of an impact on the planet. This can be applied to fashion whereby consumers are encouraged to buy into buying less, with brands such as The Acey pioneering for quality over quantity. Activism is key to the sustainable fashion movement as it spreads the message fast and to a younger and wider audience. Activists are tapping into the power of social media; with influencers such as Glacier Girl (@glacier966girl) changing the way we see the environment by engaging with the iGeneration through customised clothing and a cool aesthetic. On top of this, organisations have formed, such as Fashion Revolution, to address the need for change within the industry and are promoting #haulternatives and #WhoMadeMyClothes campaigns in order to raise awareness of the overconsumption of products made by underpaid and often abused workers in third-world countries. This is another example of the power of social media and the use of hash tags to influence big companies such as Zara and H&M. It could be suggested that this increase in environmentalist activism on social media has led to millennial interest in the care for our planet, with 34% saying they “prefer to buy from brands that are involved with social causes” (Mintel, 2017). My research began to show me that “for Millennials, experience over ownership is the new norm, and with far less spending power, as with homes, clothes ownership may soon be seen as an unnecessary luxury of their parents’ generation.” (Arnold, 2017) Postownership is predicted to become the norm by 2030, where “individuals won’t own anything anymore.” (LS:N, 2017) Subscription based models are finding ways to offer “mass-market consumers

access to luxury products,” (LS:N, 2017) something that is appealing to a millennial audience who are looking for quality over quantity. (WGSN, 2015) It could be argued that this turn towards access over ownership is due to our unsatisfactory desire for newness, which has stemmed from advertising and social media going back to Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption. (Veblen, 1899) Higher Studio is a high-end, luxury fashion rental and subscription service aimed at a market of Millennials with a creative and novel attitude towards clothes. Ultimately, consumers are going to find it difficult to fight the desire to satisfy themselves with new things over again, so Higher Studio facilitates these experiences and encourages experimentation. The brand’s belief is that the concept of a wardrobe will “become obsolete in the next twenty years” as we are all opting for smaller living environments, especially in busy cities, such as London. (Appendix C) I chose to take on Higher Studio as my brand for this project because I believe it has the potential to significantly reduce environmental impact by aiming at a creative market of consumers who particularly feed off of newness and novelty. Within the realm of rental services, brands are honing in on consumers’ desire to access new and exciting experiences by showcasing collections in apartment stores and studio spaces to create immersive, communal and social mediafriendly hubs. From these findings the most surprising was the amount of interest Millennials are showing in caring for our planet. David Jones has also argued, “that the Millennial demographic are “the most socially responsible generation that ever existed”” (Wheeler, 2017). I was also surprised by the amount of interest in rental services with 58% of Millennials, aged 24-34, in London saying they would rent clothing (Ryan, 2016) as I believed

FIG.3 The Speed of now (2016)

there was more of a stigma around the concept of wearing already-worn clothes. This statistic was a confirmation point for me, that by providing Millennials with a ready alternative of rental, this could engage with the millennial ecoconscience and direct rental fashion to the mainstream. In relation to contemporary communication and creative direction for fashion, research shows that social media and activism through the vehicle of influencers is key to engaging with a millennial audience. Creative direction is employed throughout this movement for a sustainable future in other ways including pop-up store events and workshops, such as the Vetements x Maxfield dry cleaner pop-up and moving image, such as work from Stella McCartney and Climate Revolution. My findings have helped me to identify a communication opportunity by highlighting the need to raise awareness of rental as a sustainable alternative to curb our cravings for newness. Higher Studio is providing a rental service with a unique and creative slant, however consumers need to be educated about the concept and shown that the option of rental is available without sacrificing sense of style and novelty. Change needs to happen in order to provide a more sustainable future for our planet and rental is a gap in the system that could help make this change; the challenge is to get the message out to consumers and persuade them to think more consciously. In conclusion, I would argue that the sustainable fashion movement is manifesting in a range of innovative areas. However, the most exciting thing, for me, is how fashion communication can spread the message of rental fashion and tap into the market of experience-hungry Millennials.

THEORETICAL CONTEXT judging of his reputability than the display of goods.” (Veblen, 1899, p44) Our online presence is the contemporary method of social status display and promotes consumption in order to fit in.

Obsessed with consuming, led by trends, pressured by social media and exhausting our finite resources in the process, our society of consumers is a place where “the message comes with a use-by-date.”(Bauman, 2007, p83-4) and “marked by a constant pressure to be someone else.” (Bauman, 2007, p100). The idea of self-identities and owning “more clothing than is necessary” (Gibson and Stanes, 2011, p169) is led by seasonal trends filtered down through the fashion system and provoked by Georg Simmel’s theory of imitation, whereby he believed there was a dualism of individualism and belonging. (Wild, 2016) It is therefore up to the industry to make the first move, as “consumers will buy what they are told”(Gibson and Stanes, 2011, p182).

As a result of this, the “world consumption, global recession or not, is now far exceeding the Earth’s capacity to regenerate the resources feeding production.” (Humphrey, p6) Greed is damaging our planet as people adopt the rule of “discard and replace” (Bauman, 2007, p36) especially in the fashion industry, now renowned as the second most polluting industry in the world, second to oil. (Oxfam, 2016) Kim Humphrey theorises overconsumption within all areas of life including work and personal relationships and how this is harming our wellbeing and happiness. (Humphrey, 2010, p5)

Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption translates today’s pressure from social media exposing “the individual to the observation of many persons who have no other means of

fig.4 project stopshop instagram feed (2017) fig.5. wardrobe survey t-shirts (2016)

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introduction

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SUSTAINABLE FASHION

fig.6.

“the whole reason we’re talking about this thing called ethical fashion, sustainable fashion is because the industry turned into something so unethical and so polluting and such a problem for planet earth.” - Holly Allenby, founder of The Acey introduction

FIG.6. fashion revolution week (2017) fig.7. donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t buy this jacket (2011) fig.8. carbon footprint of clothes (2017)

fig.8.

In the context of fashion, the World Bank calculated that between â&#x20AC;&#x153;17 to 20 per cent of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatmentâ&#x20AC;? (LS:N, 2017). Sustainable fashion has been gaining momentum over the past decades, especially with social media influencers taking the reigns and spreading the word amongst the younger generations. The fashion industry accounts for a range of detrimental pollutants, including landfills and oceans filled with plastic, toxic chemicals and dyes being leaked into water systems,

pesticides and fertilisers degrading the health of local communities as well social impacts such as underpaid workers and the maltreatment of animals as exposed in the documentary, The True Cost. (The True Cost, 2016) It is the duty of designers and communicators within the industry to come up with new solutions, like innovative materials, campaigns and services, which will ease consumers into a new way of living.

POLLUTION CULTURE

fig.9. hydra underwear (2017)

more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050 (ellen McCarthur)

Digital developments are progressing to find sustainable alternatives to the harmful pollutants used within

Parley for the oceans is an organisation, which has collaborated with many brands including Adidas and Stella McCartney. Committed to cleaning the oceans by converting plastics into recycled polymers used in clothing and footwear, they also launched a campaign called Run for the Oceans, where athletes are supplied with audiobooks of stories about the polluted oceans raising POLLUTION CULTURE

awareness of the importance of recycling. The striking photo campaign for Adidas Marine swimwear portrays the stages of converting found plastics to fibres and ultimately to the swimwear on the model. The products themselves are aesthetically pleasing and encourage a new ethos of concern about the life span of clothing.

INNOVATIVE MATERIALS: RECYCLED PLASTICS the manufacturing of textile fibres, such as plastic and toxic chemicals and dyes. more than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped in our oceans every year. (plastic oceans) 1 in 3 species of marine mammals have been found entangled with litter (plastic oceans) fig.10. adidas marine swimwear x parley for the oceans (2017)

fig.10.

INNOVATIVE MATERIALS: ALGAE

Due to agriculture and manufacturing processes, waters are becoming more polluted and harmful to nature. Vivobarefoot and Algiknit are harvesting polluted algae, which can be used for clothing and footwear. Another interesting use for algae, currently being explored by Algaemy, is as a natural, nontoxic dye, closing the loop further by providing an alternative to the causal pollutants.

FIG.11. algae test tubes (2014) fig.12. algae portable dyeing station (2014)

fig.11.

POLLUTION CULTURE

fig.12.

THE TRASH ISLES THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH

The Great Pacific Garbage patch is said to be the size of France. It consists of tons of plastic from all around the globe and is causing havoc with sea life and coral reefs (Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 2013). Dal and Mike, a duo of advertising creatives, collaborated with LAD Bible to start a campaign to raise awareness of the detrimental effects of plastic in our oceans and they executed this in a very unique and humorous way. They branded the congregation of plastic â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Trash Islesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, supporting this with currency, passports and stamps, before opening applications for citizenship and writing to the United Nations for acceptance as a certified country. (Gibson, 2017)

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FIG.13. the trash isles possport open (2017) fig.14. the trash isles passport cover (2017) fig.15 the trash isles stamps (2017) fig.16. the trash isles one hundred debris notes (2017)

POLLUTION CULTURE

fig.16.

fig.17. flex, blue wave (Date unknown) fig.18. Pollution popsicls (2017) fig.19. flex, pink pollution (date unnknown)

fig.17.

POLLUTION ART sculptures by Lucy Hardcastle reflecting mutated pollution

raw and to the point, they juxtapose aesthetics with a darker message

polluted popsicles by students from new taipei city (hunt, 2017)

POLLUTION CULTURE

fig.18.

fig.19.

STELLA MCCARTNEY

fig.21.

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that’s the biggest challenge, having people not notice.” - STELLA MCCARTNEY (Black, 2012, p32)

POLLUTION CULTURE

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FIG.20 STELLA MCCARTNEY AW17 FIG.21 CLEVERCARE SERIES EPISODE 6 FIG.22 STELLA MCCARTNEY AW17

Stella McCartney is a pioneer of sustainable fashion within the industry, creating products without the use of leather or fur and aiming to incorporate as many innovative materials as possible. The brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s AW17 campaign, set on top of a landfill, reflected just how strongly she feels about the rising pollution and waste caused by the global fashion industry. She also joined forces with Clevercare organisation to run a #Clevercare series of videos, each a short clip explaining, in a light-hearted and colourful way, how

consumers can better care for their clothes and ultimately make them last. (Stella McCartney, 2017) On top of this, the brand has teamed up with Parley for the Oceans and Adidas to create a collection of trainers made from plastic, enhancing their capital within the realm of ethical fashion. (See Appendix E (i) for more)

CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION

fig. 23. prada white coat

the counter movement against fast fashion, food and more

“Fashion industry leaders and social media influencers need to stop promoting the wasteful and broken nar

The Slow movement started in 1986 with Slow Food, founded by Carlo Petrini. Since then, the Slow lifestyle has become popular amongst many trying to live more mindfully and appreciate the little things so easily missed in such a fast-pace world. As Carl Honoré states in his book In Praise of Slow, the movement can be “summed up in a single word: balance” (Honoré, 2005, 13). He comments that society grows up too fast and doesn’t leave time for playing or daydreaming (Honoré, 2005, 9), things that a Slow lifestyle promotes. Consumers are predicted to “begin to buy in to buying less” (WGSN, 2016) in the coming years, which would relieve the current tension on finite resources. Whilst the idea of “quality over quantity”(WGSN, 2015) has got a long way to go, products and services are being introduced to “give people relief from a fast world by enabling them to slow down”(LS:N, 2015) with products such as Paus, an online platform offering CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION

breathing exercises and sounds of nature to encourage you to take some time out. This goes hand-in-hand with the current minimalist trend, especially amongst Millennials who “have a unique set of values around how they choose to spend their money.” (Weinswig, 2016) In terms of Slow Fashion, Kate Fletcher, coined this in 2004 in resistance to the cult of fast fashion in response to the devastating events of the Rana Plaza collapse back in 2013, where more than 1,000 people were killed. Website, Not Just a Label, discusses the movement as “return equilibrium, where societal behaviour is not in conflict with natural resources.” (Dickson, M., Cataldi, C. and Grover, C., 2016) We cannot avoid consumption altogether, we all have basic wants and needs, however the Slow movement is pushing these desires towards a different direction of mindful and satisfactory consumption.

THE SLOW MOVEMENT

rratives of micro trends and consumerism” (greenpeace, 2017) a shift towards a more simplistic and minimalistic lifestyle “return equilibrium, where societal behaviour is not in conflict with natural resources.” (2016) fig. 24. madewin instagram feed (2017) fig. 25. brodie davis instagram feed (2017)

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THE ACEY “I’d like to think that one day we’re not talking about this thing called sustainable fashion and that it’s just integrated more widely in the industry, I feel like it has to be.”- Holly Allenby, Founder of The Acey (APPENDIX B)

CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION

fig.27.

fig.26. inside the acey pop-up store (2016) fig.27. terrarium workshop with london terrariums (2016)

Based in London, The Acey provides an online retail environment for consumers to easily purchase ethical products from a well-curated selection of garments and accessories. It was founded by Holly Allenby in 2014, with the main incentive to “create an elevated environment for all these ethical fashion designers and show people that ethical fashion can be cool and contemporary.” (Appendix B) The brand slogan of ‘Style with Purpose’ rings true with the Slow movement and Vivienne Westwood’s famous “Choose well, buy less, make it last.” (Guardian Live, 2014) Aimed at professional women, aged 3050 who have busy lives and want to shop guilt-free, it offers a range of innovative garments and accessories from recycled plastic lingerie to grocery bags made from 100% organic cotton by a women’s uplift programme in Bangladesh. The brand is currently only online, however is looking to branch out into a physical space due to the success of their pop-up stores and feeding off the importance of touch and experience when shopping, especially with fabrics of such quality. (Appendix B) The brand would suit a physical space due to its brand values of community combined with chic aesthetic. A focus group indicates that the clothes are well received and the aesthetic is appealing to a younger, millennial audience, however like many sustainable brands, the price range renders it out of reach. (Appendix D)

fig.26.

SANCTUARY SPACES Alongside the resistance to the fast-pace of society and trends, reports are suggesting a strong resistance to digital technology and the constant online presence. (WGSN, 2017) This is being adopted through marketing of sanctuary spaces and the rise in popularity of wellbeing activities such as meditation and yoga. This is particularly popular amongst Millennials and Gen Z who have grown up with the turn of the digital age and are now seeking refuge from the anxieties this has brought.

Alongside the resistance to the fast-pace of society and trends, reports are suggesting a strong resistance to digital technology and the constant online presence. (WGSN, 2017) This is being adopted through marketing of sanctuary spaces and the rise in popularity of wellbeing activities such as meditation and yoga. This is particularly popular amongst Millennials and Gen Z who have grown up with the turn of the digital age and are now seeking refuge from the anxieties this has brought.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;re-creating natural light to purifying the air they breathe, spaces should work to offer consumers an experience that moves beyond products to offering real purpose in terms of protection.â&#x20AC;? (LS:N) CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION

fig.28. the krane (2017)

fig.29.

fig.30. CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION

VETEMENTS POP-UP “We all have too many clothes anyhow. We don’t buy because we need it. Then it’s just about multiplication of this production, and most companies don’t care what’s happening with their clothes. You just click a button if you want it; you go to a store you if you want a physical experience. This is what we are trying to create with an event. It’s not just about buying, it’s about being together and having a certain connectivity and memory.” –Demna Gvasalia (2017)

fig.31. wasteful obsession In February this year, Vêtements collaborated with consumption by visualising the vast with Hollywood amount left over from boutique, Maxfield, the manufacturing of and transformed a car one collection. Although park into a pop-up shop in the style of a this installation caught the attention of the dry cleaner. Outside the store was a large press, it is unclear as to how thoroughly the installation of a glass cabinet, filled with waste message was received clothing and rubbish by the public, confusing supposedly from the the installation with an same factory the clothes Instagram-worthy photo opportunity. for sale were made in. (Medina, 2017) This (See Appendix E (ii) for made a bold statement more) about society’s fig.29. vetements dry cleaner receipt (2017) fig.30. vetements dry cleaner pop up fig.31. vetements dry cleaner jacket (2017)

ACTIVISM

fig.32. junya watanabe jacket (2017)

social media influencers- in it for the planet, not the likes

this new wave of social media “Eco-influencers are able to reach a young audience through shareable creat

LS:N recently wrote an article on the rise of eco-influencers, highlighting the trend blending social media and environmentalism (2017). With platforms such as Instagram having so much control over what you purchase, even having in-app purchase options, there is an emerging number of people utilising this power for alternative purposes of activism. Fashion, in particular, “has always had activism in its DNA” (Wheeler, 2017) ACTIVISM

Elizabeth Farrell, aka Glacier Girl, is a visual artist, using her online presence to raise awareness of climate change and the effect our actions are having on the glaciers. She has recently been featured in a BBC Four film called ‘Silent Roars’ where she talks about using social media and her clothing adorned and upcycled with badges and slogans to get the message out there and appeal to the iGeneration. (BBC Four)

THE ECO-ACTIVISTS TAKING US BY STORM

tive video digital contentâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; (LS::N global, 2017) amongst these influencers are glacier girl, eco warrior princess and ecocult reaching thousands from the igeneration, social media provides a perfect platform for speaking out fig.33. glacier girl instagram feed (2017)

FASHION REVOLUTION “if everyone started to question the way we consume, we would see a radically different fashion paradigm”- Carry Somers, founder of fashion revolution (MINNEY, 2016)

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ACTIVISM

Fashion Revolution was created in reaction to the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013. Carry Somers is proud to have founded a global movement, “calling for systemic reform of the fashion system.” (Minney, 2016, p26) Fashion Revolution Day commemorates the devastating loss of 1,135 factory workers at Rana Plaza (The Guardian, 2016) with a campaign called Who Made My Clothes? The campaign urges people to hash tag #WhoMadeMyClothes with a photograph of an item of clothing with the brand tag on show, receiving 533 million impressions on Instagram alone in 2017. (Fashion Revolution, 2017) Brands are then encouraged to respond; however in 2015, Fashion Revolution found “that 48 per cent of brands hadn’t traced the factories where their garments were made and 91 per cent didn’t know where the raw materials came from.” (Minney, 2016, p26)

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fig.34. who made my clothes? (2017) fig.35. fashion revolution instagram feed (2017)

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FASHION ACTIVIST CAMPAIGNS

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“buy less, choose well, make it last.” vivienne westwood (the guardian live, 2014)

ACTIVISM

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fig.36. climate revolution x anglomania film (2014) fig.37. climate revolution x anglomania film (2014) fig.38. greenpeace detox (2016)

Fashion and activism are increasingly crossing paths, with organisations such as Greenpeace staging Detox catwalk shows in order to pressure companies into stopping the use of toxic chemicals. Climate Revolution is another example of a crossover, often collaborating with

Vivienne Westwoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fashion label Anglomania. An example of this is a moving image piece featuring protests and illustrated imagery combined with the collection of garments worn on cowboystyle dancers. (See Appendix E (iv))

ACCESS OVER OWNERSHIP

fig.39. pleats please (2017)

Several economic systems are building themselves to combat the crisis of our current linear economy from cradle to grave. The circular economy aims to recycle and reuse materials, such as H&M’s recent attempts to encourage clothing recycling in-store. Whereas, Walter Stahel, a Swiss economist, has introduced the concept of the sharing and performance economies, where we pay for the value of what we extract from the product’s use. (Stahel) Sara Arnold, founder of Higher Studio, argues in her Business of Fashion Op-Ed, that the circular economy is not enough (Arnold, 2017); companies like H&M cannot use greenwashing to cover up the masses of clothing it is churning out every day. Lucy Siegle makes clear in an article for the Guardian that the 1,000 tons of clothes donated during H&M recycling week in 2016 equated to the amount of new clothing generated in 48 hours by the company (Siegle, 2016).

