Handmade tales : sustainable fashion through craft connections : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Design, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
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Date
2016
DOI
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Massey University
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Abstract
India is a country with an ancient history. The crafts of this country are diverse
and are a reflection of the country’s cultural heritage. According to Dasra (2013),
the craft industry provides millions of artisans with employment and is one of the
largest small scale or cottage industries. For centuries, these craft communities have
specialized in traditions that are specific to the regions and respective skills, which
have been handed down from generations of artisans. Yet in recent years, as Wood
(2011) notes, this sector faces a major threat as a result of growing preference for
mass produced designs that are cheap and easy to afford. This has contributed to the
steady decline of craft based products. This, alongside a lack of knowledge of new
innovative ways to design, and decreasing demand for their products have left the
craftspeople very vulnerable and has posed a big threat to their sustainable
livelihoods.
Integrating fashion design with artisan textiles can help regenerate the community
and village culture while enhancing the value of products. This practice led research
project offers a framework to meet the emerging challenges associated with ethical
and environmental principles linked with fashion by incorporating sustainable
processes used in traditional craft production. Importantly, it can also offer one
strategy to support economic sustainability issues linked to the livelihood of
craftspeople at the village level.
The project develops an example of a sustainable fashion design process by drawing
from the rich heritage of Indian crafts and focuses on developing a fashion
collection that integrates artisan craft textiles into the design process. This reaches
out to a market that is sensitive towards sustainability issues linked to artisan
livelihood and fashion and values the handmade and organic as an alternative
approach. This exploration of issues related to sustainability both for fashion design
and craft is an attempt to uncover why developing a relationship between the two is
significantly more relevant today than it ever has been.
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Keywords
Harita Kapur, Fashion design, Textile fabrics, Handicraft, Dyes and dyeing, Sustainable design, India, Research Subject Categories::HUMANITIES and RELIGION::Aesthetic subjects::Art