4.2. Estimación del modelo de Nelson y Siegel
4.2.3. Procedimiento de estimación del vector de parámetros del modelo
The Living Wardrobe series investigates the viability of various sustainable design strategies for fashion,
alongside the opportunity offered for redirective practice for design.375 The key aspects explored are: ⁃ fabrics and construction methods to ensure appropriate physical durability for likely use ⁃ provisions for alterations and repairs to maintain fit and condition
⁃ opportunities for customisation to update appearance
The prototyping process involves several cycles of practice, each refining the requirements of the prototype and problem-solving technical issues in order to achieve the optimal sample garment. The planning stage of the prototype development involved the creation of briefs for each garment design based on the above principles that emerged from the survey findings and research for design activities discussed in Chapter 3. The first brief The Cowl Dress is lengthy and complex, seeking to respond to everything I had so far encountered in my research. The briefs for subsequent prototypes are much reduced in scope, responding to questions that come from the first prototype. In addition to setting a brief, planning each prototype involves the sketching of a range of possible garment designs: silhouettes, details, fabrics, and colours before selecting one to make up.
In many ways the prototyping process is similar to my established methods of commercial fashion practice with a focus on the realisation of a prototypical garment from two dimensional drawings and patterns to a three-dimensional toile form. Because I design, cut the pattern, and toile the garment myself, this stage is characterised by reflection-in-action.376 As the design comes to life on paper and then in cloth, the contributing design decisions are reviewed and revised, leading to amendments “on the go” that can subtly or entirely change the garment design. Added to this cycle of reflective, action research was the redirective practice mantra, “what will my design, design?”377 that framed all design decisions made in the context of their likely future impact in, and on the world.
The action phase blends into the observation phase when reflection on the progress of the developing garment design arrives at the checkpoint of the completed toile. Form, function, and sustaining-ability are evaluated through quiet observation on a mannequin, by trying the garment on, and documented through photographs and notes. Table 4.1 shows a summary of the key criteria for this evaluation. Each prototype was considered in terms of standard design criteria such as fit and style. In addition, the key aspects of designing sustainable fashion garments, based on a review of the literature378 surrounding sustainable fashion design, and on the outcomes of the earlier research for design investigations, were considered in respect of each prototype.
375. Fry, Design futuring: sustainability, ethics, and new practice.
376. In commercial fashion design practice, the patternmaking and manufacturing stages may be out-sourced. 377. Fry, Design futuring: sustainability, ethics, and new practice.
378. Laitala, "Making Clothing Last: A Design Approach for Reducing the Environmental Impacts.",
Niinimäki and Hassi, "Emerging design strategies in sustainable production and consumption of textiles and clothing.", Rissanen in Gwilt and Rissanen, Shaping Sustainable Fashion: changing the way we make and use clothes.,
Fashion Criteria Design for Sustainability criteria
Fit Provisions for alterations
Style Provisions for repairs
Easy to wear Provisions for customisation
Easy to care for Simplification of construction
Simplification of materials palette TABLE 4.1. EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR PROTOTYPES
These notes are roughly jotted down on scraps of paper at hand and kept with the paper pattern until the revisions are made. As discussed above, pattern changes are generally made in a contrasting colour pencil to permit restoration of a previous version should the change not be successful (Figure 3.5). The pattern changes are referenced to specific toiles (identified with calico tags) such that the chronology of each design’s evolution is maintained through both pattern and toile (Figure 3.6). The reflective design practice was extended beyond the scope of self-reflection through peer critique that involved positioning the observations made within the context of the larger research study with an expert panel made up of supervisors and external panel members. During the research, reflections that concluded the major cycles of research practice were formally written up and presented twice yearly at practice research symposiums where the on-going research project received feedback from an academic panel and audience of peers. These public moments of reflection contributed greatly to the development of the research: requiring the collation of work-to-date for presentation to receive timely feedback. During the major prototyping phase from 2011 to 2013, the research project was presented in this way seven times and the documentation associated with these presentations forms a valuable snap-shot of my thinking at the time.
INDIVIDUAL BRIEFS FOR THE LIVING WARDROBE SERIES
This section describes how The Cowl Dress was used as the basis for the development of a shape library379 to explore the potential of various initiatives that arose through the design practice to be applied to contemporary fashion practice as a more sustain-able alternative to existing models of sustainable fashion design practice. The aim was to begin with a single garment experiment that could then evolve iteratively, where lessons learned through each experiment were used to inform and improve the next garment designs as they progressed. The initial brief focused on one garment type, the dress, and resulted in the first prototype in the series: The Cowl Dress. The decision to first prototype a dress style was initially informed by the Survey of Consumer Practices in Australia survey undertaken at the commencement of the research study, in which dresses featured prominently in the category of those garments kept but no longer worn (see Chapter 3).The process of developing a brief for The Cowl Dress involved deeper thinking about the longevity of the garment and to identifying factors that would impact the use phase of the resulting garment artefact. For example: design speculation on the future wear and tear of the garment led to greater consideration of the importance of technical functionality to support potential future re-modelling. This led to a number of propositions: If the dress would be worn over an extended period, it may need to be let out? If it were to change hands, it might need to be taken in? In this case, would additional fabric be needed for repairs?
