Experiencing sustainable fashion : Have fun and feel clever – a case study for critical design literacy

The consumption of clothes is increasing every year, which is a huge challenge for sustainability. Educational Design research have shown that the challenge cannot be solved unless we have critical literate consumers. By making the question of sustainable clothing a matter for critical design literacy, the aim of this case study is to examine the meaning making of an educational material produced for teachers in design and craft education. The educational material, entitled Sustainable Fashion, consists of 17 design projects and the analysis is made with the aid of practical epistemological analysis with a specific focus on aesthetic experience. Two ways of becoming a sustainable consumer of fashion have been identified – to have fun and to feel clever – and these two meaning making activities incorporate certain actions of what it means to be a sustainable consumer. From a critical design literacy perspective, these ways of becoming a sustainable consumer are crucial to acknowledge, as they include (and exclude other) specific sustainability actions.