Textiles can evoke an emotional response that is induced by the smell, texture, memory and embodied experiences that are released through wearing, touching and talking about textiles. The textile artefact is our most universal designed object, with the capacity for us to experience it simultaneously with all our senses and emotions. The personal textile archive is a term created for this study to describe textiles that have been taken out of practical use, and have been informally, yet purposefully, gathered together. Textile artefacts within the personal textile archive function as both a treasury of personal, social and family memories, and as a treasury of design details. A series of interviews were conducted in which participants were asked to discuss their own personal textile archives, in order to uncover the embodied experience that arises through interactions with these sentimental textiles. This rich experience of textiles was explored through the use of qualitative research methods developed from a phenomenological research methodology, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Through a case study in which a couple of English and Punjabi heritage describe their wedding outfits, interviews set and analysed within a phenomenological paradigm demonstrate this method's facility to explore the interplay between design and experience. Background 'apparently, swearing at elder Asians is not the done thing, and I swore at her, told her to go away, so there's a bit of a sting in the tail. I'm still overcoming that particular issue.' (Paul, 2009) Key to their experience of their wedding outfits, were the design details. For Paul, the key details recalled of the Punjabi suit were external signifiers of dramatic glamour, 'on the right side of bad taste', which included the gold embroidery, the sequins, and visual references to Bollywood. For Parminder, the key design features of the lengha suit were the colour, and she describes how prior to going to purchase it, she could visualize the exact shade of red she wanted, and her success in obtaining it. Central to her description of what she wanted was balance between beauty and simplicity, a delicate design that was heavily weighted from the embellishments, and
An enzyme‐based textile coloration process using peroxidase (EC1.11.1.7) was investigated for its potential as an alternative to conventional textile dyeing processes, with the benefits of being low in energy use and non‐damaging to fibres. The current study presents a process for the coloration of wool fabric using peroxidase oxidation of a range of different aromatic compounds in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The results revealed that wool can be successfully dyed by peroxidase‐catalysed coloration at temperatures as low as 30°C. By controlling the pH values and buffer systems during processing, a diverse colour palette was produced, depending on the small molecular aromatic compound used as the precursor. Colour fastness testing found that fastness to washing, rubbing and light properties achieved good to excellent ratings, with further improvement to wash fastness provided by a post‐soaping wash. No fibre damage occurred due to peroxidase‐catalysed coloration. This enzyme coloration process is a promising alternative to conventional wool dyeing processes with the advantage of effective dyeing at low temperatures, therefore having the potential of reducing energy consumption and preventing fibre damage.
This article explores a method for engaging students with ethical and sustainable issues within the textile design supply chain through encouraging them to explore the stories embodied within a garment. By putting themselves into the story of their garment, its production is conceptualized as a narrative, with a range of roles, timelines and locations. Exploring stories within their garment illuminates both positive and negative narratives, whereby the impacts of production methods are explored to examine current practice in industry, manufacturing, and investigate innovative models for responsible design. Through a process of reverse engineering the garment from its completed form backward through its creation, back to its base fibres, alternative models of manufacturing, distribution, energy use and design outcomes are explored and suggested. Conceptualizing each stage of the production cycle as a series of stories, from initial fibre selection through to final garment purchase and consumption, is done to encourage empathy and connections between the student designer and the people who produced their garment within the complex global textiles supply chain.
The authors propose that while many fields of design are involved in reflexive interactions with design research tools, others are strongly heuristic in both their application of historic knowledge bases and in the ways in which they allow themselves to move forward, to construct new knowledge as an extension of craft thinking with user-centred evidence. These historical frames become a limiting factor in both the ways that practice can develop but also, more worryingly, in the ways in which these fields can develop their own research tools.
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