THE SHARING ECONOMY rising in popularity with services such as airbnb and netflix, fashion is looking to follow suit

Society is looking towards the sharing economy for answers. With 58% of Millennials in London interested in clothing rental (Green, 2016) and the enthusiasm from a focus group of Millennials, it is evident that this is the generation, which are going to be most receptive to the concept and drive it into the mainstream. Millennials, aged from 18 to 35 have grown up with a society in post-recession limbo and with little disposable income they are looking for new alternatives to satisfy the need for newness. However, Mintel statistics have revealed “66% of Millennials state they are willing to pay more for products and services that come from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact” (Mintel, 2017) conveying the existing interest in sustainability. In this financial and environmental situation, the alternative of rental services is fast becoming the norm, allowing Millennials to satisfy their craving for high-end and unique experiences. (WGSN, 2017) This has led them to services such as Airbnb and Uber pioneering a sharing economy. A Marks & Spencer report revealed that there are “3.6 billion clothes left unworn in the nation’s wardrobes” (Oxfam, 2016), something that could be closely linked to the idea that many feel that they cannot wear something twice (Refinery29) due

ACCESS OVER OWNERSHIP

to pressure from social media as well as consumers’ crave for “that awful dopamine hit of newness all the time.”(Casely-Hayford, 2017) Survey results show that 48% of Millennials admit to getting bored of an item after wearing it 50 times or less (Appendix A) and figures from LS:N report that consumers “treat low-priced items as disposablegenerally getting rid of them after as little as seven wears”(LS:N Global, 2017), pressing for a solution to creative expression and newness, whilst minimising the effects on the environment. Business of Fashion revealed that Rent The Runway made over £100 million in revenue in 2016 (Arnold, 2016) indicating the obvious success of such a service. The article also introduces ideas of “emotional durability” and the importance of still encouraging consumer desire to express themselves as well as wanting something to physically last. By opening up these virtual wardrobes, these services are not only providing a sustainable alternative, but also a “much greater choice and curation can be provided at a lower cost.” (Arnold, 2017) The performance economy takes the sharing economy one step further, by encouraging brands to get involved with supplying their own garments on a loan basis and ultimately caring for the longevity of their own creations.

fig.40. the buyerarchy of needs (2017)

APARTMENT STORES

fig.42.

“People come, plug in their laptop and stay all day. At the end, they might go and buy a coat or a jumper from The Row.” ALEX EAGLE (Berehzna, 2017)

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Apartment stores have been emerging as the new immersive, luxury boutique experience. The Peter Pilotto townhouse was just one example of how brands are using temporary living spaces to engage with new and existing customers. Everlane also ran a campaign called “Room Service,” collaborating with various hotels across America to showcase their shoe collections in a more intimate setting of a hotel room. (See Appendix E(ix) for more)

ACCESS OVER OWNERSHIP

fig.41. the apartment wardrobe shot (date unknown) fig.42. the apartment living area shot (date unknown) fig.43. everlane “room service” (2015) fig.44. peter pilotto townhouse (2017)

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CREATIVE HUBS Creative hubs are becoming more and more popular amongst young practitioners and brands are utilising them to access this demographic through collaboration and new experiences. (see Appendix E (v) for more)

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ACCESS OVER OWNERSHIP

fig.45. shoreditch house (date unknown) fig.46.soho house barcelona (date unknown) fig.47. the store, soho house berlin (2017) fig.48. shoreditch house (2017) fig.49. the store, soho house berlin (2017)

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fig.51. ACCESS OVER OWNERSHIP

RENTAL SERVICES Rent The Runway is at the forefront of fashion rental and in 2014 the online subscriptionbased retailer launched a physical store in New York’s Flatiron district. The rental service has styled the stores to appear as walk-in-wardrobes with the clothes being hung on hangers, not mannequins and a personal style. Wear The Walk is another rental service, stocking only ethically made clothing. They have frequent pop-ups at their studio to invite new and existing rental customers to explore their collections in their naturally-lit and botanical space. In terms of online communication, these brands mix in messages of sustainability and fun illustrations, such as Rent the Runway’s campaign around turning your obsolete, physical closet into something new.

fig.53.

Wear The Walk is another rental service, stocking only ethically made clothing. They have frequent pop-ups at their studio to invite new and existing rental customers to explore their collections in their naturally-lit and botanical space.

In terms of online communication, these brands mix in messages of sustainability and fun illustrations, such as Rent the Runway’s campaign around turning your obsolete, physical closet into something new. (See Appendix E(viii) for more).

fig.50. and fig.51. rent the runway in-store (2016) fig.52. rent the runway instagram feed. (2017) fig.53. not my style twitter feed. (2017)

fig.52.

HIGHER STUDIO Founded by Sara Arnold in 2016, Higher Studio is an exciting and unique take on the sharing economy. Arnold has come at the concept of sustainable fashion from a way that celebrates creative freedom as well as minimising harmful effect to the environment. Interestingly, the brands that Higher Studio provides for rent include high-end designers such as Comme des Garçons and Prada, which do not obviously resonate with the sustainable movement. However, the ethos of the rental brand is that we should make the most of anything archival when looking to the past and be proactive in working with brands to help them to become

more sustainable in the future. When speaking to Sara, it became obvious how much she appreciates and understands the desire for good design and believes that this does not have to be sacrificed in return for ethics. Being that the garments themselves are mainly archival and some, such as the biodegradable latex pieces by H Y D R A, have been used in performance art, the authentic experience of wearing these pieces could be said to outweigh the experience of purchase. (Appendix C) Clothing rental already exists, however Higher Studio is targeting a new market. The platform is aimed at Millennials

who are creative and looking for a way to experiment without implicating direct harm to the planet. (Appendix C) Whilst being predicted to become the norm amongst Millennials, the message isn’t out there and many are unaware of the option to rent. Higher Studio aims to “push boundaries of creativity, but also to be sustainable,” which may be posing a challenge to the communication outlets as the aesthetic of Higher Studio doesn’t obviously resonate with what people are used to seeing with slow living, eco-fashion brands or even other rental services. (See Appendix E (vi) for more)

fig.54.

ACCESS OVER OWNERSHIP

fig.55.

fig.56.

fig.54. website banner. (2017) fig.55. higher studio instagram feed. (2017) fig.56. higher studio instagram feed. (2017)

ACCESS OVER OWNERSHIP

fig.57. pink with hands. (2017)

creativity and craft

longevity

“it’s always about how can we be more creative without creating damage”- Sara Arnold

innovative

VALUES sustainable community

Progressive

fashion as a means of expression

a virtual wardrobe

without the overuse of resources

ESSENCE

fig.58. white comme des garcons top. (2017)

showcase

IN ACTION

website

creative

fashionable

relaunch due “as a platform for other people’s ideas who we feel we have an affinity with”- Sara Arnold

instagram

being talked about on LS”N, BoF, Not Just a Label and more

PERSONALITY

experimental cool

dynamic

DESIGN TESTS

How can Higher St as a creative sol

tudio communicate the concept of rental lution to our transient relationship with clothes?

fig.59.

MOVING IMAGE- concept one 58

fig.60.

fig.61.

fig.62.

fig.59. release chimerization (2012) fig.60. pink with hands (2017) fig.61. beach in denmark (date unknown) fig.62. maisonmargiela with h&m- silent manifesto (2012) fig.63.there is no planet b (2016)

fig.64. glitch model 1. (2017) fig.65. floriental comme des garcons. (date unknown) fig.66. floriental comme des garcons. (date unknown) fig.65. fig.67. glitch model 2. (2017) fig.68. glitch model 3. (2017) fig.69. naked: body mod 1. (2017) fig.70. naked: body mod 2. (2017) fig.64. fig.66. fig.67. fig.71. fig.71. do This concept aims to emphasise the idea of a virtual wardrobe with glitching you ever between outfits, at the same time as portraying melting nature as the get backdrop as a metaphor for climate change. migraines? (2017)

fig.69.

fig.68.

fig.70.

fig.71.

The idea developed to a more stripped back and simplistic aesthetic, putting the emphasis on the glitching and swapping of clothes. The performers will move together in a way that suggests sharing and connectivity with movements such as these.

concept development 60

fig.72.

fig.73.

fig.74.

fig.75.

fig.72. naked: body mod 3. (2017) fig.73. LA dance project rehearsal. (2017) fig.74. cronus and indigo blak: she. (2015) fig.75. just dance: maze. (2017) fig.76. s/s18 catwalk beauty. (2017) fig.77. s/s18 catwalk beauty 2. (2017) fig.78. vivienne westwood spring/ summer 2018. (2017)

Example expressions and movement reflecting sharing and swapping.

fig.76.

fig.77.

fig.78.

Hair and make up will reflect signs of activism and creativity.

Long shot of dancers on the beach

Birds flying overhead

Clothes glitch and swap

Through collaging this design idea, the message of swapping clothing and the overall tone of the moving image piece becomes clearer. It will also include a voiceover narrative, iterating facts or questions about the wasteful nature of the fashion industry and highlighting the benefits of rental.

storyboarding 62

Close up of glitching

This initial storyboard depicts a coastal setting with two dancers moving and glitching together as we see glimpses of the clothing swapping bodies. Elements of nature subtly bring in the idea that by renting we are causing less harm to our environment.

After having done these design experiments, I decided that the message was not as clear as I had hoped and that the glitch element of the concept was not strong enough, therefore I moved on to other concepts for moving image. Clothes glitch and swap

fig.79. fig.81.

fig.80.

fig.82.

MOVING IMAGE- concept two 64

This concept aims to emphasise the number of activists and influencers who are creatively looking to make a change in the world. This documentary-style film of interviews will involve shots within influencers and artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; houses and studios in order to showcase their personality and creativity.

fig.79. girl with rocket. (2017) fig.80. closet case: tati cotliar. (2014) fig.81. my place: tavi gevinson. (2016) fig.82. my place: florence welch. (2015) fig.83. glacier girl. (2015) fig.84. ella goerner. (2016)

fig.83.

fig.84.

In natural settings

Change to next eco-influencer Candid shot dancing

Artist in action

This storyboard has been developed from the previous, featuring ecoinfluencers and creatives, however this version alters its focus to the creative work of these influencers. It conveys how Higher Studio fits in to complement the expressive nature of these artists. Close up of skirt

storyboarding 66

This storyboard lays out the sort of shots that would take place within the documentary from candid, personal insights to direct, straight-on answers towards the camera.

Close up shot

Change of creative

Change of creative Close up of art

Close up of top

This mock up showcases the work of Ella Goerner, Elizabeth Farrell (aka Glacier Girl), Petra Collins and Lucy Hardcastle, all creatives who have been involved with work that aims to make people think. The choice of artists may change depending on availability, cooperation and opinion, however for the moment this storyboard conveys the concept of creatives making a difference with art in very different ways.

fig.85. fig.87.

fig.86.

fig.88.

MOVING IMAGE- concept three 70

A piece of moving image, intended to give the viewer a sensorial experience through imagery and sound design. The imagery could focus upon the impressions left by clothes; the way clothes make us move and the transient nature of our relationship with them. This concept depicts the necessity of rental in order to sustainably feed creativity and novelty. (See Appendix E(vii) for more)

fig.85. beyond the clouds 1. (2016) fig.86. beyond the clouds e. (2016) fig.87. beyond the clouds 3. (2016) fig.88. skin. (2016) fig.89. memories of a moving glacier (soft eclipse). (2016) fig.90. beyond the clouds 4. (2016)

fig.89.

fig.90.

Impression left by underwear

Close up of latex underwear

Legs restricted by skirt

Close up of socks

Hand print on wet glass Sand timer

Legs shuffling

Impression left by socks Static movement in boxy top

Using imagery of the clothing itself, this storyboard aims to visualise the feeling that comes with wearing something new. The novelty of each new and exciting piece is conveyed through moving image with visuals and sound design. It emphasises the quality of the textures that give a unique experience to the wearer. This is a basic storyboard of images I took at Higher Studio, which makes it hard to imagine the clothes on a person, therefore I will develop this with a storyboard featuring full lengths and models.

storyboarding 72

Melting ice cube

This storyboard aimed to communicate the temporary impression clothing has physically on our bodies. However, after experimenting with this design, it is obvious most clothing that leaves a mark are lingerie and hosiery and does not communicate the relationship with garments in general.

Arms moving in boxy top

MOVING IMAGE AND sound design tests at: https://vimeo.com/user74612426 Sound design experiments, made in collaboration with artist PlayingWithScissors, demonstrate mock-ups of sound to emphasise the feeling of newness and the novelty of experimenting with clothing. The sound could also be created with analogue, modular synths, which create new sounds every time they are unplugged and plugged back in, reflecting again the idea of unique experiences.

The clothing itself is very full of life and moves in different ways. This mock up portrays the way the clothing makes the wearer move differently and experience something different, whether thats bouncing pleats or silky latex. Again, the concept is to enhance the feeling of newness with sound design reflecting the movement of the clothing.

This concept began with looking at how to educate people about the sharing economy as well as promoting Higher Studio as a sustainable alternative. With a talk series from eco influencers and fashion industry experts, consumers would be intrigued to hear how the two worlds of sustainability and fashion come together.

This developed to create a communal space where working creatives could come to collaborate at the same time as having a physical space for clients of Higher Studio to visit the collection.

SPACE- concept one 76

fig.91. the store, soho house berlin. (2017)

This could then incorporate the idea of a talk series and launch with events to educate creatives about the importance of rental of shared spaces and clothing.

fig.92. the store, soho house berlin 2. (2017)

I also experimented with incorporating the clothing into the space more effectively in order to promote engagement.

fig.93. soho works instagram feed. (2017) fig.94. shoreditch house floorplan. (date unknown) fig.95. soho works instagram feed. (2016)

fig.95. Realising it could be quite unrealistic for Higher Studio to create a whole new space; the idea was transferred to within an existing space. Soho Works at Shoreditch House has been open since 2015 and offers working creatives a collaborative and open place to work.

This concept therefore proposes collaboration between Higher Studio and Soho Works in order to enhance the creativity of the space, bringing in elements of fashion and eco-art. Artists such as Ella Goerner could be commissioned to showcase environmental art around the space and there could still be a series of talks from fashion industry experts and eco influencers to launch the use of the space.

The concept of this design is of a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;virtualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wardrobe space, where subscribers can come to try on. The subscribers will be sent a debit card as a form of invitation. They will need to tap it (via RFID) at the conveyor belt checkout that they enter through, putting the consumer in the position of the product.

Studio cards and these items will be added to their account on the website, where they will find in their accounts all the items they tapped whilst in-store. The amount of clothing they have selected for their virtual wardrobe will be totaled up to reveal the environmental benefits of choosing to rent instead of buy.

As the subscribers find and try on pieces that they like they can tap them with their Higher

SPACE- concept two 82

Several elements of this concept became too unrealistic, such as the conveyor belt and the fact that it was by invite only excluded a large audience of potential new subscribers, however elements like the bedroom-like interior I will continue to develop.

This concept is centred on the relation between the rental fashion and rental spaces, setting up pop-up spaces in a range of apartments creating intimate and immersive experiences for new and existing subscribers.

This design depicts a trendy London apartment where Higher Studio would set up clothing rails around the apartment to be tried on and viewed up close.

