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Anthropocene outfitters: clothing that works with our climate, not against it

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Anthropocene outfitters: clothing that works with our climate, not against it

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ANTHROPOCENE OUTFITTERS:

CLOTHING THAT WORKS WITH OUR CLIMATE, NOT AGAINST IT

by

Samantha Dewey

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSKI SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
DESIGN

May 2021

Copyright 2021 Samantha Dewey
ii

To Mom, Dad and Julia,
who somehow managed to motivate my studies,
even when they had no idea what I was researching.
.

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to show my appreciation to my group of mentors, Alexis Zoto, Ruth
Weisberg, and Osvaldo Trujillo for their supportive and invaluable feedback on my project
endeavors, and patience and wisdom in guiding me through this thesis. I would also like to thank
other members of the Roski Master of Design faculty for their outstanding teaching and
mentorship over the past two years: Laurie Buruss, April Greiman, and Brian O’Connell. I am
grateful to our director, Ewa Wojciak, for her help in guiding me toward the theme of this paper,
and to Dean Haven Lin-Kirk for navigating the entire Roski community with endurance through
unforeseen challenges from the 2020 pandemic.

I would like to thank Leigh Talmo, director of horticulture at the Arlington Gardens and
the LA Arboretum. Leigh’s wisdom on Los Angeles native plants was extremely helpful in
completing my projects, and I am so appreciative for the time that she gave to help me to harvest
dye materials.

Another indispensable resource for this paper is Emily Endo at the High Desert Institute
in Yucca Valley, CA. Emily’s expertise in natural dyes made the complex and detail-oriented
process non-imposing and fun to learn. I’m so grateful to Emily for answering my countless
questions about Los Angeles native dye plants.

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication…………………………………………………………………………….……...……ii

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………….…...iii

List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………….….v

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...vi

Chapter 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….1
1.1 Train of Thought…………………………………………………………………....…1
1.2 A Shift in Discussing Climate Change………………………………….…………….3
1.3 Roadmap…………………………....…………………………………………………6

Chapter 2 The Object - Human Relationship………………...……………………………………7

Chapter 3 Enclothed/ “Un”clothed Cognition……………………………………….……………9
3.1 An Industry Example: Incendia Capsule………...……………………………….….12
3.2 Paper Dress……………………………………………………………………….….13

Chapter 4 Material Intelligence………………...………………………………………………..16
4.1 Design Localism…………………………....………………………………………..21
4.2 Fashion Localism: Explorations in Place Based Clothing Design…………………..25
4.3 LADYE……………………………………………………………………………....29

Chapter 5 Heirloomship………………………………………………………………………….36
5.1 Materiality and Age………………………………………………………………….39
5.2 Playsuit……………………………………………………………………………….40

Chapter 6 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….44

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..45

v
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Roadmap Table……………………………………………………………………….….7

Figure 2 Arcteryx Incendia Capsule……………………………………………………….…….12

Figure 3 Paper Dress Editorial…………………………………………………………………...14

Figure 4 Paper Dress in Motion………………………………………………………………….15

Figure 5 Werkraum Bregenzerwald…………….…...…………….……………………………..23

Figure 6 Sitterwerk………………………….….……….………………………….……………24

Figure 7 Dyeing in Yucca Valley…………...……………………………………………...……27

Figure 8 Rabbitbrush Dyed Set & Rabbitbrush Bush……………………………….…………...27

Figure 9 Desert Fabric Swatches………………………………………………………………...28

Figure 10 Coyote Brush, Red Dock, Rabbitbrush, and Cochineal Dyed Sets……………...……28

Figure 11 Ladye Responsible Harvesting & Master Dye Recipe Pages.……………………...…31

Figure 12 Ladye Color Swatches………………………………………………………………...32

Figure 13 Ladye California Native Plant Color Swatches……………………………………….32

Figure 14 Ladye Cochineal and California Sagebrush Pages……………………………………33

Figure 15 Red Cabbage pH Scale………………………………………………………………..35

Figure 16 Purple Shirt dyed with pH neutral water.……...……………….………………...…...35

Figure 17 Blue shirt dyed with LA tap water.……...……………….…………………………...35

Figure 18 Tie-dye effect from changes in pH.……...……………….…………………………...35

Figure 19 Playsuit Editorial………………………………...….………………………………...42

Figure 20 Playsuit Documented Over Three Months of Use……………………….……………...43

vi
ABSTRACT

This thesis is an exploration of the opportunities within fashion design to connect identity with
the environment and to promote responsibility and sustainability. Ideas of “self” are influenced
by the objects people live with, especially the clothing that they wear. Fashion objects influence
how people think and act. By using characteristics of the environment to design clothing, people
form connections to places and landscapes, directly shaping their cognition and the identities
associated with land, space, and the environment. Reminding and reinforcing the relationships
that exist between people and land, will make all of us more aware of and comfortable with the
need to actively engage with environmental policy, and to make climate change research and
action a top priority as individuals and to the governmental scale.

Key words: Sustainable fashion, visual culture, objecthood, object-oriented ontology, enclothed
cognition, unclothed cognition, material intelligence, natural dye, heirloomship
1
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Train of Thought

“Creativity is nothing but the way to solve new problems.”
1

This thesis was greatly influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic and the new reality that I,
along with the rest of my cohort of design students, had to face. The year 2020 brought
unforeseen challenges to communities across the globe. The Coronavirus has resulted in mass
illness, social isolation, and economic collapse. Faults in our social, political, and economic
systems are revealed during times of adversity. As a society, we now have an opportunity to
examine these faults to implement change for a better future. The course of my research and the
plans for my creative projects were initially greatly disrupted, but eventually adapted to better
reflect and respond to the new reality - a life in quarantine: a lack of space, and a halt in
consumption.
People form deep emotional connections to their environments, neighborhoods, and
places that represent “home.” My MFA thesis project explores the links between fashion design,
identity, place attachment and subsequently environmental responsibility. Attachments to place,
individual and shared, root people in their community or region, and inform an understanding of
who they are and where they come from. Also rooted in identity, fashion design is a tool to
outwardly express an individual, community, or regional identity. Clothing grants people access
to life, adventure, activity and movement, things that have come to a standstill because of
quarantine, affirming the significance of this project.

1
Diana Santos, Product Strategist and Manager at Intelia
2
Covid-19 restrictions have brought greater meaning to the importance of time spent
outdoors, an activity that, pre-pandemic, was an ordinary occurrence, not a pre-planned luxury
with calculated risk. My thesis is in large part inspired by my personal connections to
environments and places. My cherished walks around my neighborhood have affirmed my
emotional connections and attachments. Without distraction from the endless dings and pings of
the digital world, a simple unplugged walk presents the opportunity to live in the moment, re-set,
and re-connect.
Covid-19 has made an interesting impact on the outdoor fashion industry and our
relationship to nature. It’s obvious that many are turning to the outdoors as their outlet. Sales of
bikes, running shoes, athletic wear, and other outdoor related gear has surged. Many that have
never run a day in their life now have regular jogging routes around their neighborhood or
frequently visit parks while abiding by social distance regulations. Quarantine has also had
benefits from a climate change perspective. Air quality in major cities, including Los Angeles,
has improved dramatically as many are staying at home and off the freeway. Right now, is an
extremely interesting time in which we are able to catch a glimpse of a healthier, cleaner
ecosystem, which will hopefully bring about a shift in how people think about their relationship
to the environment. My designs expand upon how we understand and honor our environment
through the clothing that we produce from the environment.
The 2020 presidential election has also been fuel for creative thinking on my thesis
research. The course of the election has clarified the lack of political attention to the environment
and climate change in the United States. The presidential debates, which presented conflicting
perspectives and falsified claims on the effects and reasons behind climate change, proves the
lack of environmental education at the highest levels of power in our country. Millions of people
3
look to our top political figures for answers and opinions on the state of our world. False
information about the health and safety of our planet, which is proven and collectively agreed
upon by environmental science experts to be rapidly changing, will have detrimental outcomes in
the future. As I will discuss further, this environmental ignorance needs to change on a collective
global scale. I see an opportunity to affect the trajectory of the changing climate through fashion
design.
1.2 A Shift in Discussing Climate Change

