| dc.description | Contaminating Clothing is an experimental service design project exploring culture and aesthetics as materials for experiences. The diploma investigates, through a two-part experiment, how culture and aesthetics may be integrated and utilised in the service design process, using clothing rental as a case study.
Efforts to make the fashion and textile industry more sustainable are largely focused on bringing us consumers in contact with clothes used by others either through resale, rental or subscription-rental models. The main ambition of this project was to explore the potential of a cultural approach in imbuing sharing services with social and symbolic value which could motivate a shift in consumption practices. How may we through design create new narratives, symbols and meanings around emerging practices? How can we utilize design to leverage cultural narratives, creating value and meaning through experiences? And, in what ways can we ‘cleanse’ rented items of the presence of their owner and ‘contaminate’ them with positive characteristics?
The outcomes of this experiment are three service probes and one service concept. The process of making these and observing users’ reactions prompted reflection and discussion around the questions and themes mentioned earlier. Together they allowed me to reflect upon and discuss the opportunities and challenges of integrating such an approach in the design of services. | en_US |
