Fashion Experience Contributions to Local Social Sustainability: An Example of Women with Career Interruptions in Korea

Abstract

Metropolitan-centred development causes social issues including welfare and quality-of-life problems. Focusing on women who have interrupted their careers, this study investigates the effects of a fashion DIY programme using cultural heritage on the local community’s social sustainability in South Korea. The methods include a literature review, action research, and in-depth interviews. Results show that social and cultural capital are interrelated and can contribute to social sustainability. The fashion DIY programme of textile and fashion item production through Korean traditional natural dyeing technique provides a fashion experience that can create social relationships during participation, provide opportunities to strengthen the local community’s identity, and contribute to an approach towards social sustainability. The results have implications for social sustainability through strengthening social relationship and cultural capital by facilitating change in a patriarchal industrial structure. The research is significant as it examined the problems of women with interrupted careers from the perspective of social sustainability as well as the role of fashion experiences.

Keywords:

• social sustainability
• local community
• women with interrupted careers
• fashion experience
• fashion DIY

Acknowledgements

The authors declare that the programme was conducted as part of the National University Development Project in Korea. We thank Youn Hwa Kim for collecting the data and the participants for their valuable insights.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Institutional review board statement

This research was conducted under the exemption and supervision of Changwon National University Institutional Review Board (IRB Exemption No. 7001066-202105-HR-025).

Additional information

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Notes on contributors

Chaewon Nam

Chaewon Nam is a textile designer with natural dyeing techniques. She received a Ph.D. in Senior Human Ecology from the Graduate School of Changwon National University. She is currently conducting natural dyeing research using resources in rural areas. Her interests include textile design and traditional textile methods. [email protected]

Se Jin Kim

Se Jin Kim is an associate professor in the Department of Clothing and Textiles at Changwon National University. Her research areas include fashion design and fashion education methods using digital technology and changes in fashion media in the post-digital era. [email protected]