ABSTRACT
The 100-Mile Suit–the result of a six-month design experiment that utilised a regional supply chain with the aim of reintegrating and reconnecting the wearer of clothes to local trades and economies–was intended to introduce a dialogue about resources and community, an attempt to unravel the disconnect of consumer to product. The apparel and footwear industry is highly globalised–a complex system wherein designers of clothing are strategic problem solvers succeeding in co-opting the phenomenological power of our relationship to clothing with effective methods that disengage wearer from innate sensibilities. The 100-Mile Suit was a durational clothing experiment that explored how design might inspire the reintegration and reconnection of the wearer of clothes to materials and processes as well as local trades and economies involved in the construction of a garment. The 100-Mile Suit explored whether design could be used to mend one’s relationship with clothing.
