24 OCTOBER 2016 BY MAUREEN DICKSON, CARLOTTA CATALDI AND CRYSTAL GROVER The Slow Fashion Movement Slow Fashion is not your typical seasonal fashion trend, it is a movement that is steadily gaining momentum and is likely here to stay... Today’s mainstream fashion industry relies on globalised, mass production where garments are transformed from the design stage to the retail floor in only a few weeks. With retailers selling the latest fashion trends at very low prices, consumers are easily swayed to purchase more than they need. But this overconsumption comes with a hidden price tag, and it is the environment and workers in the supply chain that pay. The fashion industry is contributing to today’s sustainability challenge in a number of ways. It currently uses a constant flow of natural resources to produce ‘Fast Fashion’ garments. In the way it operates, this industry is constantly contributing to the depletion of fossil fuels, used, for example, in textile & garment production and transportation. Fresh water reservoirs are also being increasingly diminished for cotton crop irrigation. The fashion industry is also introducing, in a systematic way and in ever-greater amounts, manmade compounds such as pesticides and synthetic fibres, which increase their persistent presence in nature. As a result, some natural resources are in jeopardy and forests and ecosystems are being damaged or destroyed for such things as fibre production, leading to issues such as droughts, desertification and not least, climate change, that are affecting society at large. To visualise the sustainability challenge of today’s fashion industry, the funnel metaphor is used to demonstrate the consumption behaviour of the larger fashion industry, including consumers. If this keeps increasing at the current rate, the impact on the social and ecological environment will also increase. This leads to a very limited space for the industry to handle these impacts in the future and resolve the issues society is facing today. This is symbolised by the sloping walls of the funnel. Using this metaphor we can draw the conclusion that if we do not want to ‘hit the narrowing walls of the funnel,’ we must re-design the current unsustainable practices in society, including the fashion industry. This change, if achieved, is likely to result in a gradual return to equilibrium, where societal behaviour is not in conflict with natural resources, and the fashion industry can carry on without compromising the health of the people and our planet. Slow Fashion represents all things “eco”, “ethical” and “green” in one unified movement. It was first coined by Kate Fletcher, from the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, when fashion was compared to the Slow Food experience. Carl Honoré, author of “In Praise of Slowness”, says that the ‘slow approach’ intervenes as a revolutionary process in the contemporary world because it encourages taking time to ensure quality production, to give value to the ...

1. 24 OCTOBER 2016
BY MAUREEN DICKSON, CARLOTTA CATALDI AND
CRYSTAL GROVER
The Slow Fashion Movement
Slow Fashion is not your typical seasonal fashion trend, it is a
movement that is steadily gaining momentum and is likely here
to stay...
Today’s mainstream fashion industry relies on globalised, mass
production where garments are transformed from the design
stage to the retail floor in only a few weeks. With retailers
selling the latest fashion trends at very low prices, consumers
are easily swayed to purchase more than they need. But this
overconsumption comes with a hidden price tag, and it is the
environment and workers in the supply chain that pay.
The fashion industry is contributing to today’s sustainability
challenge in a number of ways. It currently uses a constant flow
of natural resources to produce ‘Fast Fashion’ garments. In the
way it operates, this industry is constantly contributing to the
depletion of fossil fuels, used, for example, in textile & garment
production and transportation. Fresh water reservoirs are also
being increasingly diminished for cotton crop irrigation. The
fashion industry is also introducing, in a systematic way and in
ever-greater amounts, manmade compounds such as pesticides
and synthetic fibres, which increase their persistent presence in
nature.
As a result, some natural resources are in jeopardy and forests
and ecosystems are being damaged or destroyed for such things
as fibre production, leading to issues such as droughts,

2. desertification and not least, climate change, that are affecting
society at large.
To visualise the sustainability challenge of today’s fashion
industry, the funnel metaphor is used to demonstrate the
consumption behaviour of the larger fashion industry, including
consumers. If this keeps increasing at the current rate, the
impact on the social and ecological environment will also
increase. This leads to a very limited space for the industry to
handle these impacts in the future and resolve the issues society
is facing today. This is symbolised by the sloping walls of the
funnel.
Using this metaphor we can draw the conclusion that if we do
not want to ‘hit the narrowing walls of the funnel,’ we must re-
design the current unsustainable practices in society, including
the fashion industry. This change, if achieved, is likely to result
in a gradual return to equilibrium, where societal behaviour is
not in conflict with natural resources, and the fashion industry
can carry on without compromising the health of the people and
our planet.
Slow Fashion represents all things “eco”, “ethical” and “green”
in one unified movement. It was first coined by Kate Fletcher,
from the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, when fashion was
compared to the Slow Food experience. Carl Honoré, author of
“In Praise of Slowness”, says that the ‘slow approach’
intervenes as a revolutionary process in the contemporary world
because it encourages taking time to ensure quality production,
to give value to the product, and contemplate the connection
with the environment.
For Slow Fashion to emerge as a sustainable fashion model, a
team of three researchers from the Master’s in Strategic
Leadership towards Sustainability programme in Sweden have
recommended that “Slow Fashion Values” be used to guide the