This was also tested in the style of a studio apartment, playing on the brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name, however the test revealed a studio apartment to be too small to showcase the whole collection. fig.96. rest series. (date unknown)

The apartment store showcase for Higher Studio will appear in various apartments around London, popping up every month or two. Each time the apartment will aim to bring something new and fresh to the consumersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience and play on the feeling of newness that subscribers get from trying new garments.

fig.97. old warehouse in london. (2015)

These will each launch with an event showcasing various creative talent, for example a spoken word piece by a performance artist such as Susie Green, describing the feeling of performing in latex. The event will aim to incite new conversations by bringing together creatives from a wide range of professions and encourage creativity through rental.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Arnold, S. (2017) ‘Op-Ed: An Alternative to Consumerism Does Exist: The Performance Economy’ Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/ opinion/an-alternative-to-consumerism-doesexist-the-performance-economy (Accessed: 27th October 2017)

Bain, M. Quartz, (2016), ‘Studies Show People Think Caring about the Environment is “feminine”’. Available at: https://qz.com/771309/ studies-show-people-think-caring-about-theenvironment-is-feminine/ (Accessed: 20th October 2017)

Black, S. (2012) ‘The Sustainable Fashion Handbook’, Thames & Hudson Ltd.: High Holborn Casely-Hayford, A. (2017) ‘Why This Clothing Rental Company Could Be The Future of Fashion’ Available at: http://www.refinery29. uk/2017/05/155048/wear-the-walk-luxuryfashion-rental (Accessed: 1st November 2017) Dickson, M., Loker, S. and Eckman, M. (2009), ‘Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry’, Fairchild Books: New York Dickson, M., Cataldi, C. and Grover, C. (2016) ‘The Slow Fashon Movement’ Available at: https://www.notjustalabel.com/editorial/slowfashion-movement (Accessed: 12th October 2017)

Friends of the Earth, (2015), ‘Why Women Will Save the Planet’, Zed Books Ltd: London Gibson, C. and Stanes, E. (2011) Is Green the New Black? In ‘Ethical Consumption: A Critical Introduction’, Routledge: Oxon, pp.169-185

Bauman, Z. (2007), ‘Consuming Life’, Polity Press: Cambridge

Berezhna, V. (2017) ‘The Business of Apartment Stores’ Available at: https://www. businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/thebusiness-of-apartment-stores (Accessed: 13th November 2017)

Available at: http://fashionrevolution.org/about/2017-impact/ (Accessed: 28th October 2017)

Gibson, E. (2017) ‘Petition Launched to Recognise Great Pacific Garbage Patch as a country’ Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/13/trashisles-great-pacific-garbage-patch-dalandmikeladbible-the-plastic-oceans-foundation/ (Accessed: 10th October 2017) Green, C. (2016) ‘Clothing Rental: New Subscription Service Allows Customers to Rent Clothes from High Street Shop’ Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/ news/clothing-rental-new-subscription-serviceallows-customers-to-rent-clothes-from-highstreet-shops-a6863406.html Greenpeace, (2017), ‘After the Binge, the Hangover: Insights into the Minds of Clothing Consumers’. Available at: http://www. greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/ Campaign-reports/Toxics-reports/After-theBinge-the-Hangover/ (Accessed: 17th October 2017) Guardian Members, (2014) ‘Vivienne Westwood on Capitalism and Clothing: ‘Buy less, choose well, make it last’ Guardian Live.’ Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cik7qDIBVPk (Accessed: 26th October 2017) Honoré, C. (2005), ‘In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed’, Orion: London

Fashion Revolution (2017) ‘2017 Impact’

Horn, G. (2006), ‘Living Green: A Practical Guide to Simple Sustainability’, California: Topanga Humphrey, K. (2010), ‘Excess: Anti-consumerism in the West’, Polity Press: Cambridge Humphrey, K. (2011) The Simple and the Good, in ‘Ethical Consumption: A Critical Introduction’, Routledge: Oxon, pp. 41-53 Jiang, E. (2017) ‘Vetements and Daft Punk Pop Ups Cast Los Angeles as Fashionable Petri Dish’ Available at: https://www.businessoffashion. com/articles/intelligence/vetements-daft-punkpop-ups-cast-los-angeles-as-fashionable-petridish (Accessed: 18th October 2017) LCF x Kering talk. (2017). Available at: https:// www.facebook.com/keringgroup/videos/ vb.153403888138505/1235155309963352/?type=2&theater (Accessed: 11th October 2017) LS:N Global (2017) ‘The Rise of Eco-Influencers’ Available at: https://www-lsnglobal-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/ big-ideas/article/21763/the-rise-of-eco-influencers (Accessed: 23rd October 2017)) LS:N Global (2017) ‘Experience 2020’ Available at: https://www-lsnglobal-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/ big-ideas/article/21794/experience-2020 (Accessed: 1st November 2017) LS:N Global (2017) ‘Pollution Apparel’. Available at: https://www-lsnglobal-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/micro-trends/article/21716/pollution-apparel (Accessed: 17th October 2017)

Medina, M. (2017) ‘Taking Them to the Cleaners: Vetements x Maxfirled Event Draws Crowd, Sells Out of Merchandise’ Available at: http://wwd. com/fashion-news/fashion-features/vetementsx-maxfield-dry-cleaning-event-installationshop-10785423/ (Accessed: 18th October 2017) Minimalism: A Documentary about the Important Things, (2015), Directed by Matt D’Avella [documentary]. USA: Kino Lorber Minney, S. (2016) Slow Fashion: Aesthetics meets Ethics, New Internationalist Publications Ltd.: Oxford Mintel (2017), ‘Sustainable Retail: New Product Relationships 2017’ (Accessed: 19th October 2017) Mintel. (2017) ‘Moral Brands’ Available at: http:// academic.mintel.com.arts.idm.oclc.org/trends/#/ trend/277240?highlight (Accessed: 21st October 2017) Oxfam x Marks and Spencer (2016) ‘3.6 billion clothes left unworn in the nation’s wardrobes, survey finds’ Available at: http://www.oxfam. org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2016/06/ over-three-billion-clothes-left-unworn-in-thenations-wardrobes-survey-finds (Accessed: 17th October 2017) Peterson, D. (2015) Social Media as a Tool for Social Change in ‘Sustainable Fashion: What’s Next? A Conversation about Issues, Practices and Possibilities.’ Bloomsbury: New York and London. pp.77-99 Plastic Oceans. (Date Unknown) Available at: https://www.plasticoceans. org/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAus_

LSN: Global (2017) ‘Post-Ownership Products’ Available at: https://www-lsnglobal-com. arts.idm.oclc.org/micro-trends/article/20941/ post-ownership-products (Accessed: 11th November 2017) LSN: Global (2015) ‘Slowness Gains Momentum in a World Tired of Moving too Fast’ Available at: (Accessed: 20th October 2017)

Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (2013) Directed by Angela Sun, [documentary]. USA: My Movie Entertainment, Bullfrog Films Pike, H. (2016) ‘Will the ‘Sharing Economy’ Work for Fashion?’ Available at:

BIBLIOGRAPHY https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/ fashion-tech/will-the-sharing-economy-work-forfashion-rent-the-runway-rental (Accessed: 11th November 2017)

independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/it-may-notbe-possible-to-slow-down-fast-fashion-so-canthe-industry-ever-be-sustainable-a7970031.html (Accessed: 16th October 2017)

Reuters (2015) ‘Millennials Follow Uber with New Fashion Trading Model’ Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/ news-analysis/millennials-follow-uber-withnew-fashion-trading-model (Accessed: 11th November 2017) Ryan, M. (2016) ‘Opinion: Rent, Wear, Return- is subscription the future of fashion?’ Available at: https://www.retail-week.com/sectors/fashion/ opinion-rent-wear-return-is-subscription-thefuture-of-fashion/7004889.article (Accessed: 12th November 2017)

The Guardian (2016) ‘Rana Plaza Collapse: 38 charged with murder over garment factory disaster’ Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/18/ rana-plaza-collapse-murder-charges-garmentfactory (Accessed: 4th November 2017) The True Cost, (2016), Directed by Andrew Morgan, [documentary]. USA: Life is My Movie Entertainment, Bullfrog Films Tyner, K. (2014) ‘The Case for Fewer- but BetterClothes’ Available at: https://qz.com/189904/thecase-for-fewer-but-better-clothes/ (Accessed: 19th October 2017)

Siegle, L. The Guardian (2016), ‘Am I a Fool to Expect more than Corporate Greenwashing?’, Accessed on: 16th October, Available at: https:// www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/ apr/03/rana-plaza-campaign-handm-recycling (Accessed: 3rd November 2017)

Unique Style Platform, (2017) ‘Vetements PopUp Dry Cleaning Store’, Available at: http:// uniquestyleplatform.com/blog/2017/02/17/ vetements-dry-cleaning-pop-up-store/ (Accessed: 13th October 2017)

Smilanksy, S. (2009), ‘Experiential Marketing: A Practical Guide to Interactive Brand Experiences’, Kogan Page Limited: London, Philidelphia and New Delhi

Veblen, T. (1899), ‘The Theory of the Leisure Class’, Macmillan: New York

Stahel, W. ‘Schools of Thought’ Available at: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation. org/circular-economy/schools-of-thought/ performance-economy (Accessed: 15th November 2017)

Wearden, G. (2016) ‘More Plastic than Fish in the Sea by 2050, says Ellen MacArthur.’ Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/ jan/19/more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-sea-by-2050warns-ellen-macarthur (Accessed: 12th October 2017)

Stella McCartney (2017) ‘The Clevercare Series’ Available at: https://www.stellamccartney.com/experience/en/ the-clevercare-series/ (Accessed: 10th October 2017)

Weinswig, D. (2016) ‘Millennials Go Minimal: The Decluttering Lifestyle Trend That Is Taking Over’ Available at:

Sumner, M. (2017) ‘It May Not Be Possible to Slow Down Fast Fahsion- So Can The Industry Ever Be Sustainable?’ Available at: http://www.

https://www.forbes.com/forbes/ welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/ sites/deborahweinswig/2016/09/07/millennialsgo-minimal-the-decluttering-lifestyle-trend-thatis-taking-over/&refURL=https://www.google. co.uk/&referrer=https://www.google.co.uk/ (Accessed: 27th October 2017) WGSN. (2015) ‘Going Slow’ Available at: https:// www-wgsn-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/content/ board_viewer/#/61139/page/1 (Accessed: 28th October 2017) WGSN, (2016), ‘Slow Futures S/S 18’, Available at: https://www-wgsn-com.arts.idm.oclc. org/content/board_viewer/#/67627/page/10 (Accessed: 17th October 2017) WGSN (2017) ‘Affordable Luxury: Millennial No-brand Brands’ Available at: https://wwwwgsn-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/content/board_ viewer/#/74116/page/1 (Accessed: 18th October 2017) Wild, B. (2016) Imitation in Fashion: Further reflections on the work of Thorstein Veblen and Georg Simmel, Fashion, Style and Popular Culture, Volume 3, Number 3. Wheeler, M. (2017) ‘Why Slow Fashion Is Picking Up the Pace’ Avaialable at: http://sourced.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2017/07/10/ why-slow-fashion-is-picking-up-the-pace/ (Accessed: 13th October 2017)

APPENDIX A- Survey Results Comments from Q2: Q2. What do you think sustainable fashion is? -Fashion production that respects environment and is responsible with human labor conditions -Campaigns that drive consumer paths by promoting or advocating against the use of certain products -If the products are sourced without harming the nature and animals -Fashion that tries not to harm the environment -Reduce, Reuse, Recycling and Upcycling of clothes! -Fashion that is made by sustainable materials -Sustainable fashion is fashion that respects the planet and the people it serves -Fashion that lasts a long time, so its better for the environment and has a better quality -Recycled fashion -A form of fashion that produces items in an ecologically friendly way E.g. no fur and using sustainable materials and procedures -Eco fashion, can have cycle of production minimising long term effect on environment -Fashion that is produced from a responsible source -That doesn’t leave a lasting, damaging trail on the environment but also one that doesn’t generate a ton of waste -Clothing that doesn’t do damage to the environment -Fashion that is less harmful for the planet -Considering environmental and social impact of manufacturing clothing -The production and distribution of clothing that tries to minimise detriment towards the environment, stays true to animal and human rights. Promotes more ethical attitudes within the fashion industry. -Buying clothes/accessories that have minimal environmental impact -Eco fashion, hich can be supported indefinitely in terms of human impact on the environment and social responsibility. -Fashion that isn’t wasteful and damaging environment -Eco fashion. How it can impact on

the environment. Opposite would be fast fashion and its damages to environment -Fashion made in a way that is good for people and the environment -Fashion that won’t make a direct impact on the environment etc. -Affordable fashion? That’s good for the environment -Something to do with organic clothing? -Fashion where it’s not environmentally or socially destructive -Fashion with materials and labour sourced ethically -The ethical and conscious consumption of fashion through design manufacture retail and usage -Fashion production and supply chain that minimise its impact on global resources. In any of the following areas; animal treatment and use, feasible clean energy sources (e.g. solar), working conditions of workers be it local or international and the abundance and general impact of the material they use. -Upcycled, ethically sourced materials, timeless -Ethical/environmental/sustainable resources

what is your age? 33-35 5%

18-20

23%

30-32 8% 27-29 4% 24-26 4%

21-23 56%

are you aware of the impact the fashion industry is having on the environment? i’m not sure 17% yes 37%

no 18%

Once 1%

How many times do you wear a piece of clothing before you get bored of it?

10 times 17% 200+ times 28%

50 times 30%

200 times 8%

150 times 60% 100 times 10%

Have you ever bought a sustainable product?

Do you know what sustainabile fashion is?

I’m not sure

28%

27%

36%

yes 55%

no 18%

yes 36%

50 %

what are you most concerned about?

global warming due to CO2 emissions

40 %

Every other month

Once a month How often do you buy a new item of clothing/ footwear/accessory?

35 30 25

animal welfare and the use of fur and leather

20 20

The pollution of water by toxic chemicals and dyes

Once a week

once a year

none of these concern me

twice a year

Twice a week

never

0 How important are the following aspects when purchasing a new items of clothing, footwear or accessory? (1 being not at all important to 5 being very important

Unlikely 5%

very unlikely 1%

How much more likely are you to buy froma brand that encourages transparency of social responsibility (e.g. the company’s total carbon emissions)?

The Price 22% The Aesthetic very likely 22% The Brand

The Quality

Whether it is Fashion

Where it was made likely 50%

What it is made of

012345

APPENDIX A- Survey Results Comments from Q3: Q3. Have you ever bought a sustainable product? Where from? -Rymans (recycled paper notebooks) -Local second-hand shops -Supermarkets -A bag for life from Waitrose -PEOPLE TREE -Whole Foods, Sainsbury’s etc -Vans -Lush -John Lewis -Certain supermarkets and in charity shops -Topshop from the vintage upcycled range, independent shops in Soho / Camden / Brick Lane -Not specifically fashion, but pencils, tote bags, water bottles etc. -Costa Rica -M&S, and independent clothes stalls in Exeter -H&M, Amazon -Vegan leather wallet -Market and certain shops -Buying second hand from vintage stores -Wholefoods -Zara -Bio degradable doggy bags -H&M u turn fashion vintage recycliable in Sydney Australia -A stall at a fair -People Tree, Oxfam -Tesco, local farm shop -Supermarkets -Various places. Charity shops/vintage shops/Etsy/small shops -Co Op, fair trade food from other supermarkets, Oxfam -Tesco -Local market -Tea -Supermarket -A fair -I don’t buy clothes and shoes unless they are second hand or from an organic/fair trade brand -School -The cooperative -Bought a dodgy poncho at a festival once -I buy Fair Trade and local sometimes, and I’ve been to vegan fairs a couple of times and got stuff there -I can’t remember -Finisterre, conscious cotton campaign by H and M -I have bought several bracelets for a company called 4Ocean, which funds ocean clean-ups of rubbish produced by consumers. Also Surfers against sewage,

which is a company that helps prevent the dumping of waste products into the ocean and makes all of their products out of sustainable material such as bamboo. -Boutiques -Body Shop -Supermarket Comments from Q4: Q4. Are you aware of the impact the fashion industry is having on the environment? If yes, describe. -Chemicals used in fashion industry contaminate the environment -Some companies chase low costs via operating in low regulated country. This allows them to have low costs which many customers enjoy, without knowing the moral implications of their purchasing behaviour -Animal cruelty, global warming etc. -Energy and resources used to make clothes, harmful products and amount of water used in processes such as dyeing, fashion companies e.g. Zara producing clothes with such a fast turnaround that many clothes being bought and thrown away, filling up landfills -Global warming. Chemical waste. -It is no secret anymore that fashion is the second largest polluter worldwide with only the oil industry exceeding it. Documentaries such as The True Cost have given light to the implications fashion is having both socially and environmentally. -Both for the production and the production process nature is being exhausted -It is very harmful and wasteful- making clothes requires enormous amounts of water too -Harvesting cotton etc v bad for environment, lots of water and electricity used to make clothes, harmful chemicals as dyes -E.g. indigo dyes from jeans are poisoning Almaty rivers which are killing the wildlife in them -Fast fashion contributions to vast amounts of non-biodegradable waste and contributes to overall pollution -Production of certain materials (i.e. leather) can be the causes of a lot of greenhouse gas emissions, some are unsustainably sourced, where there is finite amount of it -Pollution- e.g. transporting clothes, flying designers/retailers, dyes etc in water etc -Pollution and water intensive

-Low wages and poor working conditions for workers in 3rd countries. Fibre from knits mass of material etc damaging environment -It’s fucked up -Pollution -Lots of clothes in landfill, textiles made in ways that damage crops and animals -Disastrous towards the environment -Partly aware of the non-biodegradable materials filling up landfill and some factories which use poisonous chemicals which are harmful to the surrounding environment (humans, wildlife, nature). I think the awareness of animal cruelty in manufacturing clothing with animal skin/ fun has reduced maltreatment but not too sure. -The mass production of clothes, made with damaging materials, is putting a toll on the environment. This is heightened by the disposable nature of fashion these days. -The amount of waste from packaging alone, just when clothes are delivered to a shop in a fuel guzzling lorry -Fur, cosmetics -Our over consumption is devastating the world with air and water pollution, not to mention resource over use and drastically underpaid workers who work in terrible conditions -School -Animals being hunted for their fur -I understand the recent campaign to make jeans out of recycled denim, and it was only reading up about that when I realised how much water it takes to make one pair! -Negative impact due to waste of resources and energy used to mass produce clothing -I know it is having an impact. Not sure of statistics -Lower quality, disposable fashion, ethical issues -I am aware to the extent that I know that the production of fast fashion causes masses of pollution and that the sourcing of materials is neither fair for the workers in international countries or the planet. I am unsure as to the extent of this damage and how much it is too increase in the future or how to stop it. -Disposable fashion is destroying environment. Waste, cheap labour, poisonous chemicals for nature -Fur/Cosmetics

Comments from Q6: Q6. Which brands are you aware of that are sustainable or have worked on sustainable campaigns? Please list below. -Pukka Pads (recycled paper notebooks), Lidl (sustainable farming) -Muji -Latitude (Wearelatitude), ECOALF, Mud Jeans, Rapanui -None -Eco cosmetics -None -Fair Trade -Nike, H&M, Stella McCartney -Stella McCartney and New Balance -H&M, fashion revolution, ASOS -Stella McCartney, PEOPLE TREE, Faustine Steinmetz -Vans (that’s all I’m aware of) -None -Not sure -N/A -Fair trade -Patagonia, Everlane, Outer Known, Stella McCartney -Haven’t heard of any actively promoting their environmental efforts -Alternative apparel, hope made in the world -No idea -Body shop -Yutu -& Other Stories -Patagonia, Reformation, Stella McCartney -Urban Renewal -None -M&S, H&M -H&M, Rick Owens, People Tree, Stella McCartney -I don’t know any -H&M -H&M but I don’t believe they’ve done anything huge, Faustine Steinmetz -No idea -I am not aware of any -Free People (?) -None -Stella McCartney, People Tree -Every brand, they do ‘charity work’ for marketing gain -None -Fairtrade in TKMaxx? -? -Patagonia -Free People, Beaumont Organic -None -H7M Uturn Fashion Tree of Life -H&M? Marks & Spencer I think -Dr Martens -Don’t know -H&M -Not sure -People Tree, American Apparel said they were don’t know if that’s true

