We Are not Designers: Pattern making and garment making as practices of co-design for social change

Set within a global context increasingly hostile to women and girls, this doctoral research project investigated how fashion design, and more specifically, the practices of making patterns and garments, can give them tools to enhance their agency and build community resilience. This research aimed to explore how pattern making and garment making can be used to foster social change with a group of women from the margins. The methodology consisted of participatory practice research, comprising the delivery of participatory pattern making and garment making workshops designed to support women in developing their creative practices. This approach was complemented by semistructured interviews with several pattern makers and socially-engaged designers and researchers. Findings from the interviews led to defining a new framework to analyse projects of fashion design for social change. An open and inclusive definition of pattern making and garment making was formulated, and the practice was deconstructed into a set of five core elements, rethinking the field of pattern cutting. Two years of participatory practice research with a group of women in a deprived area of London, revealed that participating in the project fostered skill building, creativity development, community engagement, and the improvement of their wellbeing and self-confidence, leading some of the women to enrol in fashion design education, deliver community workshops and start a social enterprise. By applying the framework, built upon insights from the interviews, to the participatory practice research, this study uncovers how pattern making and garment making can be used to co-design social change with a group of women when employed with a ‘sororalistic’ approach led by empathy. In conclusion, the thesis promotes a more inclusive and open practice of pattern making and garment making, offers an original contribution to the field of fashion design for social change both in theory and practice, and adds to the collective effort towards shaping fairer and more equitable societies.