Cucuteni Shirt

"Romanian Creative Week (May 2023) explored the concept of WONDER – a new way of looking at the future we all want. Without constantly rushing towards a better tomorrow, #RCW23 raised the challenge to live in the present with a sense of awe and the idea that nothing around us is really over."
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The curatorial team behind this exhibition and the accompanying workshops at the Cultural Palace in Iași, formed the 'real-world' situation for this research work. The exhibition showcased how discarded materials could be transformed into high-value, artistic and wearable fashion pieces ('experimental couture'). The show aimed to draw professional and general public’s attention to the significant problem of textile waste in the fast fashion industry and advocate for conscious consumption habits.
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The design brief drew on emotionally durable design (Chapman, 2005; Connor-Crabb et al., 2016) within new printed textile approaches, building on a large body of prior practice by Earley. A practice-based workshop was organised as part of the event. This explored how cultural relevance could be designed into products by using references to important archaeological artifacts from the region. The piece produced for the exhibition explored how Gen-AI might be used to support a more economic approach to the design process involved in creating remade clothing which is intended to appeal to a specific local user. It explored the concept of bespoke garments increasing the value of clothing – emotional and economic – and whether Gen-AI could create novel print imagery that would appeal to local users.
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One of the garment prototypes - Cucuteni Shirt - was an overprinted recycled polyester shirt that explored how local print patterns could be pieced together in participatory workshop scenarios with emerging fashion designers from the region in Roamania.

- Public and professional audiences were prompted to question their understanding of cultural relevance in their clothing choices
- The actions with the exhibition workshop participants expanded skills towards remanufacturing and culturally relevant surface design
- The published academic insights involved the conference community to translate the findings to their own local contexts
- The resulting insights around local/durability approaches strengthened the final project guidelines for a localised European circular economy (HEREWEAR EU research project community).

• https://2023.romaniancreativeweek.ro/en/...
• https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/...