Advancing Unconventional Bridal Gowns Detailing Designs through Cosmopolitan Localism to Promote Environmental Sustainability

Josephine Opoku; Akosua Mawuse Amankwah; Ginn Bonsu  Assibey

doi:10.4314/just.v40i3.1392

Josephine Opoku epartment of Industrial Art, College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)
Akosua Mawuse Amankwah Department of Industrial Art, CABE, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1732-0989
Dr. Ginn Bonsu Assibey Department of Communication Design, College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8646-6404

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/just.v40i3.1392

Keywords: environmental sustainability, unconventional, studio-based, cosmopolitan localism, upcycling, detailing

Abstract

This study focused on exploring unconventional designs through cosmopolitan localism to promote environmental sustainability in the field of fashion through the experimental method. The research aimed at using upcycled materials for garment detailing on bridal gowns and employed a studio- based design method, which consisted of problem discovery and definition, unconventional bridal fashion conceptualization and upcycled material experimentation for garment development and construction for bridal fashion. A reflective journal was used as a data-gathering process during the study. In the area of analysis, reflexivity was used. The result of the study showed that different types of non-fabric and fabric materials can be improvised through cosmopolitan localism for innovative construction techniques through machines and handcrafting techniques for creating a complete bridal fashion detailing that advances the concept of environmental sustainability. Authors recommend that sustainable bridal detailing from natural and artificial materials be explored further in other fashion categories through cosmopolitan localism apart from the bridal gowns to perpetuate the circular economy embraced by the fourth industrial revolution.

Author Biographies

Josephine Opoku, epartment of Industrial Art, College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

Josephine Opoku is an assistant lecturer at the Department of Industrial Art, College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). She graduated with an MFA Textile Design degree from the Industrial Art Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Her research employed conventional and non-conventional materials in detailing bridal gowns. Her research interest includes design, fashion and textile design. Currently she is a PhD student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Akosua Mawuse Amankwah, Department of Industrial Art, CABE, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

Akosua Mawuse Amankwah is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Industrial Art, CABE, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. She holds Master of Design in Professional Design for Textiles and Fashion from Heriot Watt University, 2007. She facilitates Design and Marketing related courses in undergraduate and graduate programs. Currently, she is a doctoral student at KNUST, pursuing Fashion Design Technology. Her Research Interest is in Ghana Fashion Industry Sustainability. She is a member of the Institute of Textiles and Fashion Professional Ghana, The International Learning Network on Sustainability (LeNS), and an outreach member of The International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI).

Dr. Ginn Bonsu Assibey, Department of Communication Design, College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Ginn Bonsu Assibey (PhD) is a lecturer and an examinations officer at the Department of Communication Design, College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He holds a doctorate in Design from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa. His doctoral research centred on interventions in design for sustainability in graphic design practices, which manifested the concept of relational ontology as a driver for cosmopolitan localism. His research interests include challenges to sustainable design, systems design for sustainability, and emerging advertising design strategies. He is a member of Australian Graphic Design Association and Design Education Forum of Southern Africa. He works mostly in two research paradigms – interpretivism and pragmatism – which are driven by learning through participation.