Circular Shirt Builder

The rise of inexpensive, low-quality fashion has resulted in excessive clothing consumption, shorter garment lifespans, and significant waste, which is neither repurposed nor recycled and ultimately ends up in landfills or incineration. To tackle this problem, we developed the Circular Shirt Builder —a tool that enables consumers to co-create their clothing, fostering deeper connections to their garments while promoting circular practices.

The Circular Shirt Builder is a physical configurator where consumers can customise and assemble a modular shirt featuring interchangeable components such as collar styles, sleeves, and front and back panels. It is a research platform to investigate co-design as a strategy to embed circular principles in consumer behaviour, encouraging them to view garments as long-term, adaptable investments rather than disposable items. 

The Circular Shirt Builder encourages participants to engage directly with garment construction, fostering a hands-on connection that makes them more likely to value and care for the final product. Involving consumers in co-design deepens their understanding of garment construction and craftsmanship and enhances their appreciation for the clothing they create.