3. entire supply chain. They looked closely at the positive actions
that were happening and also turned to the food, design and
agriculture industries for inspiration.
The values are not meant to be a one-size fits all solution, but
they can encourage creativity and be adapted. They are intended
to spark a conversation with designers, manufactures, retailers
and others in the Slow Fashion movement about who they are,
where they are going and how their actions can have a greater
impact.
1. Seeing the big picture:
Slow Fashion producers recognise that they are all
interconnected to the larger environmental and social system
and make decisions accordingly. Slow Fashion encourages a
systems thinking approach because it recognises that the
impacts of our collective choices can affect the environment and
people.
2. Slowing down consumption:
Reducing raw materials by decreasing fashion production can
allow the earth’s regenerative capabilities to take place. This
will alleviate pressure on natural cycles so fashion production
can be in a healthy rhythm with what the earth can provide.
3. Diversity:
Slow Fashion producers strive to maintain ecological, social and
cultural diversity. Biodiversity is important because it offers
solutions to climate change and environmental degradation.
Diverse and innovative business models are encouraged;
independent designers, larger fashion houses, second-hand,
vintage, recycled, fashion leasing, your local knitting club and
clothing swaps are all recognised in the movement. Keeping

4. traditional methods of garment & textile making and dyeing
techniques alive also gives vibrancy and meaning to what we
wear and how it was made.
4. Respecting People:
Participating in campaigns and codes of conduct can help to
secure the fair treatment of workers. Some brands have joined
the Asian Floor Wage Alliance, Ethical Trading Initiative, and
the Fair Wear Foundation, among others. Labels are also
supporting local communities by offering skill development and
helping them to trade, such as Toms Shoes and Banuq.
5. Acknowledging human needs:
Designers can meet human needs by co-creating garments and
offering fashion with emotional significance. By telling the
story behind a garment or inviting the customer to be part of the
design process, the needs of creativity, identity and
participation can be satisfied.
6. Building relationships:
Collaboration and co-creation ensure trusting and lasting
relationships that will create a stronger movement. Building
relationships between producers and co-producers is a key part
of the movement.
7. Resourcefulness:
Slow Fashion brands focus on using local materials and
resources when possible and try to support the development of
local businesses and skills.
8. Maintaining quality and beauty:

5. Encouraging classic design over passing trends will contribute
to the longevity of garments. A number of Slow Fashion
designers are ensuring the longevity of their clothing by
sourcing high quality fabrics, offering traditional cuts and
creating beautiful, timeless pieces.
9. Profitability:
Slow Fashion producers need to sustain profits, and increase
their visibility in the market to be competitive. Prices are often
higher because they incorporate sustainable resources and fair
wages.
10. Practicing Consciousness:
This means making decisions based on personal passions, an
awareness of the connection to others and the environment, and
the willingness to act responsibly. Within the Slow Fashion
movement, many people love what they do, and aspire to make a
difference in the world in a creative and innovative way.
FURTHER READING
Slow Fashion Forward
Clothing and Body: case studies in ‘Slow fashion’ in fashion
education
Lan Lan and Peng Liu
Abstract

6. “Same bed, different dreams” (Reinach: 44) is a Chinese
expression which reflects
the ambivalent relationship in the collaboration between
Chinese and Italian
fashion corporations in the early years of 2000. More than a
decade later, while the
economic boom slowing down in China, the manufacturers have
shifted its focus to
designer-driven product to better position themselves in the
increasingly
competitive market, in other words, the rise of “creative
economy”. Meanwhile,
fashion schools in China have also realized the industrial shift
demanding highly
innovative and creative designers whom to make “imagination
into a product”
(Bill: 50). In response to the market, for example, the
curriculum of School of
Fashion at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology (BIFT)
focuses on the
engagement between body and clothing to provoke sensation
which allows “a
reflexive and elective sense of self” (Briggs: 227) to be
activated during the

7. process of making, so called “slow fashion”. This paper draws
rich discussions
from body study and fashion study to further elaborate the idea
of “slow fashion”
applied in Chinese fashion education that delineates the
relationship between body,
as historical inherited and cultural embodied being (Tuner;
Shilling; Mauss), and
clothing, as “performative aspect of self” (Entwistle: 38)
through case studies at
BIFT. Particularly, the investigation demonstrates how Chinese
student realize and
develop a sense of individuality through “slow fashion”
reconnecting to their
traditional culture, while still living in an urban lifestyle.
Key Words: Fashion education, slow fashion, body, and
clothing,
*****
1. Introduction
The transition of manufacturing economy to creative economy
has taken place
in recent years in China. Its influence on mass aesthetic prompt

