Provenance and production in Scotland's fashion sector: shifting stories.

Cross, Karen; Steed, Josie; Jiang, Yang

Abstract

As part of Augmented Fashion, an interdisciplinary research project involving fashion, textiles and computing disciplines, a series of workshops were facilitated; this chapter discusses the emergent themes from the 'Redesigning for Creative Recovery' and 'Sustainable Fashion and Textiles in Scotland' workshops. The findings identified two types of practitioners. The reactive practitioner is willing to adapt and uses upskilling as a form of innovation, with digital upskilling identified as a significant need. Reactionary practices were, however, identified as stressful. The reflective practitioner prefers to wait for shifts to settle before committing to change, remaining focussed on their sustainability ethos and practices despite challenges and uncertainties. The importance of storytelling for different audiences emerged as a key finding. For communicating with consumers, the importance of digital storytelling in enhancing accessibility and overcoming distance was acknowledged. Increased consumer awareness of environmental issues is driving interest in stories related to production and provenance. Influencing the consumer to make better, slow fashion purchases is vital for a sustainable fashion future, described as a shift from a consumer ethos to a citizen ethos. For sharing among SMEs, a need to see the creative industries sector as an inter-connected system was deemed important, emphasising community and collaboration.

Citation

CROSS, K., STEED, J. and JIANG, Y. 2024. Provenance and production in Scotland's fashion sector: shifting stories. In Schramme, A. and Verboven, N. (eds.) Sustainability and the fashion industry: can fashion save the world? Abingdon: Routledge [online], chapter 4, pages 56-69. Available from: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032659053-4

• Online Publication Date: Jun 6, 2024
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2024
• Deposit Date: May 16, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 7, 2025
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 56-69
• Series Title: Responsible fashion
• Book Title: Sustainability and the fashion industry: can fashion save the world?
• Chapter Number: Chapter 4
• ISBN: 9781032641102
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032659053-4
• Keywords: Interdisciplinary ; Slow fashion; Traditional textiles; Computing; Reflective practitioner; Digital storytelling; Scottish SMEs; Immersive innovation
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2339119