ABSTRACT
The present article was based on projects developed within autarchic professional spheres and consists of an exploratory and experimental study of fashion design. We aim to demonstrate the potential of using material culture not only as a visual reference, but also to attribute value and create product differentiation.
Contemporary fashion market is permeated with brand massification in a globalized and pasteurized logic. In this sense, this work intends to present the strategic difference between a design approach that integrates material culture and/or its agents and an approach that perceives cultural heritage merely as a methodological phase of the creation process.
We conclude by presenting a study based on a design methodology that upcycled a Portuguese cultural identity into a fashion product—which was integrated into the heritage collection of the National Museum of Costume (Portugal).