8. Chinese fashion
designer to experience the shift in parallel which lead to a re-
focus in design
aesthetic and technique in terms of Chinese tradition and
culture. The phenomenon
of being merely an advocate of Western fashion cycle is
withdrawing, at the same
time, the characteristic of its own is forming at global stage.
The revival of “spirit
of the craftsman” has been advocated by all levels of
government aiming to slow
down the process of designing and making, like old masters’
which imply a sense
of attitude toward to slow lifestyle, that would improve the
quality of the design
and the final product. Such circumstance requires a change in
thought among the
fashion educators working at art/fashion institutes, to redefine
its role as
Title of (e)Book Chapter
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9. 2
contemporary fashion educator and re-consider how the concept
of “inheritance
and innovation” can be better fused and implemented in fashion
education.
Due to the “Cultural Revolution”, Chinese tradition and culture
had been
interrupted and depressed for a decade long, and being sluggish
afterwards.
Although, the economy open-up policy lifted China in economic
capital, the
cultural capital is worsening as Western culture and product
occupied ordinaries’
life that Chinese tradition and culture has been largely
overlooked. In
contextualizing with fashion students graduated in the last ten
years, there has been
a strong sense of Western aesthetic saturated in their design.
2. Fashion education in China
Fashion educators in Chinese institute/university can be
allocated into three
categories: “conservative”, “market driven” and “overseas”.
Firstly, the

10. “conservative” educators are those started teaching during
1980s and 90s with
research emphasis in traditional techniques. Secondly, the
“market driven”
educators have strong connection with the fashion market,
playing several roles for
example providing consultancy to fashion company or running
fashion brands
themselves. Their teaching styles lean toward to the taste of the
current market and
encourage students to conduct designs and drawings by
software, such as AI and
CAD which are widely used in fashion companies. Thirdly, the
educators who
have foreign studying and working experience are considered
“overseas” who
started teaching in late 2000. They bring Western modules and
concepts of fashion
education into their teaching content that make up the majority
staff along with the
“market driven”.
Given the graduate employment rate has always been the
priority in Chinese

11. higher education system that graduate need to acquire actual
skills in order to
quickly assimilate and accommodate the demand of the market,
the institutions
encourage “market driven” staffs to teach essentials in which
fashion companies
would appreciate. The shift of the economy reflect market
segments which requires
design and product to be diversified for the demand of
customers with multiple
background. Therefore, the role of design in fashion education
focuses on
originality and creativity in broad social and cultural context,
which is hoped to
drive the Chinese fashion market in developing an innovative
market embedded
with a strong sense of Chinese character. During the transitional
period, fashion
institutions need to keep the balance between the existing
market, which favourites
fast and low-cost product, and new tide, which features on
personalized product.
For instance, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology (BIFT),
as the only

12. Chinese institute named by fashion with majors in fashion
design, has re-thought
its role under the current circumstance by asking questions on
how educators better
engage students of investigating Chinese tradition, culture, and
techniques in
design and how students translate their findings into design
language as individual
and original.
Name and Surname of Author(s)
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3
The concern is, through my observation, that the majority of the
enrolled
students directly adopt forms and colours of traditional culture
in their design that
the lack of research and analysis inactivate the critical thinking
and the interaction
between the body and culture and material remains passive. This
is a common
problem not only to Chinese students but also foreign students

13. studying fashion at
BIFT, for example: Turkmenistan, South Korean who are
enthusiastic of using
native cultural elements. However, the direct use of
Turkmenistan traditional
embroidery pattern and South Korean traditional Hanbok
reflects neither
thoughtful input of the students in the design, nor the
engagement of the interaction
between material and the body. Moreover, students are likely to
“deconstruct” and
“re-construct” traditional patterns in their design without proper
understanding the
theoretical framework and the methodological approach that the
critical thinking is
always absent in their design process.
3. Chinese traditional clothing
The interaction between body, material and spirit appears in
Chinese traditional
art and culture as prominent, in particular the making of
traditional clothing of
ethnic groups. Women in ethnic Miao begin making their own
wedding dress two

14. years after start learning embroidery techniques at eight years
old. They are
persistent in practicing the techniques on daily base with
minimum one hour spent
on each day even during busy farming seasons. While
practicing, they always
imagine themselves wearing it on the wedding day, thereof,
every needle and
thread is embedded with expectation for the future and nostalgia
from the past that
the body is engaged with the material through the interaction.
Although there is no
academic or professional training provided, the forms and
patterns created by
women of ethnic Miao in making dress are cultural
contextualized and
individualized in comparison to the students’ work at fashion
school. The design of
embroidery in ethnic Miao use narratives from daily matters or
myths as scenario,
carefully structured into the foreground to create the
composition affected by their
feelings and emotions then. Such process of making reflects the
conversation