“Nature is one of the most complex words in the English language.”
2

“Nature” as a concept has been used in literature, fine art, and the physical and social
sciences, to describe the essential character or quality of something as being “pure,” “pristine,”
or “untouched.” Anything manipulated or synthesized by the human hand is not considered to be
natural. The word “nature” stands in opposition to the word “human,” each defining the other
through their binary relationship. However, nature as a binary concept is limited because humans
are not separate from the natural world, we are a part of it. This false dichotomy between human
and nature that ignores the influence of human activity on the natural world characterizes the
destructive attitude that civilization has had on the environment over the past century.
Environmentalists have developed the emerging concept of the Anthropocene: an unofficial unit
of geologic time that describes the influence of industrial society and ecosystems starting in the
early 20th century. The Anthropocene is a catalyst for discussions on how best to respond to the
environmental concerns that humanity faces.
3

2
Brooks et al., “Fashion, Sustainability, and the Anthropocene.”
3
Ibid.
4
It is undeniable that our ecosystems and climate are changing at an alarming rate. Human
life, our global trade and transportation, our culture of consumption, has brought on a new
geological epoch. “The chemistry of the very atmosphere in which life is encompassed has been
reformulated by human hands, demonstrating that there is no natural world outside of social
influence.”
4
The atmosphere is accumulating dangerously large amounts of carbon and sulfur as
a result of industrial pollution and exhaust from around the globe. As a result, oceans are
acidifying, drinkable water is running out, and topsoil needed for agriculture is becoming barren.
The environment is fundamentally changing at a rapid rate because of human actions. These
actions are a result of an economic model that has been established over the past two centuries
which relies on boundless expansion and the use of infinite natural resources to prosper. The
problem is that infinite natural resources do not exist. In fact, they are running out. “What the
climate needs to avoid collapse is a contraction in humanity’s use of resources; what our
economic model demands to avoid collapse is unfettered expansion. Only one of these sets of
rules can be changed, and it's not the laws of nature.”
5
In other words, the economy is at odds
with the planet, and if the planet loses this war, so will human existence as we know it. The
climate change discussion is intense and difficult to engage in, however there are potential
solutions.
In order to slow and reverse the effects of human activity on the planet, we have to
completely change everything. “For us high consumers, it involves changing how we live, how
our economies function, even the stories we tell about our place on earth.”
6
Breaking down and
reconstructing the economy and systems of value will be no easy feat. But by doing so, societies

4
Brooks et al., “Fashion, Sustainability, and the Anthropocene.”
5
Klein, This Changes Everything.
6
Ibid.
5
will greatly improve by becoming sustainable, safer, and fairer in all kinds of ways not limited to
environmental effects like extreme weather. “It is a vision in which we collectively use the crisis
to leap somewhere that seems, frankly, better than where we are right now.”
7

In such a rare moment in history that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused, global supply
chains and transportation networks are temporarily out of service. Renowned trend forecaster Li
Edelkoort explains: “We are massively entering a quarantine of consumption … The outbreak
will force us into slowing down the pace, refusing to take planes, working from our homes,
entertaining only amongst close friends or family, learning to become self-sufficient and mindful
… Every new day we question each system we have known since birth and are obliged to
consider their possible demise.”
8
This moment of reflection that quarantine has granted, along
with the rapidly disintegrating state of our environment, should be utilized as a call to action for
humanity globally. It should be a catalyst for our societies, systems of wealth, and values to
evolve. By achieving a collective goal of healing our ecosystems and habitats, we will
simultaneously improve the quality of our own lives and the lives of future generations of
people.
So where do we start? To many, climate change is understood to be a crisis beyond
ourselves, too large an issue to comprehend. People tend to think inwardly first and foremost,
about how a situation, object, person, might affect them and not the larger community. So, there
is power in discussing identity, of which art and design are an inherent part. We need to shift the
climate change discussion to be an emotional, personal narrative issue that every single person is
affected by. Here is where there is an opportunity for design to influence environmental action.

7
Klein, This Changes Everything.
8
“Coronavirus Offers ‘a Blank Page for a New Beginning’ Says Li Edelkoort.”
6
My thesis outlines research on how designers can use objects of fashion design to connect
identity, human emotion, experience, and memory to the environment and landscape.
1. 3 Road Map
This thesis is organized as follows: It will cover theoretical background and discussion,
which will explicate practical research and design project case studies. The theoretical
framework will cover Object-oriented Ontology which examines the object-human relationship,
and Enclothed/ Unclothed Cognition which studies the effect that clothing has on conceptions of
identity. These theoretical analyses provide backing for my practical research on Material
Intelligence, a study of manufacturing objects in the 21st century, and finally “Heirloomship” a
study of the objects we keep.
Roadmap Table

7
CHAPTER 2 THE OBJECT - HUMAN RELATIONSHIP

“You are what you wear.”
9

To talk about identity through design, we must address “objecthood” and its effect on our
understanding of ourselves. Humans use objects to experience the world around them and make
sense of it. Our understanding of physical existence is informed by the technologies, systems of
communication, and objects that we come into contact with. Object-oriented Ontology is a 21st
century field of study that questions the relationships, approaches, and definitions between
humans and material objects. “Objects - sacred and profane - define the physical world and the
ways in which humans navigate through it. They give matter and shape to everyday, and can
signify power, prestige, and agency.”
10
Objects play an active role in the formulation of the
stories of our lives. This is done in many ways, such as through decoration and adornment:
symbolic importance, utensils and tools: functionality of the human body, family heirlooms:
narratives of shared identity, and countless other examples. “Throughout history societies have
discovered and developed materials, made tools and artifacts from them and, in doing so,
constructed themselves in the process.”
11
Designers and makers are tasked with the important job
of creating the material objects that help to shape perceptions of the “self.”
In the most basic sense, objects are what define the “liminality between human and non-
human.”
12
The object - human binary relationship informs each other and defines each other. The
definition of “object” as provided by the Oxford American Dictionary: “a material thing that can
be seen and/or touched” is in opposition to the definition of “human:” “People as opposed to God

9
Beach, “You Are What You Wear (Published 1979).”
10
Winton, “The Vibrant Object.”
11
Solanki, Why Materials Matter; Responsible Design for a Better World.
12
Boscagli, “Stuff Theory.”
8
or animals or machines.”
13
In Bill Brown’s “Thing Theory,” there is a term called “thingness”
that lies in the ambiguous realm between an object and a subject. This ambiguous grey area
between object - subject, designated by the “-”, opens up broad areas of inquiry in design
studies.
14
Between object - self, material - human, this grey area exists. “We often use objects,
and collections of objects as a means of constructing self. That is to say that an object is not self,
or human, but it does help to define what self is and add to the narrative of self. What is
interesting is that throughout history, object and self have increasingly become more entwined
and complex.”
15
This entangled blurry grey area between the object - self relationship exists
especially within clothing objects and fashion design.
Clothing is not a part of the body, but it temporarily is sustained and animated by the
moving body. The body itself is essentially an object and an agent, simultaneously creating and
actively shaping its environment. Every other thing is in relation to us and our body’s
experience. The body and supplemental clothing are outward visual representations of self and
personality. This union of clothing and body makes up the visual perception of “self.” Fashion
designers work with themes associated with “self” such as body politics, gender stereotypes,
personality, and symbols of socio-economic class, which we imbue into material clothing.
“Objects have meanings for the people who produce and own, purchase and gift, use and
consume them. Material culture is therefore not merely the study of “things” but the meanings
these things hold for people.”
16
Because clothing objects interact with bodies, they shape
meaning about identity. As a designer who fabricates objects, I study the object - human

