FASHION THINKING

By: Caroline Serafina Muscato

The growing recognition of design practices and designerly ways of thinking has permeated the realm of business in recent years, as “design thinking” has been adapted into methods and tactics for complex problem-solving. This corporate embracement of humanistic and creative fields of study has also led to a growing recognition and appreciation for the potential of fashion studies and its theoretical and methodological concepts. “Fashion thinking” is a theoretical concept that provides an actionable methodology in which the capabilities of fashion professionals are utilised to add meaning and value to products, services, or processes, and is thus a valuable addition to design thinking, bringing new perspectives to the innovation process.

“Fashion thinking” broadly defined is thinking through and about fashion. It is an analytical option that emerged out of fashion studies, through which researchers can investigate social and cultural processes (Petersen et al. 2016:2). The concept of fashion thinking is a relatively novel one, however there is compelling research on the topic. One of the seminal texts on fashion thinking is the 2012 article “Fashion Thinking: Towards an Actionable Methodology” by Natalie W. Nixon & Johanna Blakley, in which they define the term as “a paradigm of critical thought and creative agency utilizing technology, story, experimentation, and open-sourcing in order to add meaning and value to the functional and experiential spheres of products and services” (Nixon & Blakley 2012:157).

“Fashion thinking” broadly defined is thinking through and about fashion. It is an analytical option that emerged out of fashion studies, through which researchers can investigate social and cultural processes (Petersen et al. 2016:2). 48 of 64

Fashion thinking becomes an actionable methodology through its five dimensions:

1. its engagement with temporal dimensions 2. spatial dimensions 3. socially discursive dimensions 4. the priority it places on the articulation of taste 5. balancing commercial goals with artistic innovations (Nixon & Blakley 2012:154).

These dimensions when considered and applied to the innovation process ensure meaningful and value design outcomes. Fashion thinking is, by this definition, a methodological tool that can inform innovation of products, services, and processes.

Fashion thinking has been observed in practice in companies that have made dramatic organisational changes by incorporating fashion professionals into their management in order to make their products or services more meaningful and emotionally durable. Examples include the W Hotel, which managed to move beyond simply delivering a night-stop to a meaningful experience by creating the position of Global Fashion Director in 2010 (Nixon & Blakley 2012:167). Amanda Ross, a stylist by trade, was hired by the chain to transform their operations by developing the hotel’s global fashion perspective. This included selecting new wait-staff uniforms to better merchandise the hotel and tell its “story,” and designing a new scenography, a technique used regularly by fashion retailers, to set the “stage” for guests and enforce the milieu of the W hotels. The goal of designing and styling these stories are for them to provide experiential services and meet the emotional needs of guests. The incorporation of fashion thinking into the management of the chain strengthened their brand by making their

guests more emotionally connected to the hotels. Fashion thinking thereby allow for innovative ways of cultivating a focus on new details helping companies become more responsive and competitive and, ultimately, more successful (Nixon & Blakley 2012:168).The concept thus offers a valuable addition to design thinking in processes of innovation and transformation.

From Design Thinking to Fashion Thinking

Design thinking has provided a user-centred, cognitive style for reasoning and problem-solving originally perfected by designers. The concept has flourished in business literature and practice since the mid-2000s, when design methods were adapted into tactics for complex problem-solving in a wide range of disciplines and fields (Petersen et al. 2016:3). Design thinking represents an expansion of the traditional realm of designers in creating physical, designed products to the employment of design methods in process, service, and solutions design. The iterative process awarded by design thinking is today considered highly relevant to the process of innovation (Petersen et al. 2016:3). Fashion thinking largely shares these properties; however, its five characteristic dimensions set it aside from design thinking, and it thus offers the process of innovation and transformation and new perspectives.

Design thinking has provided a user-centred, cognitive style for reasoning and problem-solving originally perfected by designers

In regard to sustainability, ranging from deeper knowledge of material composition to richer understandings of social behaviour, new capabilities are necessary to designing a sustainable future (De los Rios & Charnley 2016:109). The capabilities embedded in fashion thinking have in the literature been praised for holding a new potential to aid businesses to develop more sustainable practices. In an increasingly innovation-focused economy, dimensions of identity and emotion matter when designing. Embedded in the profession of fashion design are the capabilities of forward-thinking and developing innovative practices (Nixon & Blakley 2012:156-157).

In regard to sustainability, ranging from deeper knowledge of material composition to richer understandings of social behaviour, new capabilities are necessary to designing a sustainable future (De los Rios & Charnley 2016:109).

Design thinking is the source of inspiration for fashion thinking; however, fashion thinking is a process through which brands can attain value, and this process of value creation can be applied in other contexts and industries. A common feature of fashion thinking and design thinking is thus its applicability outside its own realm e.g., in the production and marketing of food, automobiles, technology, hospitality, and services (Petersen et al. 2016:4). The purpose of fashion thinking is not to replace design thinking, but rather the discourse around design thinking has enabled a new understanding of the outcome and application of fashion capabilities (Nixon & Blakley 2012:156). Fashion thinking offers a particular focus on taste-making and meaningfulness for the consumer, whereas design thinking traditionally is more concerned with functionality and usability (Nixon & Blakley 2012:155–156). Unique to fashion thinking is its masterful employment of the past, present, and future when designing attractive consumer products.

