Criterion A: Sustainable Design |​ Sewciety 

Name:  Oscar Class: 7-4 

 

 
Image: FashionRevolution.org 
 
Key Concept​:  Systems 
Related Concepts​:  Sustainability, Resources 
Global Context​:  Globalization and Sustainability 
 
Statement of Inquiry 

 
“Designers have a responsibility to seek sustainable solutions.” 
 
 
Inquiry Questions 
Factual:  What is fast fashion?​ ​What is planned obsolescence? 
Conceptual:  What does sustainability really mean? What is the circular economy?  
Debatable:  How close are we to a sustainable society? 
Debatable:  Who is responsible for sustainability? 
 
Design situation 
Millions of tons of textiles end up in landfills and incinerators around the world every year. This is a problem as the textiles industry 
uses huge amounts of raw materials, water, energy and chemicals for the production of their products. It is often claimed that this 
industry is a prime example of an industry that is not sustainable. As designers (and world-citizens), we have a responsibility to 
design and create with sustainability in mind. Governments, industry and consumers ask us to come up with better solutions to the 
life-cycle of textiles.  
 
Your challenge is to recycle a fabric or textile garment into another product that 
will be useful for your intended client. This upcycled product will effectively help 
to extend the life of your garment.   
Task A1 | ​The Problem 

🔎 What? 
 
❗Why? 
 
Explain and justify the need for a solution to a problem.  You need to fully understand the ‘problem’ and identify where 
you can make a meaningful contribution towards solving this. 
 

⚙ How? 
Design situation 
● Explain​ what you are challenged with to create in this unit and why it is important i​ n your own words. 

What we are doing in design is to turn old cotton t-shirts into other useful 
products so the old cotton t-shirts will not turn into wastes and damage the 
environment by throwing the old cotton t-shirts onto the ground and causing 
landfills. 
● Identify​ the fabric your project will focus on and which garment(s) you will retrieve this from. You should have a 
collage (and ​possible gif​ of you wearing the garment) with an explanation of the material properties. Example H​ ERE​. 
Insert the annotated collage below. 

 
Project justification 
● Explain​ what fast fashion is and why it is problematic. 
 ● Present​ photographic evidence of different aspects of the problem. Caption the photos explaining what the image is 
showing. 
● You must use in-text citation OR footnotes to indicate what source you have used! 

Fast fashion is products like clothes that’s usually used for catwalks and it is 
causing a problem because it becomes wastes and garbage after used, it’s 
wasting raw materials, causing landfills and polluting the clean water. It is also 
causing problems like labours  

This is a picture of Indian workers working for 16 hours a day. This is a picture of landfills caused
by fast fashion

This is a picture of fast fashion causing water pollution

Works cited (in MLA format using NoodleTools) 

List​ any sources of information used in this section. That includes s​ ources of photos​ used in the project justification. 

Works Cited

Bellatory​. HubPages, 8 Nov. 2019, bellatory.com/fashion-industry/The-Issues-With-Fast-Fashion.

Accessed 20 Feb. 2020.

 Forbes.​ Forbes media, 13 May 2019,

www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2019/05/13/three-reasons-why-fast-fashion-is-becoming-a-problem-

and-what-to-do-about-it/#6ecdfc85144b. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.

INDEPENDENT​. 8 Jan. 2018,

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/environment-costs-fast-fashion-pollution-waste-sustain

ability-a8139386.html. Accessed 20 Feb. 2020.

● Thomas Imo, ​Sewers of a textile factory in Tongi,

Bangladesh,2 ​ 016​http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/10/25/will-hearing-from-garment-workers-c
hange-fast-fashion
● Mark Liu, ​Time to make fast fashion a problem for its makers, not charities ​September 2 2019
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-fast-fashion-problem-makers-charities.html
● Reuters ​THE ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS OF FAST FASHION​ January 8 2018
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/environment-costs-fast-fashion-pollution-waste-s
ustainability-a8139386.html

 
 

Assessment 
Level  Descriptor  Typical features of student work 

0  The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors below. 

1-2  The student ​states  ❏ You have copied and pasted the challenge from above. You should show your 
the need for a  understanding of the challenge by explaining it and its importance in your own 
solution to a  words. 
problem.  ❏ You did not provide multiple photos nor explain the properties of your fabric. An 
annotated collage with this information was required. Reviewing the provided 
example would help you with this. 
❏ You provided a limited justification of the problems with fast fashion with no 
photographic evidence. More explanation with evidence is needed. 
❏ You did not list your sources nor provide citations. Reviewing expectations for 
citations are needed. 

3-4  The student  ❏ You have simply identified the challenge of the project. You should show your deeper 
outlines​ the need  understanding of the challenge by also explaining its importance in your own words. 
for a solution to a  ❏ A number of required elements of the collage were not included. An analysis of the 
problem.  material was needed. Reviewing the example would help you with this. 
❏ You provided an adequate justification of the problems with fast fashion with no 
photographic evidence. More explanation with evidence is needed. 
❏ You list your sources but did not provide citations and did not use proper MLA format. 
Please use Noodletools to ensure proper formatting. 

5-6  The student  ❏ You have paraphrased the challenge of the project. You should show your deeper 
explains​ the need  understanding of the challenge by also explaining its importance in your own words. 
for a solution to a  ❏ A few of the required elements of your collage were not included. An analysis of the 
problem.  material was needed. Reviewing the example would help you with this. 
❏ You provided an adequate justification of the problems with fast fashion with 
 photographic evidence. You needed to provide a caption that explained the photo. 
❏ You list your sources in MLA format but did not provide citations in your writing. 
Please use Noodletools to ensure proper formatting. 

7-8  The student  ❏ You effectively showed your understanding of the challenge by also explaining its 
explains​ and  importance in your own words. 
justifies​ the need  ❏ You provide an annotated collage with all of the required elements including multiple 
for a solution to a  labelled photos of your garment and explanation of the properties of your fabric.  
problem.  ❏ You provided a detailed justification of the problems with fast fashion with captioned 
photographic evidence.  
❏ You list your sources in MLA format and provided appropriate citations in your 
writing.