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The relationship between craft and design has been the subject of much discourse. Press and Cushworth (1997) have suggested that craft knowledge is fundamental to developing a vision of design in a “post-industrial future”, and McCullough (1998, cited in Kettley, 2005) supported this, noting “there remains a realm where scientific production cannot go, where mechanized industry finds too little demand to go, and where artistic discourses dare not go…there we find craft”. Contradictory to existing industrial-scale design processes, craft values social engagement and knowledge-sharing, is reflective and produces authentic products imbued with cultural meaning. It is these characteristics which suggest that craft has a significant role to play in developing sustainable practices. This paper explores the role of craft in supporting sustainable fashion design, production and consumption. In recent years a number of DIY craft and fashion micro-productions have emerged throughout the fashion and textile industries through the fusion of the design and making process. Fletcher (2008) has proposed that more participatory models of fashion design, “User Maker” systems in which consumers become co-partners in the process, may encourage more sustainable consumption. However, the adoption of co-design for sustainable fashion is in its early stages; the evolution in design research from a user-centered approach to co-design is changing the role of the designer and the implication of this shift for the education of designers and researchers are enormous (Sanders & Stappers, 2008). This paper will review the post-Industrial Revolution historical context and identify the key factors which make the current fashion design process unsustainable. It proposes an alternative craft-based design and production model in which emphasis is placed on integrating sustainability within the design development process and embedding education through co-creativity as social process, providing a system in which users are encouraged to explore sustainability as a way of thinking and continually reflect on the environmental and social impacts throughout the product life cycle. The model offers initiatives ranging from the simple involvement in the product development process to more complex ‘idea generation toolkits’, allowing individuals and organizations to engage to different extents with the system. The idea generation toolkits serve to help people understand the context for sustainable fashion and encourage them to create new solutions, both in terms of sustainable consumption or through sustainable co-creation using a ‘learning by doing’ process. As such, it integrates the design process, linking sustainable production and consumption. The paper will also discuss the ongoing development of a web platform which fulfills part of this model. This website utilizes design thinking to provide a learning and sharing environment, encouraging co-design activities which allow enterprises to develop ideas internally or through communication with the consumer. Consequently, people can collaboratively build an inspirational source through a ‘learning, making, sharing’ process and progress from surface to deep engagement with sustainable fashion. This flexible design process allows for active participation from multiple disciplines and generates solutions which address a range of sustainable design issues.
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