The purpose of fashion thinking is not to replace design thinking, but rather that the discourse around design thinking has enabled a new understanding of the outcome and application of fashion capabilities (Nixon & Blakley 2012:156).

Whereas the principles of design thinking were inspired by the work and process of designers, the actionable dimensions of fashion thinking come from fashion apparel business practices (Nixon & Blakley 2012:154). These include, of course, designers of fashion but also other fashion professionals in a broader sense such as textile designers, stylists, and marketers. The principles of fashion thinking are therefore inspired by a multitude of actors within the industry and their particular expertise and capabilities.

The Rise of Fashion Studies

Awareness of fashion thinking has been raised following a 2014-conference dedicated to the topic held by the University of Southern Denmark, Design School Kolding, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and Design Museum Denmark (Designskolen, n.d.). The increasing popularisation of fashion thinking can be attributed to an increasing acknowledgement and rise of fashion studies generally. Fashion has in recent years been established and recognised as an important and culturally relevant

field of research due to increased recognition of the potential of fashion and design studies to a wider range of fields and industries. The emerging interest in fashion thinking can be viewed as a natural extension of this growing recognition, which has emerged as a result of an increasing demand for consumption studies (Entwistle 2016:16). However, this increased recognition comes after years of fashion studies being underappreciated in academia – a legacy the field continues to battle. Fashion studies has historically been disregarded as a “serious” field of research compared to its fellow design disciplines.

There are three main reasons driving this bias against the relevance of fashion (Nixon & Blakley 2012:158). Firstly, implicit gender bias has led to a notion of fashion as “unserious” due to its strong association with the work of women and queer people. The bias against these demographics has deemed this work ancillary, superfluous, and of inferior status to traditional fields, which influenced the cultural perception of fashion and the study of hereof. Secondly, a societal inconsistency towards fashion has resulted in a simultaneous cultural infatuation alongside a refusal to ascribe the weight and relevance to it necessary for fashion to be considered serious. Finally, the broader field of design is known to have an implicit hierarchy between its disciplines with architecture at the top, followed by industrial design, graphic design, digital design, and fashion at the very bottom. The low ranking of fashion as a research field in this implicit hierarchy has resulted in an internal disregard for fashion in the realm of design.

But this perception of fashion has been changing, and fashion studies is currently experiencing a shift in status. Fashion’s alignment with economic forces has further heightened its status and legitimacy in academia and among policy makers (Entwistle 2016:17). Fashion has entered the economic discourse, as ideas of “cultural” and “creative” work have become a major driver of developed economies, and scholarly work on fashion has therefore both increased and gained more recognition (Entwistle 2016:16). The commercial art of fashion offers a unique merging of aesthetics, engineering, and business strategy, and fashion thinking facilitates problem-solving in uncertain and complex environments (Nixon & Blakley 2012:158). The field of fashion studies has matured enough to contribute to other academic disciplines (Petersen et al. 2016:5), and the expert knowledge of fashion thinking can thus be highly relevant and useful to a variety of fields.

Fashion has entered the economic discourse, as ideas of “cultural” and “creative” work have become a major driver of developed economies, and scholarly work on fashion has therefore both increased and gained more recognition (Entwistle 2016:16)

Bibliography:

• De los Rios, I. C., & Charnley, F. J. S. (2017). Skills and Capabilities for a Sustainable and Circular Economy: The Changing Role of Design. Journal of Cleaner Production, 160, 109- 122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.10.130 • Designskolen. (n.d.). Conference – Fashion Thinking. Retrieved August 1st, 2022, from https://www.designskolenkolding.dk/en/calendar/fashion-thinking • Entwistle, J. (2016). The Fashioned Body 15 Years On: Contemporary Fashion Thinking. Fashion Practice: The Journal of Design, Creative Process & the Fashion Industry, 8(1), 15-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17569370.2016.1147693 • Nixon, N. W., & Blakley, J. (2012). Fashion Thinking: Towards an Actionable Methodology. Fashion Practice, 4(2), 153-175. https://doi.or g/10.2752/175693812X13403765252262 • Petersen, T. B.; Mackinney-Valentin, M., & Melchior, M. R. (2016). Fashion Thinking. Fashion Practice: The Journal of Design, Creative Process & the Fashion Industry, 8(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/17569370.2016.1147699

Bio:

Caroline Serafina Muscato is a Danish design manager who has specialised in fashion as a design discipline, sustainable innovation, and transformational processes. Her master’s thesis Fashion Thinking for Sustainability Transformation: A Qualitative Case Study of Fashion Thinking in the Danish Sustainability Consulting Industry explored the theoretical concept of ‘fashion thinking’ and its potential for sustainable business transformation in regard to strategy consulting. She holds an MA in Design Management from the University of Southern Denmark and a BA in Art History from Aarhus University.