13
Oxford dictionary
14
Brown, “Thing Theory.”
15
Baudrillard, “The System of Objects”
16
Winton, “The Vibrant Object.”
9
relationship to establish personal connection to the causes of climate change and environmental
conservation.
CHAPTER 3 ENCLOTHED / “UN”CLOTHED COGNITION
“Although the saying goes that clothes do not make the man,” the researchers concluded,
“our results suggest they do hold a strange power over their wearers.”
17

Clothing affects how people think and act in areas like attention, function, abstract
thinking, and in symbolic communication. Enclothed cognition, a term coined by researchers
Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky, is the effect of clothing on cognitive processes. For example,
wearing a mask during a pandemic can protect you from a disease, however many people choose
to not wear a mask because doing so makes them feel invincible, when they are actually more
vulnerable. The study comes from a larger growing scientific field called Embodied Cognition,
which measures how our thoughts are affected by the position and state of our bodies. “For
example, cleaning their hands makes people feel morally purer.”
18
It appears that human thought
is not only affected by our physical experiences, but also by the material on our bodies. Galinsky
states that “clothing affects how other people perceive us as well as how we think about
ourselves.”
19
Their study of enclothed cognition looks more deeply into the question: Can
clothing actually alter one’s psychological processes and consequentially, how one approaches
behavior and interacts with the world around them?
The researchers Adam and Galinsky answered this question by conducting an experiment
that tested how a white coat’s symbolic meaning affected the attention processes of the people

17
Blakeslee, “Mind Games.”
18
Adam and Galinsky, “Enclothed Cognition.”
19
Ibid.
10
wearing it. Students wearing the white coat underwent various attention tests. Those that were
told that the coat was a doctor’s lab coat performed at a higher level than those who were told
that the coat belonged to a painter. This experiment proves that “clothes can have profound and
systematic psychological and behavioral consequences for their wearers.”
20
Therefore, it is the
symbolic meaning that is given to garments which when worn directs our ability to think more
sharply, creatively, playfully, or wherever the attached meaning behind the clothing may be. In
terms of my own projects outlined later in this thesis, the effect that my clothing designs have on
people is a personal connection, awareness, and responsibility to the environment.
When researching enclothed cognition, I recognized that the studies were oriented
towards the effect of clothing objects on the brain, which then influenced the actions and
behaviors of the study’s participants. My critique of Adam and Galinsky’s “Enclothed
Cognition” study is that it is just as important, if not more so, to recognize the effect of
internalized understandings and preconceived notions of individual bodies which exist culturally
between gender, sexual-orientation, economic class, race and ethnicity, when observing human
behavior.
21
Just as the body provides a platform for clothing physically, body stereotypes exist
simultaneously underneath the symbolic meanings of clothing. Both body stereotypes and the
symbolic meanings of clothing influence the mentality of the individual. I’d like to add a term
I’ve coined “Unclothed Cognition” as a subset to the study of enclothed cognition, and as a play
on what is left in the picture of identity when the clothing is taken away. This term reinforces the
importance of not only focus on the role of garments, but also an investigation of individual
experience that may inform perceptions of self, behavior, body type, and the capabilities of one’s
body and mind.

20
Adam and Galinsky, “Enclothed Cognition.”
21
Blaszczyk, “Rethinking Fashion.”
11
The concept of unclothed cognition is especially related to the outdoor fashion industry
and clothing that is related to notions of environment and movement. Commonly seen in the
outdoor industry’s marketing and their consumer demographic, there are existing biases of who
an “adventurer” or “recreationalist” is and what they look like. This person, who enjoys moving
around outdoors, and whose body has the “ability” to do so, is typically male, Caucasian, without
disabilities, and belonging to an upper socioeconomic class. If an experiment on unclothed
cognition were to be carried out, I would predict that: If a woman was given a climbing harness
to wear and then presented the opportunity to climb a wall, she would feel more vulnerable than
a man given the same harness would, even if they both possess the physical ability and previous
experience to climb the same wall. This prediction is based on the assumptions of lower levels of
strength, endurance, and ability to exercise for a woman's body when compared to a man’s body,
that exist in 21st century American culture. These assumptions are culturally based, not fact
based, yet they still are reinforced by outdoor clothing brands as well as the rest of the fashion
industry and thus influence the judgements of individuals that certain objects or designs are only
meant for specific people, body types, or genders. Along with my objective of encouraging
awareness of environmental responsibility within fashion design, it is also my goal to promote a
sense of agency and functionality specifically for women’s bodies. As you’ll see in my projects,
this is why I’ve decided to focus on women’s clothing.

12
3.1 An Industry Example: Incendia Capsule
Arcteryx Incendia Capsule
22

Unclothed cognition with enclothed cognition is perfectly illustrated by a mentality that
lingers in the outdoor apparel industry as well as throughout many other areas of fashion design
called “pink it and shrink it” when designing women’s clothing. The idea is that the initial point
for designing an object starts with the male body. Once an object that caters to a man is
perfected, it can then be adapted to fit the body, lifestyle, and needs of a woman, typically by
simply changing the color and making the object smaller.
23
Thankfully, designers are speaking
up about their frustrations with this approach toward designing women’s clothing. Two women
designers, Sarah Wallace and Edita Hadravska, at the brand Arcteryx, an outdoor adventure
company based in British Columbia, became sick of it and took action into their own hands and

22
“F20 Incendia Capsule Collection.”
23
Richardson, “What Women Want.”
13
designs. They designed the “Incendia One-Piece” for women skiers and snowboarders for the
recent 2020 Winter season, and started their design process with a simple question that is not
considered enough: “What do women want?”
24

The designers identified that there is a clear emotional component that is a part of the
equation to make someone feel good in their clothes. “We use clothing and style to express who
we are—how we identify ourselves, who we identify with, the tribe we’re part of, who we hope
to be.” They found that it is within reason to incorporate the emotionality of feeling good and
looking good into their designs without compromising technical performance. This is because for
Hadravska, Wallace, and many other women, “feeling good is a performance factor.”
25
Clothing
that heightens athletic performance doesn’t necessarily have to be overtly technical in style and
look. An article of clothing can make a woman feel stylish, attractive, and comfortable in her
own skin while also maintaining functionality, and it doesn’t have to be “purple, pink or nipped
in at the waist.” Their Incendia capsule is proof of this concept. The durable, functional, and
streamlined design of the one-piece, as well as its emotional ability to make women feel good by
looking her best, enhances a woman’s ability to navigate the terrain of the mountain, or as
Hadravska puts it, “to send.”
3.2 Paper Dress
This project, completed in the Spring of 2020 prior to the pandemic, demonstrates my
initial interest in the influence of clothing on gendered mindsets, titled: Paper Dress: An
Introspective and Challenge of Femininity.

