Swap: Shop With A Purpose
Fourth Year Grad Exhibition Project
Thesis:
“To illuminate the clothing swap system as a vehicle that narrates stories about second-hand items, that ultimately opens up a space for consumers to think critically about their relationships with clothing.”
Key Words: Fashion Sustainability, Clothing Swaps, Consumerism, Stories, Value
Problem Space:
• Clothing can often be interpreted as quick, single-use, throwaway items
• People don’t always know the full story behind an item, or are curious to know it
• Not all consumers are accustomed to buying second-hand items, or associate them as negative
• Clothing Swaps aren’t the most popular form of consumption, and are usually initiated within friend groups or small gatherings
Objectives:
• To communicate the clothing swap system as an identity that is clean, organized and fun
• Target consumers who aren’t used to the concept of used clothing and who would consider it otherwise
• To educate the audience about fashion sustainability and alternatives to consumption
• To shine light on second-hand clothes to view how a story can change the interpretation of it
• To share people’s clothing stories and to inspire others to take action
Deliverables:
• A visual identity for the Swap System
• Swap logo/wordmark
• Swap Stories: Volume 1 Print Publication
• Creative writing/editing based off of interviews
• Printed clothing tags
• An online platform/social media
• Illustration
• Photography
• Swap “swag”
This project began with the concrete idea of giving the clothing swap an identity, and turned into a poetic representation of swapping clothing through storytelling. Swap Stories: Volume 1 features 11 individuals who share an interesting story about a clothing item they cherish, as well as statistics, information and research about the fast-fashion industry and how to be more sustainable when it comes to fashion. The concept behind these stories is that they would be shared in a clothing swap setting, where all people involved in the clothing swap would have an opportunity to feature their item in the publication, and pass on their story along with their item. As more items get swapped, more stories are collected overtime-and this idea shows that clothing has the potential to be seen as more than the items we wear, but lived experiences, memories, emotions and a piece of an individual. There is so much more to a used-object than what may appear; unless we are aware where the item came from, we have no idea of its history and what it once meant to somebody else.
I redefined the idea of the Clothing Swap by creating an organized system, where participants would submit their items with a story attached to it, and that story would be transmitted into the Swap Stories publication, onto a clothing tag that would be printed for that item, and would feature a unique QR code for each clothing’s story to be accessible online.
Each story is told from the clothing item’s perspective, a unique twist I decided to give the project so there is more emphasis on the idea of clothing being alive and animated. With this approach, I hoped to put more value on the item, and the idea of it living through its own personal journey for us humans to understand.
As my focus was to create a visual identity, I wanted to integrate my own illustrations and photography into the final execution. With each interview I conducted for the publication, I photographed each person wearing their item, and eventually created illustrations of the person and their garment. The blue and cream colour scheme was chosen as the Swap’s visual aesthetic, as I wanted to keep the identity universal, non-binary and inclusive for all audiences. I chose to use a clean + minimalist aesthetic as clothing swaps can sometimes be thought of the opposite, therefore communicating it as nice and simple was the ultimate goal.
Read the entire publication here
View the Swap Website here
View my Process Book