How emotionally involved are you with your closet? How connected are you to each piece you own? In today’s world, the ethical challenges facing the fast fashion industry are inextricable from consumers’ lives.
Clothes are often cheaply and unsustainably made, mass produced, overly consumed and, simply put, aren’t built to last. If you split your pants today, you could order a brand new pair within minutes online, have them delivered in hours and put on your person within the same day. If you ripped your pants in the year 1790, your resources were more limited.
What can individual consumers do about this? Rebecca Evans, a current Colorado State University design and merchandising graduate student, has spent over two years curating an exhibition that aims to answer this question. Evans presented her findings during a curator talk at the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising Sept. 4. Her exhibition “Dear Old Coat: Sentiment, Stewardship, Sustainability” is currently on display in the museum.
During her talk, Evans explained to listeners how she focused on historical garments produced around the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, before the invention of the sewing machine. Each piece in the exhibit is a testament to a time when pieces were stewarded through longer life cycles.
“My work and examination of these objects aims to prove that the deep connection to material objects encourages product longevity, which could serve as a potential solution for the future of the fashion sustainability crisis,” Evans said.
Before they were mass produced and easily replaced, garments were made by hand, built to last and cared deeply for. Evans said she believes this act of care may provide a sustainable solution for the fast fashion crisis. Emotionally investing in our clothes, slowing down and considering each piece we accept into our closets as long-term commitments and not short-term hookups may be the solution to a more sustainable future.
While a graduate student, Evans is also the assistant costume shop manager for the music, theater and dance departments at CSU. Evans graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in costume design and production design. Evans has always had an interest in fashion and history, making the starting point for her graduate research clear.
“This project began as a simple interest in the exploration of historical fashion objects,” Evans said. “What was initially supposed to be a digital exhibition featuring only text and images evolved over the course of two years into a wonderful physical undertaking.”
During the curation process, Evans spent extended amounts of time with each garment. As she closely examined each piece, the stories of its history were revealed to her.
“My biggest takeaway from the talk is almost inspired by the methodology that she used. The slow approach to seeing and slow looking is to also embrace that mindset as a consumer, to slow down and not feel, maybe, the pressure of the fashion system and the media and the need to have something new and need to be updating a wardrobe all the time, but to bring that same slowness and thoughtfulness that she used as a methodology into fashion.” -Paula Alaszkiewicz, design and merchandising museum curator
Pieces had been mended for repairs, and some had been altered for changing bodies or when passed to new owners. While each story was different, the one constant was that they were all stewarded to last.
“The study of these visible traces of meaning and memory within material evidence sought to foster a new dialogue in which historical dress practices have a place in the urgent and ongoing call for circularity and product longevity in the fashion industry,” Evans said.
Evans said she hopes the exhibition prompts visitors to reflect on their relationship with their own closets and be a little more mindful of the life cycle of garments outside of the time they spend in their possession. Growing a deeper connection and understanding with the material items we own and use on a daily basis is something we can do as individuals to aid in mitigating habits that perpetuate clothing waste.
“I’m hoping that it turns the mirror towards the visitors themselves, and be like, ‘Oh, I don’t need to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe for fall,'” Evans said. “Even though everything on social media, every ad I ever see, tells me I need this or I need that. Maybe I don’t because the clothing that I have is just fine, or even if it’s not just fine, I can mend it, I can remake it, have it mended, have it remade and make it last longer or invest in better clothes … so that we stop this kind of over consumption and disposable clothing habits.”
Among the attendees of Evans’ talk was Paula Alaszkiewicz, curator for the design and merchandising museum and one of Evans’ thesis supervisors. Alaszkiewicz has worked closely with Evans for several years and observed the project grow into the exhibition it is now. Having been involved in parts of Evans’ research process, Alaszkiewicz was surprised to find herself learning new things during Evans’ curator talk.
“My biggest takeaway from the talk is almost inspired by the methodology that she used,” Alaskiewicz said. “The slow approach to seeing and slow looking is to also embrace that mindset as a consumer, to slow down and not feel, maybe, the pressure of the fashion system and the media and the need to have something new and need to be updating a wardrobe all the time, but to bring that same slowness and thoughtfulness that she used as a methodology into fashion.”
At a time when splitting your pants often constitutes the purchase of a whole new pair, considering how we can care for items that serve us everyday is an important part of making them last. Stewarding clothing extends their life cycles while also building a stronger connection between individuals and their material items. Emotionally investing in our closets can help break overconsumption habits and may aid in creating a more sustainable future.
Evans’ exhibition will be on display in Avenir’s Richard Blackwell Gallery through Dec. 20.
Reach Isabella Trinchero at entertainment@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