24
Richardson, “What Women Want.”
25
Ibid.
14
Paper Dress Editorial

My understanding of the ideal female appearance begins with the princess movies that I
watched religiously as a young girl. Alone in my mirror echoing soft gestures and expressions
that the cartoons displayed, I dreamed of gowns, balls and extravagance. If I was good enough, I
was kind enough, someday I would access the lifestyle of the “ultra-feminine.” I vividly
remember the first time that I tried on a gown. The bodice cramped my stomach, the heels
blistered my feet and the long skirt made it impossible to actually move around and dance. I felt
uncomfortable in my skin and disheartened that my idea of beauty physically caused me pain.
The idealized look that is culturally associated with being a woman is problematic and is created
to restrict a woman’s body.
The paper dresses are inspired by late 18th century British evening dresses with gigot
sleeves, a typical ensemble for ladies of the royal court. The bigger the sleeves, the less likely a
15
woman was able to properly use her body, and instead she would sit immobile. By constructing
the paper dresses, I revisited the beauty ideals of my younger self. My choice to use paper to
materialize this project was to strip the designs from the precious fabrics and embellishments
typically used to create them. By assembling the dresses myself, I see how utterly ridiculous the
forms are. The final product illustrates the obstructive flaws in the forms when put on a body.
Paper Dress in Motion

Elegance and femininity aren’t personality types or characteristics of a person, they are
roles that we play, and they should not define us. “Being a woman” holds a different meaning to
every individual that identifies as one.

SUMMARY
The study of Enclothed/ “Un”clothed cognition determines that clothing objects have an
effect on people’s psychological processes and prescribe mindsets which lead to actions. But
16
what is the means by which designers can tap into the language of objects, more specifically
fashion objects, to construct narratives of identity? In the following sections I’ll examine the
lifecycle of fashion products to identify aspects of a product that can be designed to
communicate messages of sustainability and conservation. By doing so with fashion objects,
(which are related to the body and thus inherently have an association with identity) these
concepts of environmental protection become a part of one’s identity. I’ve broken the product’s
lifecycle down into two portions to examine this: First, sourcing of natural raw materials and
manufacturing, and second, once the product is in the hands of the consumer, care for the
product to avoid disposal. The following sections outline my design case studies on how to use
materials to tell the story of objects and the importance of designing things to last.
CHAPTER 4 MATERIAL INTELLIGENCE

The key to understanding how to create objects that prescribe mindsets for people, is by
looking at the materiality of the object. Object-oriented Ontology maintains that objects and
humans exist in relation to each other. The field of study makes the distinction that human
existence should not be privileged over the existence of nonhuman objects. This is easier said
than done because humans approach objects and other people through their individual
consciousness.
26
People must attain an appreciation of the material world: How objects can
conjure emotional responses, and how the resources expended to manufacture materials and
objects can affect the state of the environment. Objects have a language, and communicate with
us through tactile, material responses. Humans interact with material and that’s how we
understand, respond to, and have relationships with objects. “Material and cultural studies also

26
Harman, “Tool-Being.”
17
teach us that objects have the ability to speak- their language is material and expresses systems
of value and remembrance that extend far beyond mere economic exchange values.”
27

The material physicality of an object is supplemented by the “story” of the object, which
recalls imagination and memory, and adds value to the object. “Objects appear to us both in their
material form and in textual records where our imagination conjures their form.”
28
The context in
which an object is situated institutes a system of thinking of how an object is understood. It’s
meaning is constantly being reshaped. The value of an object is always contingent on the cultural
context, space, and time that an object falls within. The combination of the materiality of an
object, along with the narrative surrounding an object created from context, imagination,
experience and memory, is what establishes its value and how an object can prescribe a mindset.
It is up to the designer to communicate the story of the object via the materiality of the object. To
study the materiality of an object one must engage in an education of “material intelligence.”
Part of the issue of the inability to successfully create sustainable designs is the
ubiquitous ignorance of the material fabric that makes up our modes of communication,
environments, and clothing. “These days, sad to say, most of us live in a state of general
ignorance about our physical surroundings”
29
However, this problem isn't the fault of individual
consumers, it’s a complex issue that has evolved over time due to advances in technology and
the sophistication of manufacturing and commerce. These days, many of the decisions behind
making goods come from algorithmic calculations that ensure the utmost efficiency of extended
production chains.
30
The algorithms, which are informed by cascades of more algorithms, deepen
the efficiency and knowledge behind production but also narrow the scope in which individuals

27
Winton, “The Vibrant Object.”
28
Ibid.
29
Adamson, “The Case for Material Intelligence.”
30
Ibid.
18
can understand the entirety of the complex system behind creating something as seemingly
simple as a cotton t-shirt.
The other major issue at hand is that these algorithms, that warrant the highest possible
efficiency in producing goods, typically don’t factor any sort of cap in the sourcing of natural
resources or effect on the state of the environment into the equation. And of course, clothing is
produced through natural resources, and those resources are being depleted at an alarming rate.
Without anyone who is able to fully understand the consequences of our systems of production,
let alone the system itself, we are left in a state of confusion about who or what is responsible for
provoking climate change and what the next steps are to attempt to solve the problem. “This
gives rise to a range of ethical dilemmas, chief among them our collective inability to address
climate change, which is due in part to our psychological separation from the processes of
extraction, manufacturing, and disposal.”
31
As consumers, the places and modes in which our
goods come from are curated, shiny, brightly-lit stores, malls, or even more outrageously,
through a digital screen with a collection of images showing a product that in no way allows us
to feel, experience, or interact with the material physicality of what we buy. The western world
has no concept of the places, working conditions, and people behind a clothing item found in a
store. In her Antifashion manifesto in which she pronounces that “Fashion is Obsolete,” trend
forecaster Li Edelkoort writes that the drive to create an ever-cheaper manufacturing supply
chain has led to a “rapid and sordid restructuring process, which has seen production leave the
western world to profit from and exploit low-wage countries”
32
Because of these enigmatic
consumer environments, it is no wonder that consumers have little regard for the people and
setting in which the products are assembled, the materials that products are actually made from,

31
Adamson, “The Case for Material Intelligence.”
32
Fairs, “Li Edelkoort Publishes Manifesto on Why ‘Fashion Is Obsolete.’”
19
how those materials are sourced, and the long-lasting effects on the environment from those
extractions.
So, what is the antidote for this crisis of accountability? Glen Adamson in his text The
Case for Material Intelligence puts it eloquently: “I have a modest proposal: let’s all try to
cultivate our material intelligence. By this, I mean literacy in the physical world: the ability to
understand it, just as someone who reads English can understand this sentence. If we can anchor
ourselves in this way, attending closely to the objects near to us, we might just be able to regain
our bearings, despite the complicated flux of 21st century life.”
33
We need to practice our
fluency in the language of the material, looking at how objects are made when materials come
together, the processes behind those synthesizes, and the value and employment of those objects
in our world. The way to “cultivate material intelligence” is by observing the making, or better
yet actually making goods ourselves with our own hands. This is not to suggest that all objects
should be created by the human hand, but it is important for people not only limited to artists,
designers, and makers, to practice the tactile act of making.
In an industrial society where people are consuming and polluting at an alarming rate,
many designers and makers have explored solutions to our issue of consumption with materials
at the core of their response. The beauty of material intelligence is that studies of materiality can
bring together experts across all disciplines: designers, fine artists, scientists, material culture
professionals, environmentalists, farmers, or anthropologists. Approaching materials with an
open mind can lead us to finding new ways of using substances that are disregarded or
commonplace. “It is possible to turn established industrial systems upside down, working with
what we already have access to in plentiful quantities.”
34
Investigation into substances that are

