ashna patel

Conscious Collaborative Clothing: A Case Study on Regenerating Relationships within the Value Chain

Conscious, Collaborative Clothing is a project that set out to address and challenge our disassociation with the human and non-human ecosystems that the fashion and textile industry is built upon. The project brings together stakeholders across the value chain, fostering collaboration and community engagement through interviews, workshops, and co-creation sessions. The investigation was carried out in collaboration with Khadi London, a social enterprise supplying and advocating khadi - a handspun and handwoven fabric - and community members in Kolding, Denmark. The tangible result was a limited collection of socially-designed garments, handcrafted from khadi cotton, which stand to exemplify a design practice grounded in awareness, compassion and interrelatedness.

Conscious, Collaborative Clothing was first exhibited at Koldinghus (Denmark, 2020). Selected pieces were exhibited at The Festival of Natural Fibres at Craft Central (London, 2021) and Threads of Change at The Nehru Centre (London, 2023). The accompanied thesis was published in Handloom Sustainability and Culture by Springer Nature (2022).