-None -None -Don’t really know.. -HandM EDUN -None -I’m not sure off the top of my head -None tbh -Not aware -H&M did a clothes swap type of set up and recycle fabric, toms? -Mmmm not a clue. -Coffee -Na -None -Can’t remember -HnM and Marks and Spencer both have more ethical ranges but these are only a small percentage of their collections. Patagonia and Veja are both brands who do a lot for sustainable fashion in my opinion! -None -Unsure of any in particular -Stella McCartney, the coop, the body shop, lush, velvet (toilet paper) -N/A -None -I’m not sure -Topshop? -Ethcs -The body shop, H&M -N/A -Finisterre -H&M -None -4Ocean, Surfers against Sewage, Parley, ethletics -Benetton, Veja, Zara (certain collections) -Body shop -None -THC clothing, Some Adidas items -Parley, ethletics, 4ocean -Stella McCartney Comments from Q10: Q10. Do you know of any brands promoting transparency? -People Tree – partnered with Fair trade produces, garment makers, farmers etc. -Patagonia, Reformation. -Everlane -Oliver Bonas -M&S again I think -Wedding dress & veil were made only in UK via Britten -Patagonia -None that are 100% transparent or even close to that

APPENDIX B- Interview Holly Allenby, founder of The Acey Emily: So, as I’ve said, I’m a London College of Fashion student, interested in the relevance of conscious consumption and how The Acey is working towards a sustainable future and if you want to introduce yourself and tell me a bit about why you think sustainable fashion is so relevant right now? Holly: Yeah, of course. So I’m Holly and I started The Acey at the end of 2014. The reason I started it was kind of what you said, to be honest, I felt there was a stigma around ethical fashion and that it was just very bohemian, it wasn’t very relevant. But it was actually, I was living in Amsterdam and working for a shoe company called Toms, do you know Tom’s shoes? Emily: Yeah. Holly: So they were kind of in that whole social enterprise world anyway, but I was living in Amsterdam and working for them and I discovered a few brands that I felt were doing business better, but at the core they had an amazing product, but they were making it ethically. And I was just like I really want to create like an elevated environment for all these ethical fashion designers and show people

that ethical fashion can be cool and contemporary. So, that’s kind of how The Acey started, I decided I wanted it to be an online company because I wanted it to be accessible to women worldwide. We ship to everywhere and we did from the get-go and ever since we launched in 2014 I don’t even think I knew how I’d get the products around the world, I just put worldwide shipping because the whole idea was that women worldwide could access the clothing. So that’s how it kind of started, it was just a very honest, personal journey for me into sustainable fashion. I was like any normal girl, erm, in their twenties, shopping in the high street, very meaningless shopping really and I had loads in my wardrobe that I’d never worn or I’d worn once and like I just… normal shopper, like everybody else and my friends and then I kind of started realising all these clothes don’t mean anything to me, I just didn’t need it, erm, and it just didn’t have to be produced that way and I didn’t want to be wearing the same as everyone else and erm, that’s when I was inspired to find these brands and I find it really difficult to find them so I was like I’m someone actively looking to find them, I want to make it easier for people to find sustainable fashion so that’s kind of how it all started really and its just gone from there.

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Emily: Do you have a particular sort of area of sustainable fashion that you’re interested in the most, is it recycled materials, or.. Holly: It’s always an interesting one looking at sustainability because it’s so big, but we look at the social and the environmental impacts and within that I’m constantly learning, I love natural fibres and ancient techniques that are used to do it with natural dyes and I love things like that, but then also what’s more relevant and current is the recycling of fabrics and we work with amazing brands that are doing that, they recycle plastic bottles for underwear and swimwear, so it’s really really, like, that’s really innovative and it makes sense, like I love anything that’s like using resources that we already have as much as it’s great and I love natural fibres, they’re really important, if it’s not going to be natural then 100% I believe it should be recycled. So, yeah, at The Acey, when I started it I was like, I want a really strict criteria to focus on, but then I realised if we say we only work with organic brands we then can’t work with other brands and I just did not want to, like, limit anybody, I wanted to work with all these innovative brands that have integrity, so we don’t have a strict thing. Emily: I like that it’s so

accessible to everyone, it makes it easy for someone who’s looking to go into buying sustainable fashion it’s the easiest thing because you’ve got every aspect, they don’t have to go to a different website if they wanted to buy something organic or.. Holly: Yeah, or I want to buy something vegan. Yeah, it’s all there. We will actually, we are going to introduce something so you can shop by criteria, so you can, if you want to look for something vegan, you can shop by that or shop for natural fibres or organic fibres, or whatever it’s going to be so we’re going to do a tiered system, like a filter, a filter basically. Emily: And do you have a particular target audience? Like, kind of age range? Holly: Yeah, yeah, we do. When I started, I thought it’d be younger than what it was. I think that was me being aspirational, thinking it was younger. But the reality is, the products we sell are like an affordable luxury level. It’s always something challenging because the high street prices are not actually very sustainable and things can’t really be produced for that price so it’s not something we can really compete with. But it’s definitely, like, women aged 30-50 and they’re professional women, I mean, we have, it’s funny, some brands really resonate with, like, 18 year old girls, that we have, but the

majority of the customers we have are 30-50 year old women, they’re young professionals, or they’re mothers, they live quite a busy lifestyle, but they like being able to come to The Acey just to shop with a free conscience in a way and if they like nice clothes and they like things that last and if they want to learn more about the ethics of a product, the information’s there, but also if they just want to shop freely then they can. Emily: Oh, okay, so I’ve been looking into quite a lot of Millennial shopping habits, kind of 18-35

price points wherever we can so we can start talking to that Millennial. I also think that the whole sustainable fashion with Millennials is really influenced and really great that there’s a lot of influencers out there on Instagram and stuffEmily: “Eco-influencers” I saw the other dayHolly: Totally, yeah. It’s like these eco, kind of, influencers do really resonate and they make people aware if nothing else then they are making people aware and think about things, which I think is massively important.

Holly: Mm, it’s so interesting Emily: And I’ve been reading a lot of trend reports about how there’s been a bit of an increase in Millennials interest in sustainable fashion and lots of things like how they’re willing to pay more of a premium for, like, sustainable packaging to wanting to know more about brand transparency and that sort of thing. Do you think that that will eventually start to show at The Acey? Holly: Absolutely, like it’s something I really want to focus on as well, like we’ve had to do this slightly older and higher price point market to start off with, but 100%, the people I want to be talking to is Millennials because they’re ultimately what’s going to grow with The Acey and they’re going to end up being my customers, so we are definitely focusing on more entry-level

Emily: I think Instagram is especially useful to spread the wordHolly: It really is, yeah we find it really good for business. Emily: So, I really like thewould you say it’s your slogan, “Style with Purpose”? Holly: Yes, yes. Emily: I think it really relates to the whole buying less, choosing well thing, especially the sort of concept of slow living. Do you think there’s an increase in people buying more timeless pieces instead of following trends? Holly: Definitely, I mean forbeing a sustainable retailer, and wanting to embody slow fashion has always been interesting because ultimately we’re a business and we want

APPENDIX B- Interview people to buy things, but we also want people to slow down and if they’re buying things and it’s quite an interesting pattern that if you’re buying something, buy less, it feels a bit contradictory. Emily: Yeah, I’m finding it a bit strange too, doing it as my university project, where there are others working on how do we make people buy more and I’m doing mine on how can we make people buy less! It’s a bit of an oxymoron. Holly: Yeah, it totally is. I mean my buying choices at The Acey, wanting to be a sustainable retailer, I buy very classic pieces, so some of our brands might do a sequin dress, but I’m not really going to buy that sequin dress because we want to buy things that are timeless and people can wear again and again and again, so I’d say my buying choices lean towards it being more classic and something people can wear again and again and in turn our customer is buying something they can wear again and again. I think people are definitely changing their perceptions on how to shop. Emily: Also, there’s this sort of minimalist movement at the moment where I think people are trying- it’s a trend almost, to have less things, to have more of a particular style, I think that’s quite interesting.

(The Acey)

moving in tandem. Holly: Yeah, definitely. When I think of when I was 18, I – when I was growing up, it was basically the trend to have loads of stuff and it was all to do with material things and slogans and I feel like now, when I look at my little stepsisters who are like thirteen, they don’t want loads of stuff, but they want nice things so I do feel like it is changing. Emily: So also, there’s like the Acey Woman hash tag, which I think sends quite a clear message about the brand and its values of integrity for real women. Would you say that there’s a link between sustainability and feminism? Holly: I think, naturally, there kind of is, because fashion generally is quite female dominated, erm, so if you look at a fashion workforce it would be a lot more female heavy than if you looked at some banking company in the city, so I do think there is a correlation between the whole feminist role and sustainable fashion. Erm, it’s just about empowering power really and I think it’s quite natural that something like that is happening in the fashion world because, like I said, it’s female dominated, so I think it’s just like everyone supporting each other, which is really important. Emily: Yeah, so they’re sort of

Holly: Yeah, that’s it. And for us, I think, like, The Acey woman is just a way for us to actually like communicate with and celebrate women we think are amazing and doing great things. We think our customers will be interested in what they’re doing and it’s just another outlet for us to be like, this is us, we love what these women are doing and create, basically we always want our customers to be discovering new things through us, erm, so that’s why we like profiling interesting women. Emily: Do you think you would ever branch out into menswear? Holly: Definitely, people have always asked this. We now get emails from men saying “hey, are you ever going to go into menswear?” and people on Instagram like “hey, do you do menswear?” erm, definitely. I felt strongly when I started The Acey, to just focus on women because I’d worked at Toms before, it’s a brand that sells to both men and women and because I was doing marketing for them I saw how difficult it was to market to both men and women, like the imagery you use, the tone of voice you use, everything is very different, so I really just wanted to establish The Acey woman before we go into The Acey man, but yeah

it’s definitely something I’d like to do. Emily: So, I’m currently in the midst of generating my own sort of brief currently and I’m interested in using The Acey as my brand so I can work towards communicating some sort of message- haven’t come up with the brief, but will be going on until around May. I’m interested in, in terms of communication, what you think your most effective platforms are, is it your pop-up stores, your Instagram? Holly: Our most effective forms are, we do find our pop-up events are really successful. If we get a customer- the customers we meet in our pop-ups, then translate to our online customers, and they’re the strongest customers, the ones that have a physical experience with us and they can have an online experience with us and the events work really well because, obviously, everything’s a really good quality on the site, it’s important that people can touch and feel the products and fall in love with them and once they’ve done that they know oh I like the look of that white shirt on The Acey and I know when I get it, the quality will be really good as well, so it kind of like a bit of a showcase of The Acey products, so physical’s really good. Instagram’s been really great for us in terms of communication and then also Mailchimp, so that’s our emailer- our mailing database, so we find that our audience really engages with

that and that’s where we send out emails that have new product launches in or might have a feature from the journal- we did one recently about plant-based dyeing or it might be about an Acey woman or whatever, so that’s really effective in terms of communicating with our customer. I’m not sure how much it, like, expands our customer database, but it’s a good way of retaining customers as opposed to, like, actually reaching new customers so they’re our main means of communication. Emily: Have you ever considered having a physical store? Holly: Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I’m actually meeting someone on Monday about that. Emily: Really? That’s interesting! Holly: Yeah, because the physical spaces always work so well and I really love having a physical space, to be able to touch and feel and interact and it’s definitely something I’m thinking about. I always want online to be our core, but I can almost see, like, an Acey space for five years that really puts our name on the map and then maybe we go to a different location and put our name on the map in a different country or whatever.

core place being able to reach lots of women, but I do think by having a physical space it then, erm, relays into that. Especially somewhere like London where there’s so many, like, tourists and stuff so you might meet someone in the shop who’s over from America and then they end up being a customer. So, the answer to your question is yes, I would definitely think about having a physical store. Emily: Would you say there’s anything that’s your least effective form of communicaton tool? Holly: We haven’t really focused on our Facebook or Twitter much. I’d say the least one would probably be Twitter. To be honest, the reason that we’ve done that is, early on when we started we focussed on what was most effective and it’s only actually me that works for The Acey and then Mary who works two days a week, so it’s literally like one and a half people so we have to sort of pick-and-choose what’s going to work and I’m all about doing one thing well, So, Facebook and Twitter aren’t that effective for us, but that’s probably down to us not focussing on them being a main platform because we don’t have the resources.

Emily: Keeping it still quite intimate.

Emily: Instagram is definitely better, it’s very visual and Twitter’s a bit outdate. I haven’t used Twitter in years.

Holly: Yeah, exactly and erm, I will definitely think about that, but I do like online being our

Holly: Yeah, I really don’t. A lot of The Acey is just a personal reflection of me, so I’ve just

APPENDIX B- Interview realised as I’m running it, it has to work for me, it can’t reallyif I don’t work well on Twitter, then Twitter doesn’t work well for The Acey, so yeah I’d say Facebook and Twitter are not the best. Emily: So, I know you’ve done a collaboration with Traid before? Where you sent out theHolly: Yes, that’s right, yeah, yeah, yeah! Emily: Would you ever consider collaborating with more of an activist kind of organisation, such as Fashion Revolution or something like that? Holly: Yeah, totally. We’ve been speaking to Fashion Revolution about how we can be, like, more involved because last year we did an event with them at, I’ve forgotton what the school’s called, it’s a fashion school, Italian fashion school just off Brick LaneEmily: Oh, Maringoni? Holly: Yeah, that’s it. We did an event with Fashion Revolution there and absolutely, definitely would partner with it. What I would say, the only reservations I have with things like that is I’ve chosen that The Acey’s tone of voice is very positive and it’s really about focussing on the positive things that are happening in the industry. We don’t really- I

don’t want it to be our place to highlight the negative impacts as such, I just want it to be like The Acey’s like a positive place where we celebrate the good that’s happening and we’re the solution to the bad, but I don’t particularly like talking about- I don’t like having a negative tone of voice, so woud I like to team up with an activist? Yes, definitely, but we like to put a positive spin on it. Emily: Kind of like, the whole “Who made my clothes?” Holly: Yes, that’s it. Emily: Yeah, because I’d say that’s still very postitive. Holly: Yeah, we do actually always do that on our Instagram. We try to do pictures of the makers behind the brands and do an “I made your clothes” response to Fashion Revolution, so we do always work with them in that respectand would look to partner with people who are looking to support the textile industry as a whole. Emily: So, to wrap things up, I’d like to ask you what you think the future of sustainable fashion is? Holly: I think that, hopefully, in ten years, ten/twenty years, that we won’t be talking about sustainable fashion because it’ll just be the norm. I think

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the whole reason we’re talking about this thing called ethical fashion, sustainable fashion is because the industry turned into something so unethical and so polluting and such a problem for planet earth. Erm, so I would like to think that the industry is shifting at all levels whether it’s luxury, high street to produce more sustainably. I think there’s enough clothing in the world that we can reuse and create a smaller impact, but still create jobs in the industry. So, I’d like to think that one day we’re not talking about this thing called sustainable fashion and that it’s just integrated more widely in the industry, I feel like it has to be. Emily: What do you think will happen to fast fashion brands? Holly: I think it’ll be interesting to see how they adapt actually, I think the easy thing for them to do is to adapt with their fabrics, but by doing that they’re price point will go up, which is what they’ve been totally crazy about. So, I think the price will naturally go higher and then slowly regulations will come in with productions. Fair labour for countries where it’s the worse, Bangladesh for example, places that don’t have any regulations. I think that fast fashion retailers will still exist, they’ll just make more on demand so they’ll make smaller

amounts, they’ll still make it quick, they’ll make smaller amounts and it’ll probably be at a higher price point. So, we’ll see 100%. I think they definitely have good businesses, they just have- they can have less impact, as long as they have control over their supply chain because I think they don’t have a lot of control over their supply chain, which is why its all gone disastrously wrong! Emily: So, I think that’s all my questions! Thank you so much!

