Criterion A: Sustainable Design |​ Sewciety 

Name: Laia  Class: 7DET2 

 

 
Image: FashionRevolution.org 
 
Key Concept​:  Systems 
Related Concepts​:  Sustainability, Resources 
Global Context​:  Globalization and Sustainability 
 
Statement of Inquiry 

 
“Designers have a responsibility to seek sustainable solutions.” 
 
 
Inquiry Questions 
Factual:  What is fast fashion?​ ​What is planned obsolescence? 
Conceptual:  What does sustainability really mean? What is the circular economy?  
Debatable:  How close are we to a sustainable society? 
Debatable:  Who is responsible for sustainability? 
 
Design situation 
Millions of tons of textiles end up in landfills and incinerators around the world every year. This is a problem as the textiles industry 
uses huge amounts of raw materials, water, energy and chemicals for the production of their products. It is often claimed that this 
industry is a prime example of an industry that is not sustainable. As designers (and world-citizens), we have a responsibility to 
design and create with sustainability in mind. Governments, industry and consumers ask us to come up with better solutions to the 
life-cycle of textiles.  
 
Your challenge is to recycle a fabric or textile garment into another product that 
will be useful for your intended client. This upcycled product will effectively help 
to extend the life of your garment.   
Task A1 | ​The Problem 

🔎 What? 
 
❗Why? 
 
Explain and justify the need for a solution to a problem.  You need to fully understand the ‘problem’ and identify where 
you can make a meaningful contribution towards solving this. 
 

⚙ How? 
Design situation 
● Explain​ what you are challenged with to create in this unit and why it is important i​ n your own words. 

Millions of textiles end up being incinerated or in landfills annually, this is 

problematic because most of these garments use huge amounts of energy, water 
and chemicals just for production. All of these resources are making the garment 
production industry very unsustainable, and bad for the environment. As a 
designer I am going to try and give my garment a second life, instead of the 
garment being put on sale in another country or getting incinerated.   
● Identify​ the fabric your project will focus on and which garment(s) you will retrieve this from. You should have a 
collage (and ​possible gif​ of you wearing the garment) with an explanation of the material properties. Example H​ ERE​. 
Insert the annotated collage below. 

 
Project justification 
● Explain​ what fast fashion is and why it is problematic. 
● Present​ photographic evidence of different aspects of the problem. Caption the photos explaining what the image is 
showing. 
● You must use in-text citation OR footnotes to indicate what source you have used! 

Fast fashion clothing refers to cheap trendy clothing with a much shorter lifespan than in
the past. Fast fashion clothing is inspired by what is shown

on catwalks, but it is made very cheap to attract the maximum number of consumers.
Many companies like H&M, Forever21 and Zara use fast fashion to drive their sales and
profits​2​.

The main problems with fast fashion relate to​5​:

1. Use of cheap labour with unreasonable working conditions

Child labour at textile sweatshop​6

2. Very negative environmental costs due to toxic chemicals and greenhouse emissions

Textile worker at polluted river​7

3. Unprecedented amounts of textile rubbish from both consumers and producers

Textile landfill​3

4. Unfair distribution of money

Worker vs consumer​4

Works cited (in MLA format using NoodleTools) 

● List​ any sources of information used in this section. That includes s​ ources of photos​ used in the project justification. 

1. MuralsWallpaper,​www.google.com/search?q=grey%20blue%20ombre&tbm=isch&hl=en&hl=en&safe=strict
&safe=strict&tbs&rlz=1C5CHFA_enSG861SG862&ved=0CAEQpwVqFwoTCMCVid-zxucCFQAAAAAdAAA
AABAC&biw=923&bih=680#imgrc=Hsi3i7-LsG2npM

2. Thomas, Dana. Fast Fashion. The High Price of Fast Fashion, 2019.
 3. The Wall Street Journal. 29 Aug. 2019, www.wsj.com/articles/
the-high-price-of-fast-fashion-11567096637. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

4. Alternatives to Fast Fashion. 26 Feb. 2019, www.hercampus.com/school/lmu/

alternatives-fast-fashion. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

5. Fast Fashion Explained in under 5 Minutes. Performance by Kristen Leo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR7bXsoNwwE

6. McAteer, Oliver. "The Bangladeshi Children Paid 20p a Day to Make Your Jeans." 1 Dec.2015,
metro.co.uk/2015/12/01/the-bangladeshi-sweatshop-children-paid-20p-a-day-to-make-your-jeans-5536473
Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

7. Joo, Ellie. "The Hidden Costs of Fast Fashion." 21 Sept. 2017,

seedinsights.com/ index.php/the-hidden-costs-of-fast-fashion/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
 
 

Assessment 
Level  Descriptor  Typical features of student work 

0  The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors below. 

1-2  The student ​states  ❏ You have copied and pasted the challenge from above. You should show your 
the need for a  understanding of the challenge by explaining it and its importance in your own 
solution to a  words. 
problem.  ❏ You did not provide multiple photos nor explain the properties of your fabric. An 
annotated collage with this information was required. Reviewing the provided 
example would help you with this. 
❏ You provided a limited justification of the problems with fast fashion with no 
photographic evidence. More explanation with evidence is needed. 
❏ You did not list your sources nor provide citations. 

3-4  The student  ❏ You have identified the challenge of the project. You should show your deeper 
outlines​ the need  understanding of the challenge by also explaining its importance in your own words. 
for a solution to a  ❏ You provide multiple photos but do not explain the properties of your fabric. An 
problem.  analysis of the material was needed. Reviewing the example would help you with 
this. 
❏ You provided an adequate justification of the problems with fast fashion with no 
photographic evidence. More explanation with evidence is needed. 
❏ You list your sources but did not provide citations and did not use proper MLA format. 
Please use Noodletools to ensure proper formatting. 

5-6  The student  ❏ You have paraphrased the challenge of the project. You should show your 
explains​ the need  understanding of the challenge by also explaining its importance in your own words. 
for a solution to a  ❏ You provide multiple photos but do not explain the properties of your fabric. An 
problem.  analysis of the material was needed. Reviewing the example would help you with 
this. 
❏ You provided an adequate justification of the problems with fast fashion with 
photographic evidence. You needed to provide a caption that explained the photo. 
❏ You list your sources in MLA format but did not provide citations in your writing. 
Please use Noodletools to ensure proper formatting. 

7-8  The student  ❏ You effectively showed your understanding of the challenge by also explaining its 
explains​ and  importance in your own words. 
justifies​ the need  ❏ You provide an annotated collage with multiple photos of your garment and explained 
for a solution to a  the properties of your fabric.  
problem.  ❏ You provided a detailed justification of the problems with fast fashion with captioned 
photographic evidence.  
 ❏ You list your sources in MLA format and provided appropriate citations in your 
writing.