Charleen Elberskirch, Basel Academy of Art and Design

Fall Semester 2021

This practice-based research is situated in the context of the ever-intensifying environmental crisis and the circular economy that is emerging in response. The research focuses on fashion remanufacturing practices as a niche solution of the circular economy, with a focus on investigating how digital technologies can further shape these practices. By integrating holistic systems thinking and incorporating New Materialism and Transition Design approaches, the research aims to develop new methods and systems for the design and production of remanufactured clothing.

The remanufacturing of clothing is usually practiced as a craft and on a small scale and is often falsely referred to as "redesign", "recycling" or "upcycling" (see Dissanayake & Sinha 2015 and others). The current state of knowledge on the topic is characterized by a lack of systematic understanding of processes, challenges and potentials in relation to scaling these practices (Pal et al. 2021; Singh et al. 2019; Sinha et al. 2016). This research argues that digital technologies enable fashion remanufacturing on an expanded scale - in both industrial and private or micro-industrial production contexts - and thus provide an effective alternative to the fast fashion model. In this context, the research uses interviews, case studies and practical applications to gain a deeper understanding of the context and develop a new perspective on fashion remanufacturing on a theoretical, technical and aesthetic level. The research builds on existing knowledge and common and innovative practices in the field of garment remanufacturing and identifies and analyses approaches for the digitalization of processes and products in the fashion context that can be harnessed in garment remanufacturing. These include, for example, technologies for the optimization of sorting and dismantling processes of textiles as well as approaches to virtual product development in conjunction with computer-aided manufacturing processes. In addition, the practice-oriented work includes the experimental exploration of unexplored strategies for the digital reconstruction of used garments. The further development of these strategies in this research is considered vital for the expansion of fashion remanufacturing. Finally, the findings and key concepts are presented from a holistic standpoint using theoretical models. Taking a whole-systems approach to fashion remanufacturing leads to new perspectives on design and manufacturing processes in diverse production contexts. This disruptive redesign of remanufacturing processes and systems pursues the overarching goal of contributing to a fairer and more sustainable future.

Keywords: fashion remanufacturing, garment reconstruction, textile recycling, digital fashion, fashion and technology