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APPENDIX C- Interview Emily: So, I’m Emily, a Creative Direction for Fashion student and I’ve been looking at the idea of conscious consumption and how Higher Studio fits into that. So, if you want to introduce yourself and tell me a bit about why you started Higher. Sara: Yeah, so, my name’s Sara. And I’m not really sure what else to say about myself. But, I studied fashion design at Saint Martins and I kind of, did that degree thinking that I wanted to have my own label, but I was always really concerned with the environment and when it came to thinking like how am I going to have a label that I can kind of satisfy both my desire to be both, kind of, to push boundaries of creativity, but also to be sustainable. I felt like there wasn’t really a way without sacrificing something that I could do it. And I thought the main problem was that, as long as I’m having to push sales, I’m kind of encouraging damage to the environment. So, I didn’t really know- that was like 2012- I didn’t really know what I should do about this, so I thought having my own label wasn’t really solving problems. There was a wider problem to be solved so I ended up, I went to Imperial Business School and I studied innovation and management. I thought it would be good to do something completely

different and I ended up writing my final project on the circular economy- new business models within the circular business economy. So I kind of applied that to fashion and was looking at all these rental and sharing platforms, this kind of thing, which led me to believe that rental was really the way forward and yet for somebody with my taste, there was really nothing on offer that I wanted to wear. Emily: Mmm, yeah, like Rent the Runway? That sort of thing is very different to what Higher is offering. Okay, so I’ve done some little focus groups and things with some of my friends to see what they thought of it and none of them had even heard of the idea of rental, so they were all like “Where do I sign up?” I think people will definitely, once the message is out there, be definitely ready to choose that as an alternative. Sara: Yeah, it’s interesting for me because as I’m trying to get investments for my company investors tend to want to invest in a really early innovation, which rental’s not. It’s been done already; I’m just applying it to a new market. So, it’s kind of this weird thing where to get investment, for a lot of investors I’m not doing something new enough, and yet there’s so many consumers out there who don’t know about rental because there’s been no

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rental platforms that have been aimed at them. It’s all been aimed at a really mainstream market. Emily: Okay, so who would you say is your target audience? Sara: Erm, well I think Millennials are more receptive to rental because, well, I guess economic reasons like we’re not going to have as much money as our parents, most of us. And so we’ve got to find other solutions, but also the car sharing, Airbnb all this kind of stuff all seems really normal to us. At the same time, I don’t see why my offer can’t work for somebody who’s 50s even 60s. But, yeah, I mean I guess I come at it from a point of view with me as my own customer and I’m hoping there are other people out there like me! Erm, so that’s where I start, but I think it has a much wider audience. Emily: Yeah because there have been a lot of trend reports and things on how Millennials are looking to post-ownership. Do you think that will eventually become the norm? Sara: Yeah, I think it will become the norm and I see that, I think the idea of a wardrobe will, kind of, become obsolete in the next twenty years because it just doesn’t make sense. We’re living in smaller housing, we don’t have

space to put all this stuff. I think personally, at the point of when I started Higher, part of the driving force behind it was I was really fed up of my wardrobe and I got so much stuff and no where to put it. Yeah, I see that we could just have a subscription for our wardrobe and just interchange things. I think we’re always going to have sentimental pieces; I’ve got loads of clothes I got when my grandmother died and I’m not going to let go of those of rent them to anyone, but the rest of my wardrobe I’m just like “Why is it there?” Emily: Yeah, since I’ve started this project I’ve been like, oh my God, the amount of stuff that is in my wardrobe that I haven’t worn in years or haven’t worn at all, it’s just a bit- it seems stupid. Sara: Yeah, erm, also I think that it’s not just the statement pieces that we can be subscribing to. We could actually have subscriptions for our underwear, leggings, all the basics. Obviously, we wouldn’t share those, but the idea would be that the company who created them would still own them so when they need to be recycled, they would go back to that company so that they could deal with them and then you would have longer lasting underwear because there’s a massive problem with underwear not lasting- it falls apart quite quickly. Emily: Mmm, and most of the time its made of plastics and

stuff that aren’t going to biodegrade and are going to end up in a landfill. Okay, so that’s interesting about the basics, do you think that’s something that Higher might incorporate?

be sustainable it’s just about giving and helping them do that.

Sara: It might do.

Sara: That’s what I’m kind of hoping to do. So, I’m taking on one kind of young designer as a kind of pilot to find out how we’re going to work together.

Emily: So some of your brands, the brands that you stock. Do you look for them to be sort of, sustainable themselves, or is it more of the concept that is sustainable? Sara: So, at the moment, as I said I’m looking for investors, so I just started with what I could kind of get my hands on and my kind of policy is that if something was made before Higher existed, which is like the idea started in 2016, so I say anything made prior to that, I couldn’t have done anything about, it just exists, so we might as well make good use of it and anything after that I think should meet some kind of minimum criteria. But at the same time, I don’t pick brands that are necessarily say they’re sustainable brands because I think that- I don’t think sustainability is, kind of, a long lasting advantage, I think sustainability is kind of a collective effort from everybody to protect the fashion industry and to protect the world. Erm, so, I always think it’s better to take on designers because I like them as designers and to help them on that process towards a more sustainable future. Erm, because I think at the end of the day, people want good design and anyone should be able to

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Emily: Okay, so would you sort of work with the brands?

Emily: Is that H Y D R A? Sara: Yeah, because she does latex and latex is biodegradable. Emily: Is it natural rubber then? Sara: Yeah, but also you know we’re thinking about how we’re going to repair the items and ermEmily: Mm, because I think I’ve used that in another shoot with Anna Pesonen actually, the H Y D R A stuff and it does naturally get sort of marks on it, but that’s sort of part of the skin? Sara: Yeah, exactly. Erm, I mean at the moment, Anna’s actually – H Y D R A Anna, not other Anna, she’s actually kept the dirt on the bottom of them as kind of part of the story, but obviously I will have to clean that off at some point! Erm, but yeah we really wanted to build this story around post-ownership. The items we’ve got she’s used in performance art, so it all kind of builds a narrative around them because they are the actual item that got used in this exhibition, or performance.

APPENDIX C- Interview Emily: Yeah, there is definitely this kind of performance art sort of vibe with all of the designers that you’ve got. Do you lend it to, obviously I know that you’ve lent to it Anna before, but do you do sort of press? Sara: Yeah, I don’t have a problem with doing that. It’s not specifically what its about because it should be about changing the patterns of consumption, but at the same time I don’t have a problem with people using it. Emily: As long as they mention Higher Studio, I guess?

important part of expression and creativity and novelty normally hurts the environment. So, it’s always about how can we be more creative without creating damage. Emily: So, would you say the pieces are more like piece people would wear instead of- from talking to some of my friends about their shopping habits and stuff, I’ve kind of got that its more that the evening wear and the ball gowns that they would only ever wear once and never wear again. Would you say that you are more focussed on the occasionwear?

Sara: No, not really. Erm, Sara: Yeah, so I mean I guess I think it’s just about cool it works, if it’s somebody using clothes! (laughs) Erm, yeah I it for a project that’s not really don’t actually have that much going to help me I would just eveningwear, I think it’s more see them as a normal customer, about how can I incorporate if it’s kind of reputable press this into an everyday lifestyle. then we can come to some kind Because, obviously the most of deal. damage is that when the eveningwear, when that’s worn Emily: So what would you just once or twice, but then say is the main ethos of the there’s all the other stuff that brand, I’ve sort of got from the I mean, you don’t really want site that it’s about freedom of to wear a coat for like three expression without harming the years, I don’t know, it’s nice to environment. Is that sort of the wear a new coat each season, main thing? isn’t it? It’s also nice- it’s just nice to have new things and Sara: Yeah, I think it’s always experience new things on a about how can we be creative more everyday kind of basis. and expressive without Yeah, I mean I do need to creating- because normally the have some more eveningwear more creative you are, the most probably, but I don’t really want expressive you are. I think that that to be the main focus. I comes like, novelty is such an mean, I’ve found from talking

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to people who I thought was my target customer, that they felt that a lot of the sites that were based on eveningwear were really sort of for people that were not fashionable on an everyday basis and kind of wanted to fake it for an evening and my customers are fashionable on an everyday basis so they didn’t want to be part of that kind of faking it lifestyle. For them, it was more, yeah, you know, we are this already, we authentically care about fashion so how can we just live that to the fullest, if that’s making sense? Emily: Yeah, cool! So, as I said, I’m sort of in the midst of creating my own brief about Higher and as my course is a communication course, in terms of communication, what would you say is the most effective platform, way of getting the message out there? Is it Instagram? Sara: Erm, yeah Instagram, but I haven’t been very active on it because I have a problem withI’m not somebody who can easily do things if I don’t feel like there’s a strong meaning to it, so I’ve struggled to kind of work out what that meaning is with the Instagram, but I’m actually planning to relaunch it, I don’t know if launch is the word, but from kind of December onwards, I’m just going to do portraits of people who kind of share our ethos

and each portrait will kind of have a message so it becomes more of a platform for other people’s ideas who we feel we have an affinity with. Emily: Very cool and would they be customers? Sara: Erm, yeah, they might be partly customers. Emily: But more a sort of platform to celebrate creativity? Sara: Yeah, I think its got to be people who kind of fit the aesthetic, like if they really don’t like any of our clothes then I think there’s kind of no point in that. I think what it is is that, erm, the sustainability thing- I still don’t really feel that my aesthetic has a place in what’s happening with sustainable fashion. Emily: Mmm, that’s what I’m finding so interesting is that the concept is really sustainable, but the aesthetic is nothing like what sustainability has looked like before. So, I’m trying to come up with these creative outcomes saying how am I going to merge these, some sort of conceptual piece, I don’t know! I think it’s a good challenge. Sara: Yeah, because I think everybody should have a place within that because yeah, I mean, I think the majority of people want to change the world in a way, it sounds cheesy, but I think we all want to do good and so we should all feel like we belong within that. So, I just wanted to give it

a new face and for that to actually show people, like, who are the people really behind this. Emily: Okay, so would the people you feature be in some way doing something sustainable? Sara: Yeah, but I don’t think it necessarily has to be sustainable. It might be that they’re, I don’t know, it might be gay rights, it might be, like, I think it’s just about people who are actively doing something to make the world a better place. Maybe it’s just that they’re, maybe they’re vegan, maybe they’re vegetarian, yeah. Emily: That’s interesting because I’ve been looking at a lot of eco-influencers and activists and that sort of thing and I was wondering if that was something that could sort of work with HIGHER, because the aesthetic is a little bit, like, shocking and could go into that sort of avenue? Do you think you would collaborate with activists? Sara: Yeah, definitely. I also just think anyone with progressive points of view, as long as they’re good! (laughs) Erm, yeah.

Sara: I actually earn money from Airbnbing a room in my flat! So it actually takes up a surprising amount of my time, people seem to think that if you’re an Airbnb host, that you just have a room and you make the bed every now and then and the money just pours into your bank account, but it’s not really like that, it’s quite a lot of work! But yeah, apart from that I’m doing this full time. Erm, and then I’ve got a couple of people who come in and help me with various things, but it’s mostly just me. Emily: Where do you have all the clothes? Is it at your flat? Sara: Yeah Emily: How does that work? Do you have a space for it? Sara: Yeah, I’ve got a room that I work in with all the clothes in. Emily: Yeah, that’s alright then, a nice little studio!

Sara: Time. Time to do everything that I want to do!

Sara: Yeah, so I guess time and money is the big problem right now. But, what else is a challenge? I think it is that thing of making sure that, there’s just so much content out there and I think it’s really important to not feel the pressure to just be like posting every day for the sake of it or involving influencers for the sake of it, just thinking what really has meaning and what can create change.

Emily: Is this your full-time thing? Or do you do other bits?

Emily: Do you think you would want to do that through- I’ve

Emily: Okay, cool. So, what would you say is your biggest communication challenge for HIGHER studio?

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APPENDIX C- Interview been looking at sort of options of moving image as a series of films or one film. Would that be something that you would look to? Sara: Yeah, I mean I guess the other challenge is just making people understand what rental is and what the subscription is and how it actually works, but I really don’t want to seem like- because it should be like a high-end service, all the clothes we have are pretty much high-end and erm, then when you go on, I don’t know, Rent the Runway or Girl Meets Dress or something like this they always kind of have a step one, step two, step three and it’s just so, like, really cheesy and erm, yeah, I don’t wantthe word service isn’t really a nice word. I don’t think people want to think or something as a service, it should be an experience. So, yeah, I think using moving image or film in a really interesting way to convey what the service is, is something that’s really- it’s something I need to do. But it shouldn’t be- I just imagine, I’m sure I’ve seen one of these platforms where they have a video where a girl receives a box and she opens the box and is like oh and then she goes on her night out, not like that at all! It should be like, the anti-that, like, how can we be-I don’t know, I was kind of thinking about maybe doing some kind of digital animation

and there’s somebody, like, you get somebody to draw, do those kind of digital drawings like 3-dimensional drawings of some of the clothes, but some of the more sculptural pieces I have. I guess it would be almost like a video game or something and you can put clothes on them. Emily: Oh that’s interesting. So, something quite interactive. Sara: Yeah, I kind of like imagine a digital world where you’re like, erm, what’s that game where you have-oh, like Second Life or something where you’re choosing your clothes. Emily: Oh yeah! Or Sims or something. Interesting because you could create your own avatar and try before you rent type of thing. Sara: Exactly! I was thinking something like that that’s completely different and kind of abstract, but gets the message across and explains the service perfectly, which would be quite cool. Emily: Okay, so do you think that is the sort of communication challenge at the moment is getting the message of the service out there without it looking cheesy and obvious? Sara: Yeah, I think that is one of the challenges. I mean, I’m

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thinking if you can, if that kind of a video that can explain that, but can double up as, like, a kind of-you know, if it looks like you’re watching a fashion film that could be in, I don’t know, in GARAGE magazine or something, you know, like online. Emily: Yeah because GARAGE magazine is quite abstract and digital isn’t it. Sara: Yeah, if it felt like you were doing that, but actually you were explaining a service, then I think all the boxes are ticked and it’s something that people would then share online, it’s something really cool and different. Emily: And people, they can interact with it as well, it’s an added bonus of experience over product, kind of thing. Leading from the experience, kind of interactive side, I’ve been looking at also another possible outcome of doing a sort of an immersive installation space. So, something perhaps incorporating projections or some sort of- would Higher Studio do something like that? Sara: Yeah, I’ve actually been talking to, do you know this designer called Martine Jarlgaard? I mean, her clothes are really classic, but her, if you meet her, she’s quite kind of, one of these people that’s got

a really radical point of view on things and- (shows Instagram page on phone) this is her. And she’s kind of been working with like mixed reality things and she’s really, really concerned with sustainability and really trying to think of new ways we can consume and one of the things she thinks about a lot is like, erm, in the future, for a fashion experience, will we rely on materiality of clothing so much or can we have a kind of, I guess a virtual experience that satisfies us? And she’s recently done this experience where you meet a hologram avatar of yourself in life size and she kind of did it as a bit of an experiment and realised that she’d found quite a profound thing because, you know, we look at ourselves in the mirror, but we only see like the front of ourselves, we don’t actually look at ourselves- she calls it Meet Yourself. We don’t ever really meet ourselves and so we’ve been talking about doing a kind of Higher experience where-I’ve been really wanting- because the article I wrote about the performance economy, I’ve been really wanting to put that into context and actually get designers to create things specifically with that in mind. How do you create post-ownership and I was thinking her Meet Yourself experience would be really good thing to have within that, so we’ve been talking about doing that. Emily: Okay, interesting. Have you done any spaces before?

Sara: Yeah, we did a showcase thing in April, which to be honest it was all, like, I organised it really, really quickly and we did it, I’ve got some pictures of it, but I mean we just had the clothes on rails and people could try them on so it wasn’t really- it was more just- at that point it was kind of testing the idea, like, are people actually interested in this concept? Yeah, so I see the showcase thing as something we carry on, but it needs to go up a level. Emily: Yeah because I think people still want the tactility of being able to touch. Because I think a lot of the clothes that you have, they have really interesting textures, so it’s good for people to be able to interact. Sara: Yeah, it’s very important. Yeah and also the kind of sculptural element of them. I’m not, to be honest, I don’t shop online, I’ve never bought clothes online, I really believe in the need to touch things and try things on because a lot of the things- my favourite thing, pieces of fashion ever and ones in which, like, they made me move in a different way, like, it made me, or maybe it made me seem like I was moving in a different way. I have this skirt, which looks like it kind of has tennis balls on the bottom, but it’s kind of like a long, thin, floor-length skirt, so you’re ankles kind of hit the tennis ball things and they judder, its’ like they vibrate, it’s bizarre! Emily: Wait, your legs vibrate?

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Sara: No, the balls! Emily: Are they quite weighty? The same as a tennis ball? Sara: No! They’re just like wadding, but it’s just bizarre what it does. And it just really made me laugh and it made me feel just completely different from anything else I’ve ever tried on and I think it’s really those really profound moments that are really important and that I want to keep going. Because it makes you reconsider kind of what fashion is and why we wear things. Emily: Do you think you would ever do a physical store? Sara: Yeah, I think as early as possible, it’s really important to add a physical store. Emily: So, a permanent store instead of pop-up? Sara: Yeah, erm, but I see it would be kind of a creative space. That’s why I called it studio because I wanted, when it becomes physical, to have that kind of feeling that creative people are in there and changing it and that we’re not just a business that manages creative people, but we are creatives ourselves. So I feel, yeah, it should be sort of like walking into a studio. I mean, the clothes have to be stored anyway, so it needs a space. But I do think, I’d take on a LNCC model, which is like they’ve got one space, but actually a lot of their sales are

APPENDIX C- Interview online. My customers would probably, essentially our online platform would be like their virtual wardrobe and then every few months, they’ll come in and try on all the cool pieces that they like and then we can log that into their virtual wardrobe and see the pieces you tried on and liked, these are the ones you tried on and didn’t likebin them, and then from home they can manage what they actually want to wear from the wardrobe. Emily: So, would you say it’s still quite exclusive still? And sort of, if you were to do a physical space, would it be by appointment only and it would be very personal and that sort of thing? Sara: Yeah I do want it to be very personal, I don’t know if it would be- I guess we would encourage appointments, but we wouldn’t turn people away if they want to just walk in. Emily: So I noticed when I applied for the pay-as-yougo membership, you sent an email about meeting up for a coffee and that sort of thing. Are you trying to get to know your customers better? I think that’s so important nowadays because people have been so separated from it, people are now wanting to go back to these personalised experiences.

Sara: Yeah, I worked in luxury retail for a long time and I do feel it’s kind of, yeah, I think it’s really important that experience you have with people in the store. Emily: I guess, to wrap things up, I’d like to ask you what you think the future of fashion is in terms of sustainability and how you think Higher is going to fit into that? Sara: Erm, well, I already said what I think about wardrobes, but I think in terms of materials, there’s a lot of interesting research being done now, you know, alternatives to using leather, like mushroom and all this sort of thing. So yeah, I think we’re going to see the end of animal products in fashion, hopefully soon. But I think that’s inevitable, it doesn’t make sense and I think in terms of the other materials, we’ve got a big problem with plastics because they go into water systems because it was previously seen as a bit of a solution as they could be melted down and you could make clothes from melted bottles and stuff, but it seems it’s not the solution so it seems it’s more about what materials can biodegrade I guess. But, I think the material problem will sort itself out, I think the consumption problem, it’s a more tricky problem that people need to start taking a lot more seriously.

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Emily: Do you think there will be a time where people will be a lot more conscious with their consumption? Or do you think there are always going to be people buying into fast fashion? Sara: I think once rental becomes mainstream, fast fashion will be obsolete as well- what would be the point? I think, yeah, H&M, I think the fast fashion retailers will just start making higher end products and just erm, renting. I think they’ll have to to survive because it’s just not going to make sense otherwise. And yeah, I think the problem is, for our generation it’s kind of a no-brainer, the problem is our parents’ generation that have bad habits that they’re not changing and time is ticking because we’re now set, it seems the average prediction is by the year two thousandby the end of the centurywe’ll have 3.2 degrees of warming and that’s the average prediction, I mean, it could be far more than that. And a lot of the big cities will be under water. Emily: Yeah, it’s not going in the right direction at the moment. Sara: Yeah, so change needs to happen really, really quickly. That’s the worrying thing.

