With Love the Look?, we aimed to foster awareness about the fast fashion industry by holding a mirror, both literally and figuratively, to the viewer. We confront visitors with the hidden realities of their (fast fashion) clothing choices by creating emotional awareness and sparking reflection. Rather than offering solutions, we expose the deep systemic injustices behind cheap clothing. We invite visitors to recognize their own role in this systemic issue. Not to shame them, but to trigger the thought: âYes, I contribute to this, but I donât want to. Itâs time for a change.â This shift from passivity to urgency reflects this yearâs theme: Less Hope, More Action!
Love the Look? Invites viewers to look behind the seams of fast fashion. It not only shows the overproduction and poor labour conditions that many consumers are already aware of, but the hidden costs reach further: polluted rivers and mountains of discarded clothing in developing countries. Our installation offers a moment of quiet reflection, revealing what often remains unseen. It confronts visitors with the weight of their choices and the realities behind a fleeting trend. By exposing these concealed consequences, it challenges peopleâs comfort of ignorance, asking them: Will you still look away?
Our solution translates the hidden consequences of fast fashion into a tangible and immersive experience. The installation consists of four garments on a clothing rack, each marked by a red-circled opening that holds a handcrafted peephole box. These ordinary garments double as storytelling devices, transforming clothing into carriers of hidden realities.
The process was highly iterative and rooted in sustainable making. We sourced discarded garments and materials, prototyped different box sizes, and tested viewing angles to ensure accessibility and impact. User feedback directly informed key design choices, such as garment selection and the height of the rack.
We combined performative design, visual storytelling, and critical reflection. By embedding narratives within ordinary objects and culminating with a confronting mirror scene, we urge visitors to truly reflect on their choices. The unexpected ending leaves viewers startled, even shocked, sparking the deeper questioning that fast fashion so urgently demands.
Love the Look? is highly relevant within the theme Less Hope, More Action! as it reveals the systemic injustices and environmental destruction hidden behind fast fashion. By confronting visitors with these realities in an everyday retail setting, the installation transforms abstract problems into personal awareness, encouraging critical thought and responsibility. Its impact lies in the emotional shock of recognition; visitors are left questioning their own role in the cycle of overconsumption.
Rather than prescribing direct solutions, Love the Look? provokes reflection. Its strength lies in sparking dialogue and planting seeds of awareness. In this way, it bridges design, storytelling, and activism, making urgent issues impossible to ignore.
