PART TWO: FURTHER CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH

The second part of this project aims to take the key aspects from the first part and translate them into one single system that could exist in today’s world All three proposed systems give the most importance to adding value to clothing and mixing practicality with sentimentality. These concepts indirectly align with sustainability as they increase the amount of thought that people give to their purchases while also reducing the amount of clothing that goes to waste It is important to also look at these new systems from an inclusive perspective. Bodily fluctuations and unique characteristics should be accounted for as the main goal of these systems is to increase the garment’s useful life.

Housing Works Case Study

The Mc Kinsey State of Fashion Report for 2023 clearly emphasizes that sustainability and tackling greenwashing are two of the biggest opportunities for fashion retail stores this year 2 The importance of sustainability within the fashion system has been increasing for a few years which lead to the emergence of greenwashing. The way of tackling greenwashing is for more businesses to adopt transparent business and communication practices To show that they in fact do what they tell consumers happens behind the scenes There are many brands that have adopted a more open communication style to let shoppers know how their clothing is made and who it will benefit One of these brands is Housing Works, a non-profit organization that “fights for funding and legislation to ensure that all people with HIV/AIDS have access to quality housing, healthcare, HIV prevention, and treatment, among other lifesaving services”3 They have thrift stores, bookstores, and an online store which they use to get funding to support their multiple projects. Their businesses provide “socially conscious shops in their neighborhoods and jobs for clients who complete their job training program”4 Through its charitable practices, Housing Works is already actively making a single purchase more valuable.

As part of this study, I visited their Chelsea location to look at how their store functions and how people behave in it and gather data that could help my project (Appendix D) The first and most

2 McKinsey & Company, “The State of Fashion 2023” (New York: McKinsey & Company, 2022), 15, 67

3 “Home Page,” Housing Works, accessed May 4, 2023, https://www.housingworks.org/.

4 “Businesses,” Housing Works, accessed May 4, 2023, https://www housingworks org/businesses notable aspect of the store is that their activism and social work are reminded to the customer throughout the entire shopping process From the store’s window displays to the tags on clothing, people are constantly reminded that buying a garment from Housing Works is not just that, it is helpful for communities and people in need. It was also useful to see how people relate to used garments and what they look for at thrift stores Most clients were making comments on a garment’s brand or were looking for products that were originally from a reputable brand. Shoppers averaged around 30-35 years old and they were all dressed very stylishly but the clothing offered was more referential to older generations It was a commercial reference to what hand-me-downs are like in a family.

Initial Survey

Aside from the research conducted based on Housing Works, two surveys (Appendix B) were conducted in order to collect personal testimonials and generalized information The first one had an open-ended question format, as an attempt to collect truthful quotations from real people. However, the format of this questionnaire was not appealing to people and only collected information from eight people It did collect some relevant phrases:

“Ibuylesssecond-handclothingthanIwouldwantto It'shardtofindgarmentsthatfitmystyle andsizeatthesametime Ishouldalsogetmorefamiliarwiththethriftstoresinmyareabecause Ihavenoideawheretogoreally Ilovegettingclothingfrommycousinsandsiblings”

“MyfavoriteclothesaretheuniquegarmentsIcanfindinthecornersofthriftstores“

“Buying second-hand makes me hold onto clothes longer usually because I was searchingfor thatpieceforawhile”

“IwanttobeintentionalabouttheclothesIaccept.”

“I typically find clothes thatfitmewellbutoptnottogetsomethingsalteredbecauseitcanbe expensive Thesmallestofchangescanmaketheworldofadifference“

“I’vegottenclothestailoredthatIneverusedtowearandsuddenlytheybecomeastaple Ithink it’s because I careaboutthefit/tailoringthemostwhenitcomestomyclothes, it’swhatmakes mefeelmostconfident.”

Although this survey only collected a few results, it was useful to see that clothing is a personal and sensible topic for people For different reasons, everyone has a close relationship with their clothing Garment sourcing and fit are the two main topics to which people relate their clothing

Second Survey

In order to gather information from a larger number of people, a second survey (Appendix C) with a multiple-choice format was used This way, people are more likely to answer as it takes a shorter time and answers are pre-written for them. It consisted of twelve questions and was answered by fifty-nine people, the key gatherings were the following:

57% shop secondhand in some frequency

27 people said they shop secondhand because it’s cheaper, 18 because they find better items, 17 because they consider it a more fun way to shop and 12 said that they do it for sustainability purposes

13 people said they don’t shop second hand because they don’t like wearing used clothes, 12 because they don’t have thrift stores in their area, and 11 said they find it hard to shop

83% have favorite garments they can immediately think of

30 people said that their favorite garment is their favorite because of how it fits, 20 because of how frequently they wear it, and 19 because of how the garment looks

63% get clothing from friends and family at some frequency

59% consider that finding certain garments that fit properly is harder than others, and only 10% consider it easy to get clothes that properly fit them

54% said that they sometimes get clothes tailored

25 people said that they consider it too much work to go to the tailor, and 14 people said that it doesn’t occur to them to get their clothes mended, while only 7 said that they are able to mend clothes themselves

39% own a clothing item that they’ve had for over 10 years

22% consider themselves to be clothing collectors

All of these further prove the theory from the first survey, which considers clothing to be a very personal and thought-through topic for most people. It is also important to see that most of the responders are familiar with secondhand clothing regardless of whether they buy it for themselves or not The benefits of shopping for used clothing include lower prices and better items while the downsides are cleanliness and accessibility. There is also a relationship between fit and value, given that clothes that fit people better are worn the most and therefore found most valuable. However, most responders said they consider it hard to find clothes that completely fit them properly, and they don’t always get them tailored

These results help solidify the project's objective of giving clothing new value while focusing on fit and longevity. There is a clear misalignment between what people want and need from their clothing and what they are getting from the current market Everyone gives clothing a different amount of importance but nobody finds it irrelevant.