Design for Longevity: The Need for Participatory Approaches

To comply with the recently enacted EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation, the fashion sector must orientate towards innovative methodologies to develop circularity and longevity business models, production methods, and value chains to a greater extent. This paper discusses design for longevity and how fashion and textile designers can support sustainable transition through their design practice. Purpose: We conducted a scoping review to provide a literature overview and identify existing gaps in knowledge of the field of fashion and textile design practice for sustainability; in order to obtain a holistic understanding of recent research developments about design practice and the role of the designer in this connection. Approach: A five-step framework has been followed to generate, read, and analyze the literature, and to embrace a diverse scoping review methodology. The paper collates the literature of selected studies of fashion and textile design practice for sustainability. Findings: The review results in an overview of the thematic analysis and gaps in knowledge. It identifies key areas for further research and points to participatory approaches involving multiple stakeholders (fashion companies, end-users, and textile/garment manufacturers). Value: This scoping review provides an outline for practice-based design researchers, fashion and textile designers, and other stakeholders to support creative fashion innovation through research informed fashion and stakeholder methodologies.