33
Adamson, “The Case for Material Intelligence.”
34
Solanki, Why Materials Matter; Responsible Design for a Better World.
20
mundane and often overlooked, potential new materials synthesized by chemical processes, will
lead us to more solutions to counteract the disappearance of natural resources. Materials and
matter can act as a catalyst to bridge different skill sets to better tackle the complex problems of
the 21st century.
As an artist/ designer, the practice of making has always been second nature for me. I’m
drawn to objects that show imprints of the human hand. I can understand where materials come
from, how they are worked or adapted to create an object, and also how to mend an object to
continue its life cycle after damage has been done. Many people underestimate the importance of
tactile knowledge. “It is easy enough to caricature artisans as instinctive and lab technicians as
analytical. But in fact, craft makers possess extraordinary reserves of technical knowledge, while
experimental scientists often talk about the importance of having ‘good hands.’”
35
Tactile skills,
those which require using hands to create objects, have decreased in regard in our postindustrial
age, but still remain essential to understanding the make-up of our environment and exist in
occupations in and outside of the creative field. From an environmentally responsible standpoint,
it is important for consumers to know about the entirety of the process that goes into making
their products. This way, people can make better, more responsible choices towards supporting
brands, companies, shops, and designers that create objects without damaging the planet.
Yvon Chouinard, the founder of the outdoor fashion brand “Patagonia,” remarks that one
of the reasons behind the success of his business is material intelligence and knowing the whole
system behind his products, not just one step of the process. “Our designers and production
people now have to begin their work with a bale of raw cotton and follow it all the way through
the process of becoming a finished garment. They have to learn how to make clothing.”
36

35
Solanki, Why Materials Matter; Responsible Design for a Better World.
36
Chouinard, Let My People Go Surfing.
21
Chouinard believes that the “simplicity” that results from replacing complex technology with the
knowledge of making leads to mastery of any craft. “Should we have to, or choose to, live more
simply, it won’t be an impoverished life but one richer in all the ways that really matter.”
37
And
Edelkoort agrees: “The consumers of today and tomorrow are going to choose for themselves,
creating and designing their own wardrobes.”
38
So, if a means to get people informed about
material language is by actually “making” and experiencing tactile processes, the question is:
How do we get people to work with their hands?

4.1 Design Localism
Li Edelkoort expects that the Coronavirus pandemic will create lasting changes in the
fashion industry. She hopes that: “If we are wise – which sadly we now know we aren't – we will
start up again with new rules and regulations … introducing cottage industries that would
flourish and grow into an arts-and-crafts century, where manual labor is cherished above
everything else.”
39
The “arts-and-crafts century” that she speaks of, in which there is more
recognition of manual labor, also introduces another component to an increase of material
intelligence in our societies. That communities should think locally “allowing countries to get
back to their knowhow and specific qualities”
40
for their products and goods, and regard for local
artisans and makers. Creating local creative industries that are reflective of the culture of specific
regions will create jobs and celebrate cultural diversity. Putting an end to the transportation of
goods around the globe that uses excessive amounts of carbon non-renewable energy will
establish economies with much lighter environmental footprints.

37
Chouinard, Let My People Go Surfing.
38
Fairs, “Li Edelkoort Publishes Manifesto on Why ‘Fashion Is Obsolete.’”
39
Fairs, “Coronavirus Offers ‘a Blank Page for a New Beginning’ Says Li Edelkoort.”
40
Ibid.
22
“Genius loci” is a concept in the fields of architecture and urban planning that equates to
the “authentic spirit of a place.” The concept describes the deeply rooted essence or identity of
regions. It connects generations of people and shapes the identities of individuals that live in the
region. “To many people’s deep regret, almost everywhere seems to be getting more and more
like everywhere else.”
41
As a consequence of 21st century globalization, local traditions and the
value of local resources has been forgotten. Taste, locations, identities have become
indistinguishable and homogeneous. However, all places and things have a history and hold
individual stories and meanings. All places have the potential of creating identity and a sense of
place.
Critical regionalism is a concept that offers design solutions in between local and global
production. It is a model of production that is both economic and social, that could bring
economic viability for production on an individual and collective level and a bright future for a
Post-Industrial world. An artisan community located in a mountainous region in Austria called
Vorarlberg, produces goods within the bounds of critical regionalism. “Vorarlberg situates its
“critical regionalism” in the nuanced entanglements of environmental sustainability and high-end
design culture, artisanal values and service-oriented industry, intimate alliances and a claim to
global relevance.”
42
The community established the “Werkraum Bregenzerwald” in 1999 which
operates as a craft and trade association in which craftsmen, designers, and artists of all different
guilds are united under one building, encouraged to exchange ideas across different disciplines.
The small, local enterprises collectively work together, display and sell goods out of the building
bringing high-quality products to a contemporary market.

41
Butina Watson, “Construction of Local and Regional Identity.”
42
Banai, et al, “Critical Regionalism: Between Local and Global.”
23
Werkraum Bregenzerwald
43

A train ride away from Vorarlberg is the Sitterwerk Foundation, an art library and
material archive dedicated to research and development of material goods. The foundation is
housed in a repurposed industrial textile plant. Researchers and guest artists are invited to the
library to explore the comprehensive catalogue of natural and man-made materials. The library
operates as an ephemeral structure with a nomadic distribution system that allows for books to be
located anywhere in the library, unrestricted from systems of classification. The books are
mapped out at the end of each day using a high frequency program which informs people of the
location of the books. This mobile organizational system takes away rigid understandings of
knowledge and classification systems typically found in research libraries and offers artists a
more intuitive way of working. Paired with the library is a material archive with a collection of
substances that can be scanned and transferred into digital books to form both tactile and virtual

43
Banai, et al. “Critical Regionalism: Between Local and Global.”
24
information on the materials themselves. The result of the Sitterwerk is the ability to “craft one-
of-a-kind objects for a high-end market with an attention to detail and finish that globalized scale
does not permit.”
44
What sets the Sitterwerk apart is the quality of research, and the human scale
of operation that permits individuals to retain agency in their personal research and projects. The
Werkraum and Sitterwerk are two contemporary examples of a resurgence of value on localized
and individual scales of production while maintaining optimized technology and economic
viability to produce high quality objects.
Sitterwerk
45

Local and regional identity can be extended to fashion and garment design. Personal
identity can be expressed through objects that reflect the landscapes in which we live. My work
addresses our emotional attachments to place, and how they can inform and influence our

44
Banai, et al. “Critical Regionalism: Between Local and Global.”
45
Ibid.
25
connection with everyday objects like clothing. Like heirlooms, what I make is meant to preserve
narratives of identity, values that can be shared across generations. The following projects
demonstrate how regionally grown plants can be used to dye clothing, producing colors that
reflect the local community.
4.2 Fashion Localism: Explorations in Place-Based Clothing Design
“California is one of the most geographically and ecologically diverse regions in the
world, with landscapes ranging from sandy beaches to coastal redwood rainforests to snow-
covered alpine mountains to dry desert valleys.”
46
Not only is the terrain visually diverse, but
also the flora that grows from the California earth produces an extensive amount of different
colors and dyes. Southern California is rich with dye plants. Yucca Valley, home of the Serrano,
Chemehuevi, and Cahuilla Native American tribes, has a deep history in harvesting plants for
dyeing purposes. It is critical to mention that the art of naturally dyeing with the American plants
that I use in my projects, is an expertise originating from Native American culture and creative
genius. The practice of natural dyeing has had a resurgence of interest in the past few decades.
The knowledge of the process should not be appropriated for economic gain for mass textile
production on an industrial scale, but should be appreciated and practiced on a local, individual
scale as is the custom for the practice. Plants that are used as dyes, such as white sage, are often
sacred to regional communities and should be used sparingly. Many plants can dwindle if over-
harvested, so collecting dye plants should be done sustainably and responsibly. That being said,
there is an abundance of materials available that can be sourced locally, and there is beauty in the