15. between the body, material and spirit with the outcome much
appreciated. In
contrast, body feelings and emotions is overlooked in fashion
education in China
while following Western aesthetic on surface. Therefore, apart
from latest
technology and fashion tendency inevitably impacting on
design, the role of body
and spirituality shall be re-emphasised in cloth making in
fashion education that
the concept of slow fashion gradually gains momentum.
4. Case study at BIFT
A good design is more than just a piece of beautiful garment, as
there is many
more can be discovered. “Body first” is the idea that clothing is
created to
complete the body by wearing it rather than using body as a
hanger to display a
cloth. As good design can be understood and interpreted
differently in time, space
Title of (e)Book Chapter

16. _____________________________________________________
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4
and culture context, nevertheless, a designer needs to spend
quality time into the
process of design, researching and analysing relevant factors,
including the body,
material and spirit. There is an example over a student’s work at
BIFT as the case
study shown below (Figure 1). The initial idea is about Chinese
shadow puppetry
and grandma. Instead of copying the shadow puppetry straight
onto the cloth, the
student play around with the images of the shadow puppetry and
her grandma
through the method her body is most familiar with: free hand
illustration. The
process of drawing in sketches is considered part of the research
which allows the
student to testify various possibilities and better understand the
visual
representation of the shadow puppetry and her grandma that
helps to form a design

17. language later.
Figure 1. Wei Qinwen
The student spends tremendous time in conducting research and
practice
activities (Figure 2) with no rush to the final design work. The
students did not
refer to current fashion elements in her design, but rather talk to
the shadow
Name and Surname of Author(s)
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5
puppetry makers and experience herself the making process
which seems like no
immediate connection with fashion design. During the research,
the student acquire
better bodily understanding in regards to the making and the
materials of the
shadow puppetry, thereafter, she is able to reconcile the visual
representation of the

18. shadow puppetry and her emotional connection with her
grandma through the
language of design. The design also demonstrates strong
individualization in the
style in which the student reinforce the certain feelings and
emotions through
manipulating the techniques of embroidery and beading. The
tactility is actualized
through the use of textile coherently with her personal feelings
and emotions.
Figure 2. Wei Qinwen
5. Conclusion
To conclude, BIFT, an institute with focus in fashion education,
amplifies the
ability of critical thinking in fashion education, meanwhile
promote the concept of
slow design. The fashion school has conducted various short
courses and study
camps with hands-on experience in relation to Chinese
traditional art and culture in
Title of (e)Book Chapter

19. _____________________________________________________
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the aim to stimulate their students, precisely their bodies, to
become sensitive to
and sophisticated in translating their bodily experience into the
language of design.
Such programmes also involve experts from the fashion industry
that allows
students to see things through multiple perspectives, at the same
time, balance the
graduates with a sense of market demanding.
Notes
Bibliography
Bill, Amanda. ‘Blood, Sweet and Shears”: Happiness,
Creativity, and Fashion
Education.’ In Fashion Theory, 16:1, 49-65. Routledge, 2012.
Briggs, Adam. ‘The Fashioned Body: Fashion, Dress and
Modern Social Theory,
Joanne Entwistle.’ In Fashion Theory, 5:2, 225-228. Routledge,

20. 2001.
Entwistle, Joanne. ‘Fashion and the Fleshy Body: Dress as
Embodied Practice.’ In
Fashion Theory, 4:3, 323-347. Routledge, 2000.
Mauss, Marcel. ‘Techniques of the Body.’ In The Body A
Reader, edited by
Mariam Fraser and Monica Greco, 73-77. New York: Routledge,
2005.
Segre, Reinach Simona. ‘China and Italy: Fast Fashion versus
Pret a Porter.
Towards a New Culture of Fashion.’ In Fashion Theory, 9:1, 43-
56. Routledge,
2005.
Shilling, Chris. The Body and Social Theory. London: SAGE
Publication, 1993.
Turner, Bryan S. The Body & Society Second Edition. London:
SAGE Publication,
1996.
Lan Lan is Lecturer at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology
(BIFT). She
received her MA in Women’s wear design at London College of

21. Fashion. Her
research and writing is devoted in fashion education.
Peng Liu is Research scholar, artist, and educator. He received
his Ph.D. in Visual
Arts at Curtin University Australia and currently doing post-
doctoral research
fellow at the university. His artworks have been exhibited
internationally working
with wide range of mediums. He writes academic journals
papers and book
chapters in the field of cultural study and visual culture.
Name and Surname of Author(s)
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