Emily: Right, so thank you for answering all my questions! Sara: Thank you. So, what’s the kind of format of your course? Emily: So, at the moment, I’ve been creating a sort of publication, that will be printed in a couple of weeks, of all areas of sustainable fashion and then looking more at sharing and circular economies and case studies and I’ve done a few surveys and focus groups and that sort of thing and that will all get printed in a little publication and I have to come up with a brief and possible outcomes by three weeks. So, I’ve sort of generated my own brief, then I have to do some mock ups of design tests, for example an immersive space on SketchUp on my computer or, erm, come up with some rough moving image experiments and put them in and then next term is when we have to start the making and yeah! Not quite sure of the layout of next term, when and how everything needs to be done, but yeah. Sara: I mean, keep in touch and just, like, if you have more questions, just let me know. I mean, it’d kind of be great if we could, if we could do something that we could actually use, if you want? Emily: Yeah, definitely. No, I mean if you like what I come up with then by all means! It’s been really useful to find outSara: Yeah because if you want any help, just let me know and

yeah, so what do you- in the end is it-what’s the- is it basically a really wide brief, like you can kind of create what you want to? Do you have an exhibition at the end? Emily: Yeah, the LCF 3rd year degree show, so I submit early May and I think the show’s in June and there’ll be a big exhibition, so Higher Studio will be promoted! But yeah, I’m not sure how that bit will go because we’ve not really talked about the exhibition or anything yet. Sara: It’s exciting! Emily: Yeah, it is. It’s been quite daunting to come up with, I changed my topic as I was looking at sound and immersive design during Summer and I kept hitting dead ends, like, as you were saying earlier, I want to do something that has something with meaning behind it, like a proper concept and I was just like I think I was doing sound for the sake of it and erm, so I swapped to sustainability and its given me a lot of focus and then choose a brand and think of all the outcomes in a matter of weeks, so its been a bit crazy, but it’s exciting. Everyone does something really different on my course, so it will be interesting to see what everyone comes up with. Sara: Yeah because I was kind of hoping to do, because I haven’t actually done an official launch, I’m kind of looking to do, well not really a launch because I haven’t , I have custom-

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ers, but they’re mostly friends of friends and everyone else I’ve kind of kept on a waiting list as you kind of know, so I’ve just finally photographed all the pieces, so I’m at the moment putting them all up on the website, which is quite a long process and then hopefully in December they’ll be ready to rent. Emily: How many, roughly, pieces are there? Sara: I’m putting up a hundred, oh maybe not, maybe seventy-five to begin with. There is a lot more that can be put up, so I’ll do that more in a second round, I’ll do seventy-five at a time because it’s actually getting them all up and doing the product descriptions. Emily: How are you photographing them? On models or? Sara: No because I don’t have the money to have it on models, so I’ve done them flat, but I’ve tried to make it look quite interesting, I’ve done it, I’ve photographed them on a large piece of Perspex, which was held up with acrylic rods underneath. It kind of almost looks like they’re floating a bit and then I haven’t laid the pieces out like, you know normally it’d be laid out really neatly, with some of them I’ve almost just thrown them on to the Perspex, so it kind of, I wanted them to look like real garments, not like we’re trying to make them look perfect. Emily: I was once working for

APPENDIX C- Interview a styling job, an e-commerce place and I had to do the whole flat-bed thing and it was the most dull thing I’ve ever done because they were like it has to be done so precisely.

Sara: Yeah, so that’s what’s going on! Emily: Lots of ideas then!

Sara: Yeah, ours was like, towards the end, like you’ve got to hurry up and just shoot these and we were like actually it looks really good just thrown on. But yeah, because some of the pieces are quite sculptural and hold their own shapes, so it looks quite interesting. Anyway, so I can’t remember what I was trying to say. So, yeah trying to do a little launch in December, trying to get the portraits up on to the Instagram and I was hoping to try a kind of crowd funding thing, but not Kickstarter, more a crowd equity, so it means that serious investors can invest alongside your friends and family and your network and they all get part ownership of the company. Emily: Even more sharing! Sharing economy, sharing business! Sara: Yeah, so I was hoping to do that early next year and then the event, performance economy thing I was hoping to do next fashion week. I don’t know, I’m constantly kind of, over optimistic of what I can achieve. Emily: That’s fine though!

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APPENDIX D- Focus Group Emily: So, hi everyone! Thanks for being here today, I’m Emily and I’m going to lead the focus group. The purpose of the focus group is to explore millennial interest in sustainable fashion and how brands are effectively tapping into the conscious consumer. We will run through general shopping habits and two brands that encouraging sustainability in different ways.

something new if I was going to a ball.

So I’d like to start by talking about your current shopping habits. How often do you buy a new item of clothing for a night out?

Lily: Yeah, I try and get a fair bit of use out of it.

Lily: Pretty often. I spent like £40 on tops last week. Sudeshna: And this is to just go out? Emily: Yeah. Lily: I only really buy clothes to go out. Lola: I’m actually pretty good with going out clothes. Maybe like two or three times a year I’ll buy something. I’d probably buy like a few things at once. Sudeshna: I’d definitely spend more on, like, casualwear and day-to-day wear than I spend on eveningwear. I’ll spend more if I’m going to, like, a ball or something. Lola: Yeah, I would get

Sudeshna: I’d say once a month maybe. Emily: And when you get something that you’re going to wear to, like, a ball or a party or something, how many times, would you say, you wear it? Lola: Quite a lot.

Emily: Well, how many times is that then- if it’s like a ball dress or something? Lola: Erm, probably, like, once a year or something, really not that much. Sudeshna: I tend to buy ball gowns that are, like, a little bit more casual. The really, like, the long ones I’ll probably only wear it, like, once or twice. But I don’t have many of those.

Emily: It’s a nice feeling to have something new? Sudeshna: It just makes it more of an event, doesn’t it. If you get something new, that hasn’t been like just sitting around in your wardrobe and been seeing it. It’s also nice to see yourself in a different version of yourself. It’s good to try out something a little new and a little bit more risky? More than I would do on a day-to-day basis. Lily: Yeah, you just get a bit bored of the same clothes after a while. Emily: What would you do with unwanted clothing? So, not just particularly eveningwear, but clothing in general. When you’re bored of it, don’t like it anymore, what do you do with it? Lola: Charity shop, I’d say. Lily: I just leave it.

Emily: And why do you feel the need to buy something new? Is it because you’ve already worn something and its been on Instagram, so you feel like you can’t wear it again?

Emily: Lily just leaves it (laughs)

Lola: Yeah, it’s quite like- you don’t want to turn up like “oh Lola’s wearing her ball gown again.” And when you’ve got something new on, it’s like “oh yeeeah”

Emily: Fair enough. Do you ever give it to, erm, places like the H&M’s recycling initiative?

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Lola: It’s better to take it to a charity shop. Or I give it to my sister.

Sudeshna: Oh yeah! I didn’t even know you could do it, that

it’s something available. Emily: It’s a bit of a bizarre, greenwashing tactic to promote the fact they’re sustainable at the same time as giving you vouchers off to then go and buy more fast fashion, so it sort of doesn’t work? And something ridiculous, like 0.1% only gets recycled. Sudeshna: Oh, actually, me and my friends did do something pretty cool recently where we were like “oh, we’re really broke so let’s just pile all the stuff that we don’t want and then one of us will want something” Emily: Okay, that’s really interesting. Lily: That’s quite a good idea. Emily: So, like a swap type of thing. Because you can go to big swap events where people bring clothes and you swap for free, or pay an entry fee. So, how important is it to you that a brand is sustainable? Do you ever, like, think of that when you’re purchasing something or is not really anything you’ve thought about before? Sudeshna: It’s something I’ve been thinking about more and more so I definitely shop mostly secondhand if I can help it because then I’m not contributing- because I don’t always have time to research the things that I’m buying, so at least then I’m not contributing to any industries that have

already done some harm, I’m just getting something that’s already been made. But not always, like recently I bought something off Misguided, so… Lola: To be honest, yeah, I’ve never really thought about it before. Emily: Fair enough, that’s what I want to find out. Lily: Yeah, it’s not something I’ve really thought about Emily: Would you be more likely to- if it was put right in front of you, the transparency for all brands, like, these ones don’t pay their workers fairly, these ones have higher carbon emissions in their manufacturing. Would you then be, like, I’m going with them or does it still not really matter? Lola: I think if it was, like, really obvious like that then I would think more carefully about it. Sudeshna: Maybe the words, it makes you think about it and then you think “oh, I really can’t justify this.” It’s just blissful ignorance. Emily: Okay, so in general how do you think a brand that you’re not currently shopping with gets your attention? How do you decide to visit something online or in-store? Is it social media orLola: The clothes. If they’re nice clothes, I’ll go there. Emily: But how does it get your

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attention in the first place? Lily: I think you just know them as places that have good clothes already and then you go back to them if you’re looking. Lola: Or friends might recommend them to you. Sudeshna: I mean, you only tend to stop at one placeASOS Marketplace and there’s a couple of YouTubers that are sort of into sustainability and stuff and a couple of Instagrammers and they tend to post about relevant brands. So, I can’t often buy those brands, but I do browse them quite a lot. Emily: Fair enough! So, did you have a look at The Acey website at all? Lola: Yeah, I opened the link and got distracted by the fact you can rent clothes. Go down to the description and you can rent clothes every month- that’s so cool- I want to do that! Emily: Okay, wait, that’s Higher Studio. We’ll get to that one in a minute! We’ll do the other one first! Sudeshna: I mean, I looked at it, but it kind of just gave descriptions of the kind of things that they sell? Or is there something else I’m supposed to be looking at? Emily: It’s an online retailer, what do you mean?

APPENDIX D- Focus Group Sudeshna: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, it says Acey Woman, style with purpose and then it just says introducing organic cotton sneakers… Is that what I’m looking at? Emily: Yeah, so if you have a brief look through what kind of clothes they sell and do you think that the aesthetic of this brand, knowing that they’re all sustainable and ethical, does it surprise you? Is that, sort of, what you thought sustainable fashion looked like? Or is it quite different? Sudeshna: I think it’s more like- just because I spend some time looking around this kind of thing, it doesn’t really surprise me that much, but the prices are something that I imagine would put the student budget off. Lola: I think the clothes look pretty nice! Lily: Yeah, they’re nice clothes! Emily: Are there things that you would wear?

Emily: Yeah and all the clothes are really amazing, with a good range of elements of sustainability so some are made by women from an women’s uplift programme in Bangladesh, some are all organic and so on. So, do you think their target audience would we someone like you or?

or the way it’s all sustainable brands? Sudeshna: Erm, Ace and Jig, People Tree, er, there’s a couple of others I follow on Instagram. Lily: I don’t really know to be honest. Lola: No, me neither.

Lily: Maybe a little bit older, just because of the price. Not the clothes, I like the clothes. Emily: So do you think you would shop there? Or would the price put you off, honestly? Lola: Yeah, this dress is 150 quid, yeah… Emily: Okay, so apart from that, you’d say you’d shop there, if it was a bit cheaper. Lily: Yeah, they’re nice clothes. Sudeshna: I mean, I get it, if they’re having to get different materials from different places and having to pay for all of their workforce and ethically and whatever, I get it.

Lola: Yeah, I would wear them. Emily: Yeah, it makes sense.

Emily: That’s fair enough. So do you have any other comments about the brand in general? Do you think it’s- do you think they could do anything better to make it more appealing to a younger audience? Ignoring the price aspect. Sudeshna: I mean, I think this is also targeting a very specific audience as well, for people that particularly like to dress that way, but obviously there is the big Boohoo, Misguided crowd that are maybe not being catered for, so if they can find a sustainable way of being able to dress those girls and boys as well? Emily: Yeah because it’s quite a minimalist, artsy kind of vibe, isn’t it?

Lily: Yeah, definitely. Emily: Well, that’s good!

Sudeshna: It’s just out of my price range.

Sudeshna: And I kind of like the fact that all of the models aren’t so airbrushed and they’re a little bit more natural.

Emily: No, that’s fair enough. Do you know of any brands that sort of offer anything similar to The Acey? Either in aesthetic

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Sudeshna: Yeah, I quite like that lingerie company called Bright and Lace that apparently are quite sustainable, I went to one of their pop up shops the other day.

Emily: Oh, okay, I’m not sure I’ve heard of them, but I will look them up! Sudeshna: Glasgow is quite good for sustainability, they have, like, fairs all the time with clothes swaps. Lily: Ah, that’s cool. Emily: Well, that kind of brings me to the other brand- the one Lola really wants to talk aboutHigher Studio. Lola: I’m just so excited, like where do I sign up?! Emily: So, erm, yeah if you go to the Higher website if you haven’t already. Basically, Higher Studio is a rental site, you can use it to either subscribe and pay monthly amount and be able to rent one or two pieces a month and they’re all high end emerging designers as well as Comme des Garcons, Junya Watanabe, like that sort of thing, really cool pieces. What do you think of the idea of rental service as an alternative, sustainable way of consuming? Lola: I think it’s a great idea, like, so much stuff, like you said early, like occasionwear you wear it like once or twice, you don’t really need it again. I think it’s a really good idea to just rent it and yeah! Emily: Because they also provide the dry cleaning so you don’t have to worry about that, you just wear it, take it back, get something new.

Sudeshna: I do really like it, but to play devil’s advocate, I tried this vinyl subscription for a while, where I would pay a subscription that would send me 6 or 7 records every month and I only managed to do it for two months because it was fucking expensive. The only thing was that I always wanted to keep the records after I got them. Lola: Yeah because you liked them so much. Sudeshna: Yeah and on top of the subscription fee it was adding up by me going and buying the actual copy myself, but it is a really good idea for the times where you just need the dress for the event. Lily: Yeah, I think it’s a good idea. Emily: So, some rental sites that I’ve looked at, because it’s quite a new thing, but there are a few popping up and some of them allow you, if you rent it and you do like it, you do have the option of purchasing it. But Higher Studio is more archive designer pieces, so I doubt they would be selling them so yeah that is, I guess, an issue if you did want to keep them, you couldn’t. So would you wear the type of clothing that is on Higher Studio. Lola: Well, I tried to click on it and it seems like a lot of the models are missing crucial parts of the clothing. Sudeshna: (laughing) You’re such a mum!

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Lola: It was just me laughing, like “I can’t see her trousers.” Some of them are quite nice though. Sudeshna: Yeah, erm, I like that I’m seeing a pubic hair. I feel bad that I’m objectifying, but it’s more that I’m appraising them. Emily: So, I think Higher Studio is possibly more aimed potentially at people who are going to wear kind of like, more avante-garde kind of stuff out clubbing, that’s a bit more, I don’t know- you wouldn’t wear it to your ball, maybe! So, it’s quite specific, but again the price, I think it’s £90 a month for one item. Lola: £900 a month?! Emily: No, no, no! £90. Is that something you would pay? Sudeshna: You spend £90 per month for one item? Emily: Yeah. Lily: That’s still quite steep. Emily: I mean, I wouldn’t pay it, even though I would really want to, but it’s a bit steep. And although I do think the clothing is aimed at Millennials, because I think its- your mum isn’t going to be wearing that latex stuff is she? So, I do think it is aimed at our age. So, how do you think that they could, potentially, aim it at a younger audience? Would they have to drop the price, or bring in new lines or?

APPENDIX D- Focus Group Emily: Oh, okay, I’m not sure I’ve heard of them, but I will look them up! Sudeshna: Glasgow is quite good for sustainability, they have, like, fairs all the time with clothes swaps. Lily: Ah, that’s cool. Emily: Well, that kind of brings me to the other brand- the one Lola really wants to talk aboutHigher Studio. Lola: I’m just so excited, like where do I sign up?! Emily: So, erm, yeah if you go to the Higher website if you haven’t already. Basically, Higher Studio is a rental site, you can use it to either subscribe and pay monthly amount and be able to rent one or two pieces a month and they’re all high end emerging designers as well as Comme des Garcons, Junya Watanabe, like that sort of thing, really cool pieces. What do you think of the idea of rental service as an alternative, sustainable way of consuming? Lola: I think it’s a great idea, like, so much stuff, like you said early, like occasionwear you wear it like once or twice, you don’t really need it again. I think it’s a really good idea to just rent it and yeah! Emily: Because they also

provide the dry cleaning so you don’t have to worry about that, you just wear it, take it back, get something new. Sudeshna: I do really like it, but to play devil’s advocate, I tried this vinyl subscription for a while, where I would pay a subscription that would send me 6 or 7 records every month and I only managed to do it for two months because it was fucking expensive. The only thing was that I always wanted to keep the records after I got them. Lola: Yeah because you liked them so much. Sudeshna: Yeah and on top of the subscription fee it was adding up by me going and buying the actual copy myself, but it is a really good idea for the times where you just need the dress for the event. Lily: Yeah, I think it’s a good idea. Emily: So, some rental sites that I’ve looked at, because it’s quite a new thing, but there are a few popping up and some of them allow you, if you rent it and you do like it, you do have the option of purchasing it. But Higher Studio is more archive designer pieces, so I doubt they would be selling them so yeah that is, I guess, an issue if you did want to keep them, you couldn’t. So would you wear

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the type of clothing that is on Higher Studio. Lola: Well, I tried to click on it and it seems like a lot of the models are missing crucial parts of the clothing. Sudeshna: (laughing) You’re such a mum! Lola: It was just me laughing, like “I can’t see her trousers.” Some of them are quite nice though. Sudeshna: Yeah, erm, I like that I’m seeing a pubic hair. I feel bad that I’m objectifying, but it’s more that I’m appraising them. Emily: So, I think Higher Studio is possibly more aimed potentially at people who are going to wear kind of like, more avante-garde kind of stuff out clubbing, that’s a bit more, I don’t know- you wouldn’t wear it to your ball, maybe! So, it’s quite specific, but again the price, I think it’s £90 a month for one item. Lola: £900 a month?! Emily: No, no, no! £90. Is that something you would pay? Sudeshna: You spend £90 per month for one item? Emily: Yeah. Lily: That’s still quite steep.

