working on how to bring solutions of transition towards more responsible lifestyles

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June 21, 2009

RE-act awarded!

1. The project Re-act won the 1st prize of the 5th edition of the french competition Concours Génération Développement Durable. The enthusiasm caused by the project leads me to consider the concretization of the service more and more seriously. I will keep you informed on this blog.
To read the article of the partner actu-environnement.com and the video published on dailymotion (both in French).

2. I have also been rewarded "Student of the Year 2009"- Business Category given by Universum, thanks to my Master thesis.

Since the project has been publish, I had the occasion to answer various interviews, it was often asked to me to describe specified and the originality of the project, here what I answered:
Re-act proposes a new step: to integrate the users into the design of the products in order to allow better a management of consumption. The consumers become thus actors of their consumption. They are developed by the choices which they make, first of all ethical point of view while acting as agreement with their values, but also from a creative point of view, because they take share with the creation of their new clothing. The specificity of the service Re-act also rests on the industrialization of the process of recycling, indeed the fact of recycling the textile is not new, but to is not carried either of all. By centralizing the creative process (design of the preconceived models) the system Re-act can develop geographically, by multiplying the shops whereas only one creative office is necessary. The service is thus accessible to the greatest number and thus gives the possibility to all of recycling if such is their choice.

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Links to the published articles on Internet in the news section of my portfolio.

March 1, 2009

Sustainable Clothing - Conclusion

What is interesting in this project, it is that textile creation is not approached any more only like a way to express creativity. This service gives an opinion, it evokes another lifestyle through the proposal to consume clothing in a responsible way. It takes position and goes much further that the fact of affirming a style or a vestimentary taste. Thanks to Re-act, we see that the expression by Lavoisier* attains its full meaning, and also for clothing we can say that:
“Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed”

I will write here a more detailed conclusion as soon as possible.
* whose initial author is Anaxagore de Clazomènes

.see the finished project. .an insight of my Master's thesis.

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If you are interested by the synthesis of the project, the reading of my Master's thesis, or for all other questions, feel free to contact me at magalie.pedrono[at]gmail.com
And find me on LinkedIn!

February 17, 2009

Report 3/3

RE-act
…collections of 'unique items'!
Whereas the concept of sustainable development is increasingly present in our Western countries, solutions enabling us to follow it miss and that is mainly because the current society is based on overconsumption, a behaviour at the antipodes of a sustainable attitude. While many evolutions are made in the fields of transport and food, the clothing world stays often badly treated, because subjected to the fashion phenomena, it is more complex to solve. In spite of the efforts made regarding ethical fashion (form, composition of clothing), nothing is still proposed to change the purchasing behaviours, whereas it is that the main issue: the overconsumption and thus the overproduction of textiles. This service proposes to bring a solution to the following question: How to reconcile need for renewal for clothing and non-consumerist attitude?


Composition of a dress as example.


Each piece of cloth is unique since it is composed of original clothing of the customer.

RE-act is a new local service proposing to people to make recycle their own clothing in order to have a new ite,m unique and custom-made. It mainly addresses to people little consumerists and in search of originality and singularity trough a new experiment of clothing.
RE-act thus proposes to them an attractive alternative to the consumption of new textiles. But it also enables any consumer sensitive to the ecological question to have pleasure by the acquisition of a new cloth, while having a clear conscience to act in an eco-responsible way. The customers bring their old clothing in the store, choose among the available models and order their new cloth, personalized, made starting from their own clothing.
The model of RE-act is perfectly integrated in the current needs for proximity shops, and local production. The dressmaker work stations are besides the occasion to create jobs for social rehabilitation, which installs RE-act in a total logic of sustainable development.


Spacial arrangement

User scenario


Identity aspects: RE-act creations combine in an original way and without changing too much their initial form, clothing that are not worn for multiple reasons: old, out of fashion, bad size… The new piece of cloth has thus an additional emotional value due to the past of recycled clothing. The identity of the concept stands in the manner of re-arranging the clothing.

Uses aspects: The RE-act approach is new in the field of clothing because the consumer is directly integrated in the design of his new product. He/she is actor of his/her consumption, it is he/she which makes the choice to recycle such or such clothing and in which way he/she will arrange them in the new composition. In shop, the client is helped by the dressmaker-boss which is fully at its disposal.

Technical aspects:
Each model is associated with a double card, one for the customer (to enable the choice), and one for the professional (guide-lines). The optimized design (little work of cutting) enables to have models manufactured between 20min and 1hour, and to have prices not exceeding 30 euros.

Clients and Professionals cards


Thanks
Alain Findeli, the starting point, “the light” without which I would never have assumed my difference and not even dared to consider that I could work design in this way. Thanks for his support and his advices.
University of Nimes

Anne Marchand, who followed and encouraged me since the beginning in my research of design for responsible consumption. Thanks for her competences and her enthusiasm.
University of Montreal

Joe Turner, who followed and advised me in the field of textile recycling. Thanks for his availability and his invaluable assistance.
Freedom Clothing Project, London.

Yann Hervé, which nicely presented to me the ENVIE project functioning and helped me to validate the financial aspects of this service. Thanks for his reception and his advices.
Person in charge of the social aspects at ENVIE (french company)

… and thanks a lot to all those which also helped me and encouraged in their way!

Voluntary simplicity ??

Voluntary Simplicity is a lifestyle consisting in voluntarily reducing our dependence to the tangible properties. More precisely, it is a social movement, at base more individual than institutional, which proposes to each one to reduce its dependence to the money and the speed, to release from time for the community rather than to use it to earn more money, and to support the ecological and respectful behaviors of the company (...).
I chose to work with these persons because I think that this philosophy is a big step to responsible consumption (what I want to promote with my social design approach).