46
Mooney et al. “Ecosystems of California.”
26
diversity of resources and objects that come out of different regions. With the pandemic halting
the ability to travel across borders, a return to local thinking has already begun.
I visited the desert region of Yucca Valley to study the native plants that grow there, the
colors that they produce, and how they reflect their environment. After working with the High
Desert Observatory in Yucca Valley, I dyed organically produced textiles naturally using colors
from the regional minerals. For example, reds and fuchsias are made from cochineal, a parasite
that lives on cactus and displays the colors of the American Southwest desert. By incorporating
visual elements from the desert landscape, the fashion product expresses qualities of place.
Fashion, a visual expression of identity, can help to communicate how we relate to our
environments and the places that we call home.
This project titled, Fashion Localism: Explorations in Place-Based Clothing Design, is
an exploration of localized manufacturing in Yucca Valley. I designed these sets, including the
development of the garment patterns, and sewed them from organically grown cotton fabric
sourced domestically within the United States. I dyed the fabric with plants found in Yucca
Valley, California, including: Red Dock, Rabbitbrush, Sagebrush, and the parasite Cochineal.
The resulting colors of the fabric bear a resemblance to the surrounding desert environment.

27
Dyeing in Yucca Valley

Rabbitbrush Dyed Set & Rabbitbrush Bush

28
Desert Fabric Swatches

Coyote Brush, Red Dock, Rabbitbrush, and Cochineal Dyed Sets

29
4.3 LADYE
My project “Ladye” is adapted from “Fashion Localism” and focuses on dye plants that
are native to the urban environment of Los Angeles. Ladye is a case study of a potential
collection concept that integrates material intelligence into the core of a fashion brand. By
naturally dyeing the clothing, the consumer has a hand in the creation and customization of the
product, making the final product just as important and recognized as its production stage. The
user has a deeper appreciation and forms an emotional attachment to the garment because they
are included in the fabrication of it. This will make the probability of keeping the object much
higher than if the user had just bought the item from a store in its finished form. The model of
the brand and the content of the book is as follows:
1. The clothing objects are first, hand-sewn and constructed and then delivered to the
customer un-dyed.
2. By using the information and color swatches from the Ladye book, the customer then
decides what color they would like their clothing to be. Customers can also use the
information in the book to dye and recycle their own garments. The book gives step by
step instructions and dye recipes for customers to color their fabrics.
3. Ladye includes information on native plant species, where they can be harvested,
responsible harvesting practices, how to grow at-home native gardens, and how to use the
plants to dye with.
Because the dye plants I’ve experimented with are all mostly native to the Los Angeles
area, they will grow easily and enrich the soil in which they are growing. Even with semi-
frequent harvesting, the native plants will repopulate to continue to provide material to dye
fabrics with. “As a general rule, native plants establish themselves with very little additional
30
watering.”
47
Customers are encouraged to use the information to experiment with plants found in
their own backyard, and to grow their own native plant garden. The brand is created for the LA
County community and exhibits color from native plants to Los Angeles but can be adapted to fit
any community around the world and can be reflective of the native plants and local colors
palettes of any region.
The project is brought to life by the natural landscape and the plants that arise from the
local regions, and the production of the clothing depends on the natural rhythms of the
environment. “Through a long process of observation and experimentation, Native Americans
honed tools and seasonal tending processes that both mimicked and enhanced the effects of
naturally occurring phenomena. Their material culture closely depended upon and adhered to
natural cycles.”
48
Seasonal patterns and colors reflect the plants and corresponding colors that
exist in specific regions during specific times of the year. By naturally dyeing their clothes with
native plants, users subsequently learn these rhythmic natural patterns and can honor them. Many
environmental issues, especially within the agricultural industry, arise when plants and food
supplies are grown in regions that are not native to the plant species. This is extremely energy
intensive to do and can desolate soil to make it unusable for future growth. By teaching people
through practice how to identify native plant species and the different seasonal patterns in which
they grow, we can subsequently understand the non-native species that can be detrimental to the
quality of soil and potential plant growth. We need to get away from the idea that we always
need specific items at our fingertips all of the time, especially those that are not produced locally.
This consumerist attitude is the core of environmental issues that arise from the lack of
sustainability in the production of goods. By connecting back to the rhythm and seasons that are

47
Burgess, Harvesting Color.
48
Ibid.
31
naturally occurring, our production systems will be more sustainable, and we will be healthier,
and happier.
As well as providing information on how to harvest responsibly when dying, the book
includes information on food waste that can create dyes and vibrant colors. With this
information, users can implement their own circular, sustainable production systems at home
from leftover foods. Because the dye waste is simply plant or food material, water, and non-toxic
minerals, the waste can be added to a compost and repurposed to enrich soil.
By naturally dyeing clothing with plants found in the local landscape, people emotionally
connect to their environment. The project drives people to get out, explore, and re-discover their
local regions for natural resources. It inspires people to tend to their own dye gardens and to
spend an increased amount of time outside, to connect with the environment around them. The
end result offers a unique fashion product, as well as a spiritual and grounding experience. Ladye
provides people the courage to know that they can take the manufacturing of products into their
own hands, with materials that are sourced from their own backyard.
Ladye Responsible Harvesting & Master Dye Recipe Pages

32
Ladye Color Swatches

Ladye California Native Plant Color Swatches

33
Ladye Cochineal and California Sagebrush Pages

The beauty of dye plants is that they provide a spectrum of potential dye colors to
integrate into products. With different post-dye treatments, the colors will adjust to various
shades and tones. All of these treatments are non-toxic and can be disposed of in a standard
drainage system. Vinegar, which alters the pH of the bath making it more acidic, tends to shift
color to a more yellow tone and brighten orange, yellow, and red dyes. Soda Ash, which alters
the pH of the bath making it more basic, tends to shift color to a darker, pinker tone. Using a
solution of vinegar and Iron tends to shift colors to a more muted, dull, darker tone creating
greys, and even blacks. These are the three post-dye treatments that I’ve explored in my research,
but there are so many other treatments to explore, such as Copper which tends to shift colors to a
greener or browner tone.
34
The cleaning, mending, and ageing of dye material which is included in Ladye book is
the perfect segue way into “Heirloomship” the next section of this thesis. When creating items,
we also need to consider their lifecycle and how they will age. By undergoing a mordanting
process which permanently binds the natural dyes to the fabric fibers prior to dyeing, the dyed
fibers maintain their color indefinitely. In the book, I recount other methods of care, such as hand
washing and hang drying fabrics to extend the life of the fabric and the color for the longest
amount of time possible. Depending on specific regions, places will have different water
qualities and potentially non-neutral pH tap water, which is important to consider when dyeing.
Some dye substances such as red cabbage are sensitive to adjustments in pH. In LA for example,
the tap water tends to be slightly basic, meaning that dyes such as red cabbage can change color
when washed with the tap water.
Based on the work of material alchemist Lauren Bowker, I dyed t-shirts and applied the
natural pH indicator color scale from red cabbage to test environmental differences associated
with the water quality within Los Angeles county. Bowker, who founded THE UNSEEN - a
design and chemical innovation studio in London, used red cabbage as a dye so that wearers
could visualize the pollution that exists in their waterways through the color of their clothing.
49