Emily: I mean, I wouldn’t pay it, even though I would really want to, but it’s a bit steep. And although I do think the clothing is aimed at Millennials, because I think its- your mum isn’t going to be wearing that latex stuff is she? So, I do think it is aimed at our age. So, how do you think that they could, potentially, aim it at a younger audience? Would they have to drop the price, or bring in new lines or? Lola: Yeah, I think maybe both. Sudeshna: Both of those, I mean, I’m not sure I would even wear those clothes- not that I don’t appreciate things from an artistic sense, but it’s more that that’s what is it, it’s more like art, but I don’t thinkLola: I’m not really edgy enough. Emily: So, have you ever shopped with a rental company before? Have you ever rented anything? Sudeshna: Not clothes, no. I mean, Netflix is a subscription. Emily: Yeah, so there is this idea that Netflix- well, this is actually being called the Netflix of clothing, the whole rental system, so it’s called a performance economy, so you pay for what you get out, rather than a linear economy where it just goes straight to the bin… Sudeshna: But, it’s just like, Netflix and LoveFilm, I realise that it’s a completely different

concept, but they are all quite affordably priced for quite a few different items, whereas Higher is £90 for one item. Emily: Yeah, true. And you all use things like Uber and Airbnb, which is all sort of part of the sharing economy. And Lola, you said you share with your sister, you give your clothes down to your sister, and Sude you said you do the clothes swaps. So, do you think it’s becoming quite important amongst people our age to sort of, share andSudeshna: Yeah, definitely. Lola: Yeah, I think also from the money saving perspective it just makes sense. Sudeshna: That and also, I’m doing a case study on different types of cars that are very environmentally aware at the minute and I like the idea of a sharing economy is every commodity, that’s just the way that we’re headed. We’re so overpopulated and there are finite resources, it’s a really good idea. Emily: Okay, cool. So, would you- if you were to rent from a rental company in general, would it be for occasionwear or everyday pieces or both? Lola: I think probably occasionwear because everyday pieces you’re more likely to really like them and want to keep them.

Sudeshna: Also, I think you could maybe get everydaywear if the price was really low and there was more of like a huge subscription and a lot of people sharing daily, but I think it’s a little bit inconvenient because you don’t know when it’s going to arrive, dependent on the delivery service, there’s just too many issues. Emily: Okay, so Higher Studio doesn’t actually rent necessarily sustainably made products, so an idea would be to make something like The Acey, which sells lots of sustainable products and do a sort of rental service, with something like The Acey, so people could afford to purchase, because you guys are saying The Acey is perhaps too expensive to purchase like a dress, but if you were able to rent at like 20% of the price, then it would make it more accessible? Lola: Yeah, that’d be really good idea. Lily: Yeah, if it was cheaper, definitely. I think the idea is to rent something, you’d want it to be cheaper. Emily: Yeah, so which of the two brands that you’ve seen, The Acey and Higher Studio, do you think would be most effective at encouraging conscious consumption? Sudeshna: The Acey probably. Lola: The Acey.

Lily: Yeah, definitely. Lily: Yeah, The Acey. I think it’s

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APPENDIX D- Focus Group more obvious. Emily: The message of Higher Studio doesn’t seem so much to buy sustainably; it’s not so obvious that it’s sustainable? Sudeshna: It’s not so much the method though, it’s more like their style and branding. I feel like it doesn’t represent the majority of the people out there for a very exclusive set of people. Lola: Yeah, definitely. Emily: Okay, so I think that’s rounded that up. I might run some of my ideas past you guys to see what you guys would be more likely to buy in to? Lily: So, are you doing a project on those two? Or you’re doing your own thing? Emily: So, I either do The Acey and say, like, I’m going to introduce a rental service into The Acey, or I come up with, like, a fashion film to promote it or I’ll create a physical spaceSudeshna: Will you have to actually do the business yourself, you’ll have to get someone to make your own website and start up and whatever? Emily: If I did it myself, I wouldn’t necessarily have to start it, but I’d have to at least

design the website and come up with a load of promotional material to launch it. Sudeshna: I think you should do your own thing. Also, I think it’s quite restricting, it’s a lot of work, but your vision would be a little bit more representative of today’s majority of people than the other two. Lola: I think it would be really fun to do your own thing, I think you’d really enjoy it, but it is a lot of work. Emily: Do you think if I created a platform, what would be the ideal thing that you guys would like buy in to? If you were subscribing, what kind of fashion would you want? The same kind of thing that’s on The Acey or like a mix of? Lola: Yeah, a sort of mix. You want to have stuff that’s like special, like, you don’t just want your basic jumper to be renting it. You’d want, like, something really cool and you could wear it for a bit and then. Lily: I think I’d quite like a mix though, I don’t know might be easier to choose one type though, either everyday or going out stuff. Sudeshna: Maybe offer them, like do you mean, like, The Acey is sustainable and Higher Studio is a subscription based thing, so do you do either or,

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or can you combine the two and have different kind of packages, where you could have a package for daywear or a package of day and night wear or a package of just oneoff clothing. Lola: This is a really good idea, Emily. If this was an actual thing where you could rent clothes that are sustainable, I would definitely do that. And it’s affordable! Emily: Yeah because I was thinking I don’t really own much that is sustainable apart from secondhand, vintage stuff, but I think if it was more accessible, like, £30 a month and you got two nice pieces a month and you could swap them whenever you want so you could wear them a couple of times, send them back and get two more then it would beLily: That’d be a really good idea, definitely. Sudeshna: What about basing your subscription on having it on the back of another business, so you had a business where you’re swapping clothes and paying a subscription fee for that. A lot of people would be willing to do that, so if you could do the actual markup of the product and just add a little bit on to it so people could use your platform to swap or whatever, and off the back

of that, whatever money you make there, you can keep the subscription price low for the renting.

much guys! We will group chat again soon!

Emily: So, it’d be more like an app? Sudeshna: Yeah, so you’d have two different businesses, but one of them is being funded by the other one, that’ s likely to be more successful and accessible and maybe isn’t as environmentally conscious as your first one, but you need to comprise if you want to make it financially accessible to the youth. Emily: Okay, I kind of do want to do my own brand. Lily: Do you have any sense of how much harder it would be to do? Like how much work you’d have to put into it? Did they say there’d be a big gap? Emily: Thing is, like, I’d have to, if I went with The Acey, I’ve interviewed the woman who founded it, I know their brand values and I know like what they’re already about so it would a lot easier to use their brand values andLola: Actually, working with The Acey could be really cool because they did look like a really cool brand, the idea is reallyputting in the idea of rent is sort of similar to you setting up on your own, you’d basically be doing that if you were renting Acey clothes. Emily: Okay, well thank you so

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APPENDIX E- Textual Analysis (i) Stella McCartney AW17 Stella McCartney is one of the leading pioneers of sustainable fashion and her AW17 video campaign is a great example of how she wants consumers to think differently about their purchases. The video juxtaposes themes of nature and the countryside with the man-made piles of plastic in the landfill, emphasising her ethos of sustainability and durability and making clothes last. The video is filmed perhaps on a film recorder as the quality has a rough grain to it that connotes the authentic and raw message of the brand and the AW17 collection. It is quite jumpy, featuring lots of time-lapses of the sky and quickly cuts to sped up movements of the models dancing or swinging their heads. It could be interpreted that the time-lapses represent a metaphor for that of the fast-fashion industry. The initial scenes are filled with colours of greens, browns and yellows, all conveying the idea of nature and wildlife whilst sheep run through the open fields and are emphasised by close-up shots of grass and flowers. These scenes epitomise organic and natural living, with simple and minimalist shots that could be promoting conscious consumption. The models themselves are barefaced with long, flowing hair, once again echoing the theme of nature and freedom as the wind blows through their hair and they run through the fields. Once the video cuts to the landfill the lighting glares over the horizon of the piles of plastic rubbish as the models continue to dance and move about. It could be suggested that this glaring sunshine that almost fogs up the screen is demonstrating the effects of global warming. It is perhaps significant to consider the choice of using a landfill digger aimlessly pushing plastic around the landfill alongside the models. It could be suggested that it symbolises how the waste is going nowhere and current development is only going round in circles. As well as the visuals of this piece, it is

important to explore the use of sound and lyrics that it has been paired with. The track is an adaption of “Tennies” by Tkay Maidza and creates a repetitive, hypnotic-like vocal, which complements the movement of the models in an empowering way as they move on the beat and the scenes quickly cut between one another. There is also clever use of sound design with noises from the sheep, opposing the beep of the landfill digger as it subtly reverses at the end of the video, perhaps signalling defeat. (ii) Vetements Dry Cleaner This piece of communication suggests that Vêtements is interested in the idea of overconsumption, however poses a slight juxtaposition of an event preliminarily to sell clothes, which is highlighting how we don’t need to buy clothes. The installation on the outside of the pop-up in LA, Beverly Hills, features a large glass container with piles of clothes, rags, signs, boxes and general waste supposedly taken from the same factory the collection was made in. This demonstrates a portion of the amount of waste that accumulates throughout the manufacturing processes that aims to spread awareness of overconsumption and potentially suggests a resemblance to the wardrobes of the visiting consumers. It would be interesting to know whether the visitors contemplated the message of the installation or just photographed it for Instagram and moved on. Inside the pop-up event were rails of the collection, plus one-off pieces made for the event, featuring “Beverly Hills” slogans, all hung inside plastic garment bags in order to fit the theme of the dry cleaners. Being individually covered gave the clothes an even more exclusive look and also meant that the consumers had to take the garments off of the rail to see them better through the plastic, engaging with the products further. What was also interesting was the concept that each customer could only purchase one item.

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This was in keeping with the themes of the installation outside, encouraging consumers to take their time choosing the piece they wanted and be sure that that was the piece they needed the most. Lastly, another element of the overall communication used by Vêtements for the popup was the open invitation to the public, posted up on Instagram as a “Dry Cleaning Laundry and Alterations” receipt. This simple use of graphics, in keeping with the brand’s use of Intertextuality perhaps signifies a deeper meaning to do with consumption and throwaway culture by encouraging consumers to have their garments cared for and altered if need me to ensure a longer life. (iii) The Acey is an online retailer, sourcing ethically made garments and accessories. It ranges from organic cotton bags to recycled polymer swimwear. The innovative platform was launched in 2014, by Holly Allenby, inspired by her time working in Amsterdam as sustainable footwear brand, Toms. She could see that there was a gap in the market for a platform to make shopping ethically, easier and aesthetically contemporary at the same time. The website itself is very easy to navigate and portrays a clear and modern aesthetic. The use of models is varied and from a focus group response, it is obvious that they do not overuse retouching and the models appear very natural. (Appendix D) There is a ‘Journal’ page, which gives the consumer information and further knowledge about the world of conscious consumption with interesting varied articles from dyeing processes to trans-seasonal dressing. I think this addition of a branded blog works really well to create a sense of community amongst the loyal consumers, however engaging with more eco-influencers in order to bring their social media following to their site could enhance it. They are, however, using hash tags on their website, with #AceyWoman and #StyleWithPurpose, which translate to their social media followings.

Their Instagram account gives consumers an insight into the ‘Acey lifestyle’ with bright whites and natural settings within London. There is also a main focus upon the Acey Woman and their page looks to celebrate great women doing good things. This is a nice take on ecofeminism and is done in a subtle and nonaggressive way to portray their views on the environment and our impact. There is a clear and cohesive theme throughout, which appeals to a younger Millennial audience due to interest in minimalism, however Holly informed me that their target audience is in fact 30-50 year-old working women, perhaps due to the price range. Considering this, the aesthetic of The Acey could be updated to showcase slightly older women. They do not have a physical store, but from speaking to Holly, this is something they are currently looking into as their pop-up stores have always been very successful at converting physical sales to loyal digital customers. They have done a series of interesting pop-up stores and workshops, including a terrarium-making workshop last year. This gives consumers a chance to engage with other like-minded consumers and provides a sanctuary-like space to take some time out and have fun in the process. Other pop-up stores have been more straightforward and minimalistic, however I think that the brand could benefit from injecting more excitement and being a bit more risky with their events, in order to draw in a younger and wider audience. (iv) Collaboration between Climate Revolution and Anglomania portrays scenes of protest and climate change juxtaposed with elegant dancers on pointe shoes. The dancers are dressed in cowboy style garments from the Anglomania collection, holding and spinning pistols. The sound emphasises a fast-paced, marching beat, which complements both the dancing and the black and white shots of protests and climate change in action. The motions of the dancers are sped up and the scenes cut quickly between the warehouse of dancers and the outside

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APPENDIX E- Textual Analysis protests and nature scenes, causing tension and inciting a feeling of urgency. This works well to target not only a fashion-conscious market, but an environmentalist one too. (v) Creative hubs are becoming more and more popular amongst young creative practitioners in cities. They provide a cool and inspiring environment to work and collaborate whilst incorporating shopping elements such as at Alex Eagle’s The Store. These spaces aim to inspire working creatives to produce and collaborate new and exciting things. Surrounded by books and products based on a range of creative areas, the spaces are perfect for selling a product to this particular audience. However, often being members’ only spaces, this limits the audience to a market with a certain level of disposable income and perhaps excludes emerging creative talent. A particularly key example of a creative hub is that of Soho Works within Shoreditch House. It offers a membership subscription to working professionals within the creative fields. The rooms available are simple with an aura of heritage from the large armchairs and wooden floorings, creating a homely and welcoming vibe. The spaces also hold talks and events as well as featuring artwork and a curated selection of books to be inspired by, making this a perfect spot for a creative collaborative space, for brands and individuals alike and honing in on the rise in popularity of shared spaces and the trend of access over ownership. (vi) Higher Studio provides a high-end luxury rental service, which is aimed at millennial creatives who want to experiment and be novel without creating damage to the environment. Sara Arnold founded the rental service in 2016 and has been pioneering for the wardrobe to become

obsolete in twenty-to-thirty years (Appendix C). Their website is quite straightforward and to the point with powerful imagery and use of colour. They also have a ‘Journal’ page, which acts as a showcase of press articles written about Higher Studio, but this could be worked on more to engage with consumers with articles about the sharing economy mixed with creative and innovative fashion news. When you click to see more images of the clothing, the link takes you to their Instagram account, however they are currently uploading images of all the pieces to the site so there is a clear catalogue of what is for rent available to new and existing subscribers. Their Instagram showcases the use of Higher Studio garments in exciting varied situations such as in magazines and performance art. This emphasises the creative ethos of the brand and adds a layer of artistic merit to the concept of renting clothes. They are re-launching their Instagram early next year with a theme of portraits of creatives who are doing good for the planet, giving the feed a more cohesive and stronger message, which it currently needs. They have had one showcase since the launch of the service, however Arnold agrees that the presence of a physical store is very important, especially for clothes and accessories with such interesting sculptural shapes, textures and movement that cannot easily be shown through a screen. Therefore, one of Higher Studio’s main challenges is to showcase the life and movement of each garment through a piece of moving image or a physical store or pop-up. (vii) The work of Hart+Leshinka’s ‘Beyond the Clouds’ photographic project connotes themes of impermanence with cold and isolated imagery. The concept of transience really struck

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a cord with me as a metaphor for our fleeting relationship with clothes and how we see clothing as something to use and then leave behind, bar any sentimental pieces. ‘Skin,’ a film directed by Melodie Roulaud illustrates the concept of our physical relationship to garments and embellishments and the way they leave an impression on our bodies through pressure. I think that rental services, such as Higher Studio, could be tapping into this idea of our fleeting love affairs with clothing and flip it on its head to show that it’s okay to want new things and to let go of the old because someone else will want it and the service can care for it. (viii) Rent The Runway’s stores translate the idea of the ‘virtual’ wardrobe through layout and visual merchandising. The stores are set up to feel homely and make consumers feel as though they are in their own wardrobes. They also make a point of having the clothes hung on hangers, not mannequins, in order to enhance this feeling of a walk-in-wardrobe. Visually, the stores appear bright with light and in pastel and feminine colour tones, appealing to the stereotype of a female shopping-lover. The dressing rooms appear to be spacious and again filled with light allowing for realistic judgements in the mirrors and continuing the colour scheme.

(ix) From visiting the Peter Pilotto Townhouse during London Design Festival, my interest in apartment stores was piqued. The immersive nature of a the space was both very Instagramfriendly, whilst also encouraging you to experience the world of Peter Pilotto firsthand. Each room had something quite different to it, with accompanying scents and bright colours. Upstairs was filled with natural light, which shone through glass vases of flowers and highlighted the different textures, from furry rugs to shiny stone surfaces. Downstairs showcased the recent S/S 18 collection in a aptly coloured room wardrobe-style room, which gave me a feeling of exclusivity and appreciation due to its location tucked away. Overall, the space provided a perfect combination of fashion and art, exhibiting both the clothes and artistic collaborations, something, which I feel worked really well to showcase the collection and the brand’s ethos in general.

Wear The Walk’s in-store aesthetic differs quite a lot from that of Rent The Runway. As a sustainable rental brand, Wear The Walk has chosen to go for more of a botanical and natural theme in what appears to be a naturallylit warehouse space. The space is used for showcases and mini-catwalk shows, creating a sense of community amongst the subscribers, something that Rent The Runway does not so obviously note. Overall, a space for rental services to showcase their collections appear to be welcoming and wardrobe-like, however this can be executed in a variety of styles as seen with these two brands.

