Abstract

An upcycling practice involves working with remnants of material culture. It is about engaging with and responding to signs of wear. Interacting with traces of use—a smell, finger prints, imprints of a body that are left behind—this study documents and questions the experiences of working with clothing from a specific 1920s–30s historic archive belonging to a deceased female, and the way it informs and shapes the redesign of those garments. It is about understanding narratives behind the experiences of use. How does this affect the designer and their process? This study aims to enrich available knowledge of upcycling and upcyclers and their relationship to objects and attachment. In this article I will be reflecting on the first stage of my practice’s methodology, the reading of the piece; the initial engagement and interaction with the historic archive, which includes photographic documentation and exerpts from a reflective diary that records my material interactions whilst critically analysing and contextualising this process within fashion theory. My aim is to enrich the field of sustainable fashion by shedding light on a complex process that deals with death, memory, value, attachment, and history. By reflecting on my personal experiences with material, I will add to the discussion of designing with strategies that encourage sustainable design relationships; highlight and expand on existing theoretical discourse on textiles and mnemonic energy; and provide a deeper understanding of the practice of upcycling and the intimate materiality of wear. Upcycling fashion practices contribute a materiality perspective to anthropological processes of reading and understanding material culture.

摘要

升级回收实践涉及与物质文化的残余物一起工作。它是关于接触和响应磨损迹象。与使用痕迹相互作用——气味、指纹、留下的身体印记——这项研究记录并质疑了使用来自已故女性的特定 1920-30 年代历史档案中的服装的经验，以及它的方式通知和塑造这些服装的重新设计。它是关于理解使用体验背后的叙述。这对设计师及其流程有何影响？本研究旨在丰富有关升级改造和升级改造者及其与物体和依恋关系的现有知识。在这篇文章中，我将反思我实践方法的第一阶段，即对作品的阅读; 与历史档案的最初接触和互动，其中包括摄影文件和反思日记的摘录，记录我的物质互动，同时在时尚理论中批判性地分析和背景化这个过程。我的目标是通过阐明处理死亡、记忆、价值、依恋和历史的复杂过程来丰富可持续时尚领域。通过反思我个人在材料方面的经验，我将加入关于采用鼓励可持续设计关系的策略进行设计的讨论；强调和扩展现有的关于纺织品和助记符能量的理论论述；并提供对升级改造的实践和磨损的亲密物质性的更深入的理解。