A new narrative of neglected socks: An exploration of new value creation and narratives for materials through creative fashion practice

Abstract

This master's thesis explores how to use discarded socks in creative design practice to explore the possibilities of creating new narratives for materials in the future. The background for this project is the urgent need for a change in current fashion practices and our perception and relations to the material. The current dominant fashion industry, driven by the growth model, poses a significant environmental threat. The model profits from obtaining a desire for “newness” and creating a massive overproduction of textiles and garments, often resulting in waste in landfills. Not only does this industry need to change, but for that to happen, we need to create a fundamental change in how humans perceive themselves in relation to the world. Through this project, I explore the possibilities of changing the values of materials such as discarded socks to challenge our perception of the wasted, old, and discarded. I take a speculative and artistic approach to design to challenge myself as a creative practitioner and explore the possibility of change within fashion design. The project is done through practice-led research and explores how to upcycle discarded socks through material-driven design.

Through sequential research design, I conducted a textile analysis and a pre-exhibition to explore the material properties and how material changes relate to reasons for disposal and perceived contamination barriers. I presented the upcycled creations in a pre-exhibition to investigate the viewers' emotional responses to the creations' visual and sensory properties. The participants registered their emotional reactions during the pre-exhibition through an anonymous online survey. This master's thesis contributes to the field by presenting new approaches to fashion design that need further exploration. The creative process could be helpful for other practitioners to explore alternative ways of working with the materials or to further explore speculative design in fashion as redirection. The possibility of value creation for discarded socks was explored through creative practice, while the results of the pre-exhibition presented the registered values and perceived barriers among the viewers. The results confirmed the possibility of creating value for discarded socks as values related to emotions, epistemic experiences, functionality, and aesthetics were registered among the viewers. In this project, the new materialist values related to experiences of enchantment, the application of aliveness to objects to promote a sense of care, and the use of speculative storytelling to create new narratives of discarded socks have been registered. Perceived barriers relating to the sensory exploration of textures and a fear of material contamination. Further exploration should focus on the possibilities of overcoming perceived material barriers by applying new materialist values through creative fashion practices, which have the potential to evoke new connections and attitudes toward materials.