Making, Emotion and the drive to re-shore UK garment manufacturing

Research suggests that the act of making with one’s hands may be linked to emotional wellbeing. Yet fashion businesses seeking to return production to the UK are struggling to recruit the necessary skilled manufacturing workers. Given the estimated cost of depression to the UK economy and the sustainability benefits of returning local production it seems that there is potential for massive social benefit could such a workforce be mobilized. This position paper proposes novel design challenges and research questions for further exploration. Application of design methods and critical or speculative design to these challenges could help to raise social awareness of garment manufacture and increase the emotional wellbeing of manufacturing workers, while maintaining rates of production which would make re-shoring (returning to on-shore manufacturing in the UK) economically viable.

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