ADAMO Guidebook

May 2025 