Findings from the preliminary research activities suggested this might be facilitated through the reintroduction of traditional garment construction techniques no longer widely used in ready-to-wear womenswear. The research through existing garment production practices (Chapter 3) revealed a number of existing techniques, both familiar and unfamiliar, that might be re-integrated into contemporary design practice to facilitate future alteration. Common problems that lead to premature disposal of fashion garments that are otherwise still valuable and simple design decisions that can address these through the initial design process380 are summarized in Table 4.2 and framed approaches to designing The Cowl Dress. As a result of these questions, a proposition developed that the garment might be scripted (see Chapter 3) with more sustainable clothing practices to potentially extend use and prompt responsible disposal.
379. Rissanen, "Zero-waste fashion design: a study at the intersection of cloth, fashion design and pattern cutting.",p.91
380. This list is gleaned from the research through existing garment production practices and my personal and professional experience. Little research exists on specific physical garment characteristics that prevent a garment from being worn. One such reference is Laitala, "Consumers' clothing disposal behaviour – a synthesis of research results."
TABLE 4.2. HISTORICAL GARMENT PRODUCTION METHODS THAT MIGHT BE RE-INTEGRATED INTO CONTEMPORARY DESIGN PRACTICE TO FACILITATE FUTURE ALTERATION
Principle Method Application example/s Examples from The Living Wardrobe
Provisions for alterations – garment is too
short for its wearer Allow additional fabric through the body and sleeve length
Tuck in Sleeve lining Tuck in Bodice waistline Hem allowance
The Cowl Dress The Coat The Trousers Provisions for alterations – garment is too
tight for its wearer Wide seam allowances Centre back and side seams Hem allowance The Cowl Skirt The Culottes The Trousers Provisions for alterations/repair – broken
fastenings makes garment un-wearable Hand-sewn fastenings In place of mechanically applied The Cowl Skirt The Culottes The Trousers Provisions for repair – garment has a hole
or tear/rip that needs fabric for patching or mending
Additional fabric Use of contrasting fabrics within garment
Included in pocket bag Hem allowance
Contrast fabrics used in areas likely to be soiled permits replacement of those parts with another compatible (but different) fabric
The Layered Top
Durable fastenings – broken zip makes
garment un-wearable Placket Button/press stud/hook and eye closure replaces zip The Cowl Skirt The Culottes The Trousers Reinforcement of areas of wear – fabric is
worn out in area of stress or friction shields Underarm, seat, trouser hem, back neck The Trousers The Coat The Layered Top Accessible construction – industrial
specialist machine stitching is too difficult to unpick to all for repair/adjustments
Straight and zig-zag,
BRIEF FOR THE COWL DRESS
The brief for The Cowl Dress as the first prototype in this study, was, on reflection, ambitious. Based on up to two years of research into existing theory and methods relevant to design for sustainability, the brief focused on three ideas for producing more sustainably designed fashion by designing for i) flexibility in size, ii) including some simple in-built style variation as it was worn, and iii) facilitating future alteration and re-modelling by a home sewer. The capacity for modification in size and style informed an approach to the design of the dress that favoured a simple silhouette comprising few parts. The anticipated simplicity of the garment’s manufacture further suggested that those provisions within a garment that enable repair and re-modelling, might also enable its initial making. This led to a second objective being added to the brief: that the dress might be manufactured by the home sewer from a pattern, as an alternative to being purchased ready-made. While home manufacture might not be within all wearers’ capabilities, at the time the prototyping commenced, the possibility was considered an important inclusion towards encouraging greater participation in the home manufacture of fashionable clothing. I considered that success in small actions of repair and re-making might foster the inclination to attempt home manufacture of a garment. Therefore, I sought to support that possibility within the garment design and developed a design brief that sought to support of home manufacture, re-manufacture, repair or re-use.
Extending the conceptual constraints of the brief, a list of specific requirements of the brief read as follows:
⁃ An easy to wear garment
⁃ Construction and pattern making methods that facilitate easy alterations.
⁃ Construction and pattern making methods that facilitate assembly by a home sewer ⁃ Fabric that ages well
⁃ Fabrics and trims that are easily obtainable at retail fabric stores
⁃ A style that facilitates personalisation of the design through variations of the fabric and design details.
⁃ Aesthetic considerations: a garment that is a pleasure to wear because if its appearance and the experience of wearing it.