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LIST OF IMAGES Fig 1. Higher Studio (2017) Red and White Shirt [Photograph] (Received from Higher Studio 18th November 2017) Fig. 2. Higher Studio (2017) White Comme Des Garcons Top. [Photograph] (Received from Higher Studio 18th November 2017)

Fig 11. Algaemy (2014) Algae Test Tubes. [Photograph] Available at: http:// uniquestyleplatform.com/blog/2014/10/28/ algaemy-sustainable-colour-inspiration/ (Accessed: 5th October 2017)

Fig 3. i-d Magazine (2016) The Speed of Now [illustration] In: i-D magazine (Pre-Spring 2016) Fig.4. Project Stopshop. (2017) 12 April. [Screenshot] Available at: https://www. instagram.com/p/BSzM7ywh4bC/?hl=en&takenby=project_stopshop (Accessed: 14th October 2017) Fig. 5. Project Stopshop. (2016) Wardrobe Survey T-Shirts. [Photograph] Available at: https://www.projectstopshop.com/finalstopshop-installation (Accessed: 14th October 2017)

Fig 12. Algaemy (2014) Algae Portable Dyeing Station. [Photograph] Available at: http:// uniquestyleplatform.com/blog/2014/10/28/ algaemy-sustainable-colour-inspiration/ (Accessed: 5th October 2017) Fig 13. The Trash Isles. (2017) The Trash Isles Passport Open. [Graphic] Available at: https:// www.dezeen.com/2017/09/13/trash-isles-greatpacific-garbage-patch-dalandmike-ladbiblethe-plastic-oceans-foundation/ (Accessed: 20th October 2017)

Fig. 6. Fashion Revolution (2017) Fashion Revolution Week 2017. [Photograph] Available at: http://fashionrevolution.org/about/2017impact/ (Accessed: 10th November 2017)

Fig 14. The Trash Isles. (2017) The Trash Isles Passport Cover. [Graphic] Available at: https:// www.dezeen.com/2017/09/13/trash-isles-greatpacific-garbage-patch-dalandmike-ladbiblethe-plastic-oceans-foundation/ (Accessed: 20th October 2017)

Fig. 7. Patagonia. (2011) Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Buy this Jacket. [Advertisement] Available at: http://www. conversationagent.com/2013/10/patagoniasgrowth-story.html (Accessed: 15th October 2017)

Fig 15. The Trash Isles. (2017) The Trash Isles Stamps. [Graphic] Available at: https://www. dezeen.com/2017/09/13/trash-isles-great-pacificgarbage-patch-dalandmike-ladbible-the-plasticoceans-foundation/ (Accessed: 20th October 2017)

Fig. 8. Care Label Project (2017) 25% of Carbon Footprint of Clothes Come from the Way we Care for them. [Graphic] Available at: https:// www.aeg.co.uk/care/inspiration/care-labelproject/ (Accessed: 20th October 2017) Fig 9. Higher Studio. (2017) Green HYDRA Underwear. [Photograph] (Received from Higher Studio 18th November 2017) Fig .10. Adidas Marine Swimwear (2017)

Adidas Marine Swimwear x Parley for the Oceans. [Advertisement] Available at: http:// uniquestyleplatform.com/blog/2017/05/18/ sustainable-material-innovation/ (Accessed: 5th October 2017)

Fig 16. The Trash Isles. (2017) The Trash Isles One Hundred Debris Notes. [Graphic] Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/13/trashisles-great-pacific-garbage-patch-dalandmikeladbible-the-plastic-oceans-foundation/ (Accessed: 20th October 2017)

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Fig 17. Lucy Hardcastle (Date Unknown) Flex, Blue Wave. [Sculpture] Available at: https:// www.lucyhardcastle.com/flex/ (Accessed: 4th Novemeber 2017)

Up Store [Photograph] Available at: http://www. the-acey.com/journal/the-acey-comes-to-life/ (Accessed: 18th October 2017)

Fig 18. The Guardian (2017) Pollution Popsicles. [Photograph] Available at: https://www. theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2017/sep/01/ popsicles-pollution-ice-lollies-taiwan-taipeicontaminated-waterways (Accessed: 5th November 2017) Fig 19. Lucy Hardcastle (Date Unknown) Flex, Pink Pollution. [Sculpture] Available at: https:// www.lucyhardcastle.com/flex/ (Accessed: 4th November 2017) Fig 20. Refinery 29 (2017) Stella McCartney Aw17. [Advertisement] Available at: http://www. refinery29.uk/2017/07/164096/stella-mccartneyfall-winter-2017-campaign (Accessed: 17th October 2017) Fig 21. Stella McCartney (2017) Clevercare Series. [Film Still] Avaialable at: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASO2LLMqciQ (Accessed: 17th October 2017) Fig 22 Refinery 29 (2017) Stella McCartney AW17. [Advertisement] Available at: http://www. refinery29.uk/2017/07/164096/stella-mccartneyfall-winter-2017-campaign (Accessed: 17th October 2017) Fig 23. Higher Studio (2017) White Coat. [Photograph] (Received from Higher Studio 18th November 2017) Fig 24. Madewin (2017) 23 July [Screenshot] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/ BW5xG5DBGxu/?taken-by=madewin (Accessed: 10th Novemeber 2017)

Fig 27. The Acey (2016) Terrarium Workshop with London Terrariums [Photograph] Available at: https://www.the-acey.com/curated-product/ events.html (Accessed: 18th October 2017) Fig 28 Julian Mouton Updates (2017) The Krane. [Photograph] Available at: http:// juliandmouton30.weebly.com/blog/arcgencytransforms-former-copenhagen-coal-crane-intoprivate-retreat (Accessed: 21st October 2017) Fig 29. Unique Style Platform (2017) Vetements Dry Cleaner Receipt. [Photograph] Available at: http://uniquestyleplatform.com/blog/2017/02/17/ vetements-dry-cleaning-pop-up-store/ (Accessed: 7th October 2017) Fig 30. Unique Style Platform (2017) Vetements Dry Cleaner Pop-Up. [Photograph] Available at: http://uniquestyleplatform.com/blog/2017/02/17/ vetements-dry-cleaning-pop-up-store/ (Accessed: 7th October 2017) Fig 31. Hypebeast (2017) Vetements Dry Cleaner Pop-Up Jacket. [Photograph] Available at: https://hypebeast.com/2017/2/vetementsdry-cleaning-pop-up-maxfield-la-closer-look (Accessed: 7th October 2017) Fig 32. Higher Studio (2017) Black Junya Watanabe Jacket. [Photograph] (Received from Higher Studio 18th November 2017) Fig 33. Elizabeth Farrell (2017) Glacier Girl Instagram. [Screenshot] Available at: https:// www.instagram.com/glacier996girl/?hl=en (Accessed: 27th October 2017)

Fig 25 Brodie Davis (2017) 28 July [Screenshot] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/ BXG0aezlgbh/?taken-by=brodieldavies (Accessed: 10th November 2017)

Fig 34. Fashion Revolution (2017) Who Made My Clothes? [Screenshot] Available at: http:// fashionrevolution.org/get-involved/ways-foreveryone-to-get-involved/ (Accessed: 1st November 2017)

Fig 26. The Acey (2016) Inside The Acey Pop

Fig 35. Fashion Revolution (2017) 4 November

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LIST OF IMAGES [Screenshot] Available at: https://www. instagram.com/p/BbE2n5ogd6J/?takenby=fash_rev (Accessed: 1st November 2017)

www.wallpaper.com/lifestyle/in-room-shoppingeverlane-is-bringing-its-shoe-collection-to-ahotel-near-you (Accessed 12th November 201)

Fig 36. Vivienne Westwood (2014) Climate Revolution X Anglomania Film [Film Still] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=-A9mbD5ZcL4 (Accessed: 15th November 2017)

Fig 44. Kelly, E. (2017) Peter Pilotto Townhouse. [Photograph] Fig 45. Shoreditch House (Date Unknown) Shoreditch House. [Photograph] Available at: https://www.shoreditchhouse.com/ (Accessed: 17th November 2017)

Fig 37. Vivienne Westwood (2014) Climate Revolution X Anglomania Film [Film Still] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=-A9mbD5ZcL4 (Accessed: 15th November 2017) Fig.38. GQ Italia (2016) Greenpeace Detox Catwalk. [Photograph] Available at: https:// www.gqitalia.it/moda/trend/new/2016/07/18/ una-moda-pulita-ecco-marchi-che-aderisconoalla-campagna-detox-di-greenpeace/ (Accessed: 16th November 2017) Fig 39. Higher Studio (2017) Multi-Colour Comme Des Garcons Coat. [Photograph] (Received from Higher Studio 18th November 2017)

Fig 46. L’Officiel. (Date Unknown) Soho House Barcelona. [Photograph] Available at: https:// www.lofficiel.com/voyage/nouvel-arret-de-sohohouse-barcelone (Accessed: 17th November 2017) Fig. 47. Country & Town House (2017) The Store, Soho House Berlin. [Photograph] Available at: https://www.countryandtownhouse.co.uk/ culture/alex-eagle-soho-house-store/ (Accessed: 17th November 2017) Fig. 48. Soho House (2017) Shoreditch House. [Photograph] Available at: https://www. sohohouse.com/houses/shoreditch-house (Accessed: 17th November 2017)

Fig 40. Sarah Lazarovic. (2017) The Buyerarchy of Needs. [Illustration] Available at: http:// longliveirony.com/ (Accessed: 25th October 2017) Fig 41. The Line. (Date Unknown) The Apartment Wardrobe Shot. [Photograph] Available at: https://theline.com/pages/the-apartment-newyork (Accessed: 13th November 2017) Fig 42. The Line. (Date Unknown) The Apartment Living Area Shot. [Photograph] Available at: https://theline.com/pages/the-apartment-newyork (Accessed: 13th November 2017)

Fig. 49. Country & Town House (2017) The Store, Soho House Berlin. [Photograph] Available at: https://www.countryandtownhouse.co.uk/ culture/alex-eagle-soho-house-store/ (Accessed: 17th November 2017) Fig 50. Accessories Magazine (2016) Rent The Runway In-Store. [Photograph] Available at: https://www.accessoriesmagazine.com/145500/ rent-runway-opens-first-flagship-storemanhattan (Accessed: 11th November 2017) Fig 51. Accessories Magazine (2016) Rent The Runway In-Store. [Photograph] Available at:

Fig 43. Wallpaper (2015) Everlane “Room Service”. [Photograph] Available at: https://

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https://www.accessoriesmagazine.com/145500/ rent-runway-opens-first-flagship-storemanhattan (Accessed: 11th November 2017)

higher.studio/?lightbox=dataItem-j4u70p16 (Accessed: 8th November 2017) Fig. 61. Pinterest (2017) Beach in Denmark. Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/ pin/102527328997899928/ (Accessed: 12th November 2017)

Fig 52. Rent The Runway (2017) 26 October. [Screenshot] Available at: https://www. instagram.com/p/BasZ4lzBpY-/?takenby=renttherunway (Accessed: 11th November 2017) Fig 53. Not My Style (2017) 20 July. [Screenshot] Available at: https://twitter.com/notmystyleuk/ status/888054356691607552 (Accessed: 11th November 2017)

Fig 62. H&M (2012) Maison Margiela with H&M- The Silent Manifesto [Film Still] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=fAgmmf3yS98 (Accessed: 5th November 2017) Fig. 63. i-D Magazine (2016) There is no Planet B. [Graphic] In iD Magazine (Summer 2016)

Fig 54. Higher Studio (2017) Website Banner. [Screenshot] Available at: www.higher.studio (Accessed: 9th November 2017)

Fig. 64. GARAGE Magazine (2017) Glitch Model. [Photograph] In Garage No.12 Magazine

Fig 55. Higher studio (2017) 26 May. [Screenshot] Available at: https://www. instagram.com/p/BUjdhg-B3Em/?takenby=higher.studio (Accessed: 8th November 2017)

Fig. 65. SHOWstudio. (Date Unknown) Floriental Comme Des Garcons. [Film Still] Available at: http://showstudio.com/project/floriental (Accessed: 5th November 2017)

Fig 56. Higher studio (2017) June 6. [Screenshot] Available at: https://www. instagram.com/p/BVABV9zhXEN/?takenby=higher.studio (Accessed: 8th November 2017)

Fig. 66. SHOWstudio. (Date Unknown) Floriental Comme Des Garcons. [Film Still] Available at: http://showstudio.com/project/floriental (Accessed: 5th November 2017) Fig. 67. GARAGE Magazine (2017) Glitch Model 2. [Photograph] In Garage No.12 Magazine

Fig 57. Higher Studio (2017) Pink Skirt with Hands. [Photograph] Available at: https://www. higher.studio/?lightbox=dataItem-j4u70p16 (Accessed: 8th November 2017)

Fig. 68. GARAGE Magazine (2017) Glitch Model 3. [Photograph] In Garage No.12 Magazine

Fig 58. Higher Studio (2017) White Comme Des Garcons Top. [Photograph] Available at: https://www.higher.studio/?lightbox=dataItemj4yf6mm2 (Accessed: 8th November 2017)

Fig. 69. LuckyMe Studio and NAKED (2017) Naked: Body Mod. [Film Still] Available at: https://www.nowness.com/picks/naked-bodymod (Accessed: 13th November 2017)

Fig 59 Florian Hecker (2012) Release: Chimerization. [Photograph] Available at: http://florianhecker.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/ release-chimerization-vinyl.html (Accessed: 11th November 2017)

Fig. 70. LuckyMe Studio and NAKED (2017) Naked: Body Mod. [Film Still] Available at: https://www.nowness.com/picks/naked-bodymod (Accessed: 13th November 2017)

Fig 60. Higher Studio (2017) Pink Skirt with Hands. [Photograph] Available at: https://www.

Fig. 71. Dazed & Confused. (2017) Do You Ever Get Migraines? [Photograph] In Dazed & Confused Vol IV Spring 2017.

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LIST OF IMAGES Fig. 72. LuckyMe Studio and NAKED (2017) Naked: Body Mod. [Film Still] Available at: https://www.nowness.com/picks/naked-bodymod (Accessed: 13th November 2017)

dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/21551/1/closetcase-tati-cotliar (Accessed: 12th November 2017)

Fig. 73. Victor & Simon. (2017) LA Dance Project Rehearsal. [Film Still] Available at: https://www. nowness.com/picks/la-dance-project-rehearsalbenjamin-millepied-victor-simon (Accessed: 13th November 2017)

Fig. 82. Nowness (2015) My Place: Florence Welch. [Film Still] Available at: https://www. nowness.com/series/my-place/florence-welchbarbara-anastacio (Accessed: 12th November 2017)

Fig. 74. Nowness (2015) Cronus and Indigo Blak: She. [Film Still] Available at: https://www. nowness.com/series/just-dance/cronus-andindigo-blak-she (Accessed: 13th November 2017)

Fig. 83. I-D (2015) Glacier Girl. [Photograph] Available at: https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/ evnmpw/glacier-girl-is-reinventing-the-ecofriendly-aesthetic-for-the-tumblr-generation (Accessed: 2nd November 2017)

Fig. 75. Nowness (2016) Just Dance: Maze. [Film Still] Available at: https://www.nowness. com/series/just-dance/maze-scottish-ballet (Accessed: 13th November 2017) Fig. 76. Unique Style Platform (2017) S/S 18 Catwalk Beauty [Photograph] Available at: http:// uniquestyleplatform.com/blog/2017/10/11/ss18-catwalks-beauty/ (Accessed: 17th November 2017) Fig. 77. Unique Style Platform (2017) S/S 18 Catwalk Beauty [Photograph] Available at: http:// uniquestyleplatform.com/blog/2017/10/11/ss18-catwalks-beauty/ (Accessed: 17th November 2017) Fig. 78. Vivienne Westwood (2017) Spring/ Summer 2018. [Film Still] Available at: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmU6RF4U_L0 (Accessed: 12th November 2017) Fig. 79. Dazed & Confused. (2017) Girl with Rocket. [Photograph] In Dazed & Confused Vol IV Spring 2017. Fig. 80. Dazed Digital (2014) Closet Case: Tati Cotliar [Film Still] Available at: http://www.

Fig. 81. Nowness (2016) My Place: Tavi Gevinson [Film Still] Available at: https://www. nowness.com/series/my-place/tavi-gevinsonbarbara-anastacio (Accessed: 12th November 2017)

Fig. 84. Elbmargarita (2016) Ella Goerner. [Photograph] Available at: http://www. elbmargarita.de/2016/07/ella-goerner/ (Accessed: 2nd November 2017) Fig. 85. Hart+Leshinka (2016) Beyond the Clouds (1). [Photograph] Available at: http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/ gallery/23135/2/beyond-the-clouds (Accessed: 14th November 2017) Fig. 86. Hart+Leshinka (2016) Beyond the Clouds (2). [Photograph] Available at: http:// hartleshkina.com/beyond-the-clouds-sleeve/ (Accessed: 14th November 2017) Fig. 87. Hart+Leshinka (2016) Beyond the Clouds (3). [Photograph] Available at: http:// www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/9003/ transcient-beauty-inside-hartleshkinas-newbook (Accessed: 14th November 2017) Fig. 88. Melodie Roulaud (2016) Skin. [Film Still]

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Available at: https://www.nowness.com/topic/ fashion/skin-melodie-roulaud (Accessed: 14th November 2017)

Fig. 97. Decoist.com (2015) Old Warehouse in London. [Photograph] Available at: https:// www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/83175924348836287/ (Accessed: 18th November 2017)

Fig. 89. Olafur Eliasson (2016) Memories of a Moving Glacier (Soft Eclipse). [Photograph] Available at: http://olafureliasson.net/archive/ artwork/WEK110452/memory-of-the-movingglacier-soft-eclipse#slideshow (Accessed: 15th November 2017) Fig 90. Hart+Leshinka (2016) Beyond the Clouds (4). [Photograph] Available at: http:// www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/9003/ transcient-beauty-inside-hartleshkinas-newbook (Accessed: 14th November 2017) Fig. 91. Country & Town House (2017) The Store, Soho House Berlin. [Photograph] Available at: https://www.countryandtownhouse.co.uk/ culture/alex-eagle-soho-house-store/ (Accessed: 17th November 2017) Fig. 92. Country & Town House (2017) The Store, Soho House Berlin. [Photograph] Available at: https://www.countryandtownhouse.co.uk/ culture/alex-eagle-soho-house-store/ (Accessed: 17th November 2017) Fig. 93. Soho Works (2017) 7 August. [Screenshot] Available at: https://www. instagram.com/p/BXgRWCJgcVU/?takenby=sohoworks (Accessed: 17th November 2017) Fig.94. Shoreditch House (Date Unknown) Shoreditch House Floorplan. [Graphic] Available at: https://www.shoreditchhouse.com/ (Accessed: 17th November 2017) Fig. 95. Soho Works (2016) 14 October [Screenshot] Available at: https://www. instagram.com/p/BLiUTW3ABAQ/?takenby=sohoworks (Accessed: 17th November 2017) Fig. 96. Muuto (Date Unknown) Rest Series. [Photograph] Available at: https://muuto.com/ rest-series (Accessed: 18th November 2017)

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