ABSTRACT
Can the consumer inspire a counter-culture movement through creative acts of intervention and does this signal the power of the individual in shaping our future fashion industry? In 2005 Alex Martin, a performance artist based in Seattle, US, set out to wear the same dress for a year in a project she documented online as The Little Brown Dress. She made two identical dresses from brown cotton twill although she eventually wore only one. She washed the dress regularly, layering it with different garments each day, as much for appearance as for climate. Martin’s aim was to confront the drive for over-consumption in fashion, particularly targeted towards women. She replaced buttons as they broke, and only changed garments for sleeping and swimming.
