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��ɫֱ��STUDENT CHAPTER UPDATE: UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE FASHION APPAREL STUDIES +�� GOODWILL OF DELAWARE + DELAWARE COUNTY HOST RE/FASHION STUDIO POP-UP!

RE/FASHION GOODWILL POP-UP EXPLORES A BENEFICIAL LIFECYCLE MODEL

By Kendall Keough, UD Fashion and Apparel Studies MS Graduate (2020)

The waste created by the fashion industry is second in the world only to the oil industry. Over 92 billion lbs of textiles are discarded each year. Much of the waste created by the fashion industry follows a linear lifecycle model of production. In this model, at the end of a product’s useful life it goes to a landfill. �� Waste can be diverted from landfills through the use of a beneficial lifecycle model instead of a linear model. A beneficial lifecycle model uses human design centered thinking to produce items with their end of life in mind. Products created provide benefits to people involved in the manufacturing process while providing environmental benefits as well.�� A team of researchers and students at the University of Delaware’s Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies collaborated this fall with Goodwill DDC to launch “Re/Fashion Studio, an on-site fashion re/production studio sited within the Goodwill reatil store in Newark, Delaware. S tudents at the university were given a chance to work at the re/fashion studio through a class project to simulate a fashion supply chain and each focused on a different aspect from textile to creation to transportation to end use. These students were tasked with using human centered design to improve their assigned area with a focus on textile innovation. Many techniques such as weaving, tufting, and felting were explored for opportunities to transform Goodwill “bale” (textile stock not sold in stores) into new products or creative works.

The Re/Fashion Studio hosted open studios over a two-week launch in the fall as well as specific workshops open to the entire community (make do and mend workshop, sew and sip workshop). The UD ��ɫֱ��student chapter hosted an evening of Tufting with Philadelphia based Tufting artist Tim Eads.�� This exploratory research approach to the lifecycle of apparel targets post-market manufacturing opportunities utilizing waste streams from Goodwill DDC, sited as part of the retail unit. In the coming year, UD will expand this model to offer training to students and workers on post-market textile innovation opportunities, educating the students as well as the community community on sustainable modes of consumption such as extending the life of a garment.

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