Dissertation Proposal on Sustainable fashion

DHTP Dissertation Proposal Part 1


We have produced a template for your dissertation proposal, a copy of which is reproduced below. The sections relate closely to the work you did in Level 2 where you investigated a topic by doing a literature search, and using primary research methods such as observations and experiments.

Submission deadline for the final proposal: 5 pm Wed 1 December 2010 - submit via email to your supervisor and to Safe Assignment on the VLE

Please download this form from the VLE.

Please save as a word.doc and change the title to your full name, e.g.: John Smith.doc - do not email the proposal without changing the file name.

Sample template

Student Name Sarah Mowbray

Course Textiles

Supervisor name Mike Press

Email address Scmmowbray@dundee.ac.uk

Date 1st December 2010

Using the template

Enter your personal details in the box above. The email address will be used by your tutor and others to contact you. You must check this regularly for news on tutorial dates.

Read each heading carefully and type into the text box below.

Email your proposal to your supervisor and load it up on Safe Assignment of the VLE

Total word count: between 250-500 words (excluding bibliography).

Working title (max 25 words)

This should give an outline of your research topic. If appropriate use a title and a subtitle. You don’t have to be too specific at first and you don’t have to word it like a question - but you can if you want.

The importance of Sustainable Fashion for the future –

Why do we need to consider this and what effects will it have?

Summary (max 250 words)

Here you should indicate what you already know about the topic. You should already have done some reading around it. Summarise this reading with regards to the research topic and describe the research area.

Sustainable Fashion also known as ‘eco fashion,’ is a topic that I am not too familiar with. I have started to do some research about the topic and I have discovered that it is a very important subject, especially for current and new designers. Sustainable fashion is just a small part of the growing trend of sustainable design. This is where a product/garment is produced with careful consideration to the environment and the factors regarding social issues it may have in its life time. I have found a few designers that are currently adapting to eco fashion. These designers have made a huge impact on the design world and have shown how possible it is to transform re-cycled materials into creative garments. Kathleen Tesnakis is a woman who uses 100 per cent re-cycled cashmere sweaters to transform them into individually designed pieces, such as dresses, skirts etc. Tesnakis has received a few awards for her creative eco fashion, one of which is the ACC award of excellence in 2007. Tesnakis takes careful consideration into her pieces, especially with investigating where her raw materials have come from. This is a very interesting area to look at: the investigation of where materials come from and what carbon footprint is left in the process of these materials reaching manufacturers. Sustainability is becoming more important in the process of design, therefore it will be a huge importance for future designers.

Aims: Why are you doing this? (max 100 words)

These are a general statement on the intent or direction for the research – why are you doing this? Refer to theoretical aims and practical ones where relevant. For example: How might this improve your design practice? How does it contribute to the discourses within your discipline? Who else might benefit from your research? Is it aimed at an academic or a wider audience? What do you hope your research will achieve? State your aims concisely.

I hope to investigate the core depth of sustainable fashion, by looking at the importance of re-cycled materials and what the benefits for the future of the environment will be. I will be looking at where raw materials come from and what effect these materials cause while trying to reach their destinations. Also I will be looking at the process that designers must go through to achieve sustainable fashion lines and the effects on the future. By investigating this subject it will help me to understand the changes the design world is going through at present and how different it will be in the future. Not only will designers benefit from my research, but consumers will also be challenged.

Objectives: What will you produce? (max 100 words)

Objectives are the things you will produce in doing the dissertation, e.g. a review of the relevant literature, a collection and discussion of people’s experiences/opinions, an assessment of a debate or collection of work etc.

Like your aims, these will help your tutor (and you) assess your success. They may change over time but aims and objectives are useful to keep you focussed. Again be concise here – you may want to use bullet points.

• Research existing designers who have adapted to green living

• Send e-mails to these designers, explain what I am doing and ask for some feedback on what they are doing at present with eco fashion

• Find local outlets that are using sustainable fashion

• Investigate these outlets

• Find examples of sustainable fashion

• Compare and contrast sustainable fashion with non-sustainable fashion

• Try and find ways to show effects from using re-cycled materials with non-re-cycled materials

• Gather information from people who use sustainable fashion and compare with people who use non-sustainable fashion

• Research books and journals from past and present

Keywords (min 5 and max 10)

This should be a list of key terms that help us see if you are aware of where your research ‘sits’. For example, if you are writing on depictions of women in advertising your list might include ‘gender, feminism, representation, advertising, semiotics’. Keywords will help you when doing electronic searched for research materials.

• Sustainability

• Green living

• Eco friendly

• Re-cycling

• Carbon footprint

• Eco fashion

• Environment

• Fibre

• Fabric

Annotated Bibliography (min of 12 books, articles, websites)

Place here alphabetically a list of materials which you intent to use for you dissertation. Format these according to the Harvard Method!

Please make sure you have critically assessed these as being appropriate for your topic and write a short paragraph for each one summarising the content and its relevance to your research area.

• Black, Sandy. 2008. Eco Chick: The Fashion Paradox. Black Dog Publishing

Current reviews of this book look promising. They state that it is a “must have” book for
Designers and fashion students who want to discover the world of eco fashion. I will definitely
Invest in this book for my research.

• Brown, Sass. 2010. Eco Fashion. Lawrence King Publishing, September 2010

I think this will be a good book to buy because it is very up to date as it was published this
Year. It talks about the different current designers who are making a difference with eco
Fashion.

• Fletcher, Kate. 2008. Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys. Earthscan UK and USA

This book looks interesting for my dissertation research as it is about lifecycle sustainability
Impacts of fashion and textiles, practical alternatives, design concepts and social innovation.

• Hethorn, j and Ulasewicz, C. 2008. Sustainable Fashion; Why Now. Fairchild Books

This is an insightful book that covers a lot of areas within sustainable fashion, such as, factors, effects, who to consider, what to consider and how to change the readers thinking into a green way of thinking.

• Hubble, Leesa. 2010. Re-Fashion, Re-Purpose; Designing With Sustainable Style. Surface Design Journal. v 34 no 3(Spring2010) p16-21

This article goes into great detail about present designers using re-cycled materials to Create sustainable fashion.

• Kilby, Jay. 2009. Eco Fashion Fabrics. Copper string Journals.

An insightful article on eco-friendly and non-eco-friendly fibres.

• Lee, Matilda.2007. Eco Chick: The Savvy Shoppers Guide To Ethical Fashion. Octopus

This may be a good book to read up on as it will offer me information on how other people Like the author of this book, feels about eco fashion.

• Pledge, Earth. 2009. Future Fashion White Papers. Earth Pledge

This is a collection of essays by scientists, retailers, farmers, dyers, models, and others in the In the industry, including Diane Von Furtsenburg, Julie Gilhart and Shalom Harlow. This will Be great research data for me as it holds thoughts and opinions of everyone related to the Fashion industry.

• Polder, Kim. Website: http://www.ecofashionworld.com

This is an eco-fashion website that is a great resource to all the designers, brands and Stores involved in the eco-fashion world. The website is constantly collecting information And gathering photographs From all over the world. This is to create an exciting insight Into the amazing possibilities for “green dressing”.

• Shi, Amanda. 2008 Website. http://www.avitastyle.com

This is a website formed in aid of AVITA CO-OP which is located in Hollywood, California. It is a shop/website for sustainable fashion and uses only re-cycled materials such as re-cycled sweet wrappers, Coca-Cola bottles, re-cycled rubber etc. Everything is one of a kind. Below is a link to see this shop on you tube;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuOrCR4HkiE
This is exactly the information I need to gather for my dissertation, sustainable fashion in action. It shows how successful eco fashion can be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_1j5vDEZDo