The red cabbage dye creates a pH test for tap water, and simultaneously a creative project with a
wearable product that is custom to the local environment in which it was made. A t-shirt dyed in
tap water with a healthy neutral pH of 7, will maintain a purple red cabbage dye. A t-shirt dyed
using Los Angeles tap water will be slightly basic, with a pH of 8, creates a blue, red cabbage
dye. A t-shirt dyed in acid rain with a pH of 3 or 4 will create a reddish-orange red cabbage dye.
To avoid color alterations from pH sensitive dyes, dyed items can be washed in purified water to

49
Bowker, “THEUNSEEN.”
35
withstand changes in color. Purified water should maintain a neutral pH balance. Red cabbage is
a useful and natural way to visualize the chemical differences and pollutants that have entered
our environment and specifically our waterways. All of our clothing materials and dyes, and
more importantly our bodies, are affected by these pollutants whether they show it or not.
Red Cabbage pH Scale
50

Purple Shirt dyed with pH neutral water, Blue shirt dyed with LA tap water, Tie-dye effect from changes in pH

50
https://davidswart.org/2019/05/22/acid-and-base-lab-with-report/.
36
CHAPTER 5 HEIRLOOMSHIP
“Buy less, choose well, make it last.”
51

The second part of a product’s lifecycle after it has been made and distributed to a
consumer, is the use of the product and eventual disposal. The true testament of a product’s
sustainability and my personal measure of success with my own design work is the ability to
keep an object in use for the longest amount of time possible, to avoid disposal. To create objects
for obsolescence, is to create thoughtlessly and unsustainably. I see a correlation between a
sustainable design practice and a term I’m coining as “Heirloomship”; the designation of value to
an object based on emotional attachment, durable physicality, use over time, and also personal
history. Heirlooms are typically defined as objects with family significance that are passed from
generation to generation. Over time, they increase in value with attached stories and connect
people through time. Heirlooms do not follow seasonal trends and are considered to be
“timeless” in style. An heirloom can range from your grandmother’s wristwatch to tomato seeds.
They do not have to be expensive to be meaningful. Heirloom objects are characterized as having
applied emotions of storytelling and place individuals within a family or community structure.
Studying heirlooms and the commonalities behind why these objects are held onto and not
thrown away is useful for any designer looking to avoid obsolescence. Designers can uphold the
characteristics of timelessness that classify an heirloom in their practice. To study the objects, we
keep is to learn how to design responsibly.
The longer that heirlooms are kept and the more hands that they are passed onto, the
more emotional value and stories they accumulate. Historical, cultural, and personal narratives
are validated by objects that remain from past experiences. An object can be as simple as a set of

51
Vivienne Westwood
37
utensils but can be held onto because of applied value and meaning from its role of explaining a
bibliography. Edmund de Waal is an artist and writer who recounts in The Hare with the Amber
Eye how his inheritance of family heirlooms connects him to his family. De Wall speaks about
his family’s collection of handmade Japanese netsuke, and the object’s emotional importance to
him, even if they don’t have much financial worth. “For De Waal, this collection of small,
handmade objects, created to be used and touched on a daily basis, allows him to access his
family history; it is a physical manifestation of their many catastrophic losses, but also the
strength of their family ties across time and space.”
52
Even if objects might not have much
physical worth, the value and importance of an heirloom object is how it connects people
through it’s shared use.
The outdoor fashion brand Patagonia brings the concept of heirlooms to their goods
through their marketing. Following their company value of making “goods to last,” Patagonia
established a subset to their brand called “Worn Wear” and a film called “Worn Wear–a Film
About the Stories We Wear.” Their objective with this campaign is to demonstrate how evidence
of wear adds emotional value to the clothing. Marks, stains, small tears in clothing shouldn’t
amount to making these objects unusable, dysfunctional or unattractive. In the film, Patagonia
encourages their users to shift their mindset and to see the marks and signs of wear on their
clothing as symbolic of the experiences they’ve had, and as hallmarks of their personal life story.
“What would you rather buy: a brand-new fleece jacket, or one that was worn by your father
while he was hitch-hiking through Nepal and has all these great stories in there? Which is more
valuable?”
53
These markings or stories can be shared with other people by passing the products
on. Because of the durable quality of the Patagonia product, the products will remain usable for

52
Winton, “The Vibrant Object.”
53
“Worn Wear – a Film About the Stories We Wear - Patagonia.”
38
very long periods of time and can be passed to others in the future, i.e., as an heirloom object.
“We can’t be a society that’s based on consuming and discarding endlessly. What we’re trying to
do is make clothes that can be handed down, that’ll last forever.”
54
This shift of mindset on used
clothing is a very exciting starting point for the fashion industry to stop making excess, and to
hold onto the objects that we already have.
However, some marks of wear actually can make a product unusable. When this happens,
before throwing it away, people must do whatever they can to repair the item. Yvon Chouinard
spearheaded a repair revolution. He states that “No matter how durable a piece of clothing is,
there will always be a need for repair. Everything we make should be designed to be
repairable.”
55
The lifecycle of a product does not need to end when it gets its first scratch. It’s up
to the owner of the product to make the responsible decision to work to continue to use their
goods. Because of the mass number of things at market for increasingly cheaper prices,
unfortunately it has become against our culture to hold onto the things we already have, when we
have the option to get a brand-new item inexpensively. This mindset is causing serious damage
to our resources and our planet will not be able to sustain infinite manufacturing any longer. “We
live in a culture where replacement is king, and these conditions create a society of product
consumers, not owners. Owners are empowered to take responsibility for their purchases - from
proper cleaning to repairing, reusing, and sharing. Consumers take, make, dispose, and repeat -
driving us towards ecological bankruptcy.”
56
In our consumer culture we look towards brands
and businesses to inform us on what objects, products, foods that we need. It is up to brands,

54
“Worn Wear – a Film About the Stories We Wear - Patagonia.”
55
Chouinard, Let My People Go Surfing.
56
Ibid.
39
businesses, and artists to change our mindset about what our role is, in the care of our
possessions.
We need to design products to be repairable so that people understand that when they
purchase a product, even when it breaks, that the life of the product shouldn’t end. Brands should
equip their customers with information on how to mend and repair damaged goods. Many
brands, such as Patagonia’s Worn Wear program, already have online videos on how to mend,
repair, patch and tailor their products. This should be a requirement for all companies that sell
products, so that people have no excuse to not prolong the life cycle of their items. Mending,
repairing, patching, and tailoring does not necessarily need to be seen as an unwanted chore, but
instead as a creative project and outlet, and a means to care and emotionally connect to
possessions. Mending can actually make a product more valuable, expressive, customized, and
unique. Many cultures practice clothing repair as a daily routine. In today’s American culture,
clothing repair is almost nonexistent. However, individuals can and should be inspired to mend
and patch damaged objects to personalize goods and provide a creative solution and to give
exhausted material a new life.
5.1 Materiality and Age
An object’s durability measures how long it can be used or worn. But, even if an object
can continue to be used, if the aesthetics of the material are not intact, the object could still be
discarded. A person will probably not want to use or wear an item that is made from material that
does not age well or looks like it is disintegrating. To make items that are guaranteed to be used
for long periods of time, designers should work with materials that get better with age and wear.
Making inexpensive, low quality materials that within a few years will be thrown away is not
desirable. Our ecosystem simply cannot accommodate this tendency. Fortunately, materials exist
40
and more can be engineered that can actually benefit from use and wear. Materials like leather,
high quality denim, wool, and 100% linen get softer and conform to the body over time. New
materials are always being engineered, so they should be created with this concept in mind,
giving customers an incentive to invest in pieces that they’ll hold onto and could potentially
become heirlooms. The function of an object must dictate its form. In an ideal, sustainable world
all objects would uphold longevity as part of their purpose. Following this idea, “use over time”
must determine the design and materials of an object. My next project Playsuit is a case study of
this concept and how durability functions with enclothed cognition.
5.2 Playsuit
People act differently in clothing that they can get messy in. In developing this project, I
drew inspiration from my own relationship with clothing. All of my clothing in some way, shape,
or form has a stain, and it doesn’t bother me. Stains, splatters, and smudges from my painting
practice can hardly ever be contained just to the painting surface. Simply part of the process, this
act of mark making is normal to me. Enclothed cognition describes how the clothing that we
wear limits or expands our perception of who we are, of what we choose to act like, and of the
capabilities of our bodies. If you’re constantly thinking about how to keep an outfit pristine, even
subconsciously, think about how that might physically limit your ability to be comfortable, to
play, and to be a curious person. It is important to create an outfit to be durable and mobile, to
allow one to have a creative, experimental mindset that isn’t obstructed by the urge to look after
one’s clothing.
During the quarantine period for the Covid-19 pandemic, as a design student I am unable
to have access to a studio or any large space meant for creative experimentation and art making,
and the mess that is usually a part of that process. My modest apartment became my home-base,
41
and my working space. I was faced with the challenge of finding a way to allow myself to feel
free to make my projects and get messy, in a space that I typically associate with cleanliness. The
solution to continue my work for this thesis opportunely came from my thesis research in
enclothed cognition. If I could create an outfit to encourage a creative mindset, then I would be
better suited to get over the hurdle of working in a space that I hadn’t ever thought to use before.
The means by which I was able to do this was through materiality. Playsuit is a garment that
functions to be marked, worked in, and becomes better with use. Made from painting canvas, I
created overalls from some spare cuts that I had accumulated during quarantine. Canvas is a
material that typically functions to be marked, whether it be the surface of a painting or as a
covering to keep paint off of furniture, walls and floors. Fear of staining my rented apartment
was precisely my dilemma with working from home, so using canvas to create my work uniform
opened up the mental block that I had formed.
The form of the garment follows its function for creative work. The overalls are inspired
by utilitarian forms that are typically understood to be useful or practical rather than attractive.
Utilitarian design and style do not have to be opposites. Clothing should primarily be created to
be functional, but as with the Incendia Capsule from designers Hadravska and Wallace, does not
have to compromise the feeling of looking good. The overalls are fitted to the body with an
adjustable belt and straps but are loose enough to ensure comfort and movability. There are eight
oversized pockets to hold working tools and belongings.

42
Playsuit

Clothing manufacturers, brands, businesses big and small, should be transparent about
how their product will age and if it is durable enough to be worn and used over long periods of
time. An item of clothing will not maintain the same physical state that it’s in when a customer
purchases it. Clothing changes and ages with use, so it is important to show customers how the
product might change over time. This transparency incentivizes people to purchase investment
pieces by presenting examples of how a products age well. I practiced this style of marketing
with my project Playsuit by documenting the overalls in the state that they might be sold to a
customer, and then over the course of use from my painting projects. A customer contemplating
purchasing the overalls would be presented with the unused product alongside examples of what
the product will look or feel like after use. Many consumers get distracted and charmed by the
43
pristine state of a new product in a store and are unable to visualize what that product might look
like after use. By demonstrating how a product changes over the course of its lifetime, a
customer will be able to make an informed and more responsible decision on if such a product
would be advantageous for their needs.
Playsuit Documented Over Three Months of Use

44
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION
“Call it eco-fashion if you like, I think it’s just common sense.”
57

Fashion is not a necessity, but an art that reflects the culture that it is made for. It presents
us with our own values, systems, stereotypes, and rules to follow, or to break. The fashion
industry responds to shifts in culture, current events, and the real life needs of its consumers. The
trends, objects, ideas that come out of the industry are constantly changing. In the age of the
Anthropocene, our needs as a community will increasingly surround the possible collapse of our
ecosystems and natural disasters that the fashion industry has partially set in motion. If the
industry is to truly cater to the needs of consumers, it must fundamentally change. As Klein
writes in “This Changes Everything,” the economy, from which the fashion industry has been
built, has to be scrapped. Only then can we return to the drawing board to come up with a better
model to create a sustainable and healthy world, and societies even better and safer from the ones
currently standing. The projects in this thesis are examples of how the industry as it stands today
can start to evolve to match the contemporary world. Fashion objects that relate to ideas of “self”
are powerful tools in shaping mindsets. They can establish systems of value that can promote
sustainability & connection to the environment. A better, cleaner, and safer future is possible. To
get there, changes in our culture as we know it need to occur, including cleaner manufacturing,
smarter buying choices, and care for the objects we already have and should continue to keep.
We are what we wear, so let’s make both environmentally responsible.

57
Livia Firth
45
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Banai, Nuit, and Beck, Alisa. “Critical Regionalism: Between Local and Global.” The
Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. Accessed December 31, 2020.
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local-and-global.

Baudrillard, Jean. The System of Objects. Translated by James Benedict. Nineth edition.
London; New York: Verso, 2006.

Boscagli, Maurizia. “Stuff Theory: Everyday Objects, Radical Materialism.” London:
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2012).” The New York Times, April 3, 2012, sec. Science.
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Blaszczyk, Regina Lee. “Rethinking Fashion.” In Producing Fashion, edited by Regina Lee
Blaszczyk, 1–18. Commerce, Culture, and Consumers. University of Pennsylvania Press,
2008. http://www.jstor.org.libproxy2.usc.edu/stable/j.ctt3fhbbd.3.

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and the Anthropocene. Utopian Studies.

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2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1344258.

Burgess, Rebecca. Harvesting Color: How to Find Plants and Make Natural Dyes. Artisan
Books, 2011.

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(1997): 119-21. Accessed October 29, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44180626.

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“F20 Incendia Capsule Collection.” Accessed January 4, 2021. https://bit.ly/2BGyp3T.

Fairs, Marcus. “Coronavirus Offers ‘a Blank Page for a New Beginning’ Says Li Edelkoort,”
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Dezeen. March 9, 2020. https://www.dezeen.com/2020/03/09/li-edelkoort-coronavirus-
reset/.

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18015.html.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This thesis is an exploration of the opportunities within fashion design to connect identity with the environment and to promote responsibility and sustainability. Ideas of “self” are influenced by the objects people live with, especially the clothing that they wear. Fashion objects influence how people think and act. By using characteristics of the environment to design clothing, people form connections to places and landscapes, directly shaping their cognition and the identities associated with land, space, and the environment. Reminding and reinforcing the relationships that exist between people and land, will make all of us more aware of and comfortable with the need to actively engage with environmental policy, and to make climate change research and action a top priority as individuals and to the governmental scale.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Dewey, Samantha (author)

Core Title Anthropocene outfitters: clothing that works with our climate, not against it

School Roski School of Art and Design

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Design

Publication Date 04/16/2021

Defense Date 03/15/2021

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag enclothed cognition,heirloomship,material intelligence,natural dye,OAI-PMH Harvest,objecthood,object-oriented ontology,sustainable fashion,unclothed cognition,visual culture

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Zoto, Alexis (committee chair), Trujillo, Osvaldo (committee member), Weisberg, Ruth (committee member)

Creator Email samantbd@usc.edu,samanthabdewey@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-445135

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Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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