Current fashion consumption and higher production levels have given rise to what is termed ‘Fast Fashion’. This refers to quantity and speed of consumption, using up our resources by mass-producing numerous low quality cheap collections that do not take the producers/workers or environment into account. It contributes to high levels of waste, as cheap low quality garments and textiles are quickly disposed of by consumers, ending up in landfills and making for very short product life cycles. 

The manufacturing for these products is done largely in developing countries, where the producer and their craft heritage are not valued, resulting in mass-produced soulless garments and textiles. In Pakistan, there has been a lack of value placed in traditional craft in recent times. Most urban exporters and manufacturers have focused their energy on mechanised methods of cheap and quick production. This is a country where the craft is embedded in culture, tradition and the identity of the artisan. However, very little is effectively being done for the sustenance of traditional craft and the artisan – who are intrinsically tied together. This is one of the main reasons artisans feel their skill is not worth much, and fewer younger women are carrying on this age old tradition. Young women also feel less motivated to make traditional designs because there has been very little change or modification in them over time and this leaves them uninspired. This has affected the quality of work, which is poorer with less attention to detail compared to previous generations.

The project aims to sustain traditional textile craft in Pakistan, and its (mostly rural women) producers, both socially and economically. By valuing their work and generating income for them, it strives to uplift their communities and social status.

The creative practical process will entail developing valuable high quality fashion and textile accessories or outcomes – with weave and stitch – designed to be kept for a long time. The design outcomes are aimed at the UK and Western market. For these there will be design workshops in Pakistan and market research based in the UK and Pakistan. The theory will be developed to understand the cultural, social, traditional and historical context of the community and area to make informed practical and design decisions. It will also include the relevance of craft and the hand-made in the Western world.  The documentation will involve audiovisuals of interviews, visits, artisans’ lives and conversations, to explore why the tradition exists, and what hand-made means to both the market and producer. I intend to re-introduce value to the consumer, the rural artisan and the craft through the end product, re-establishing the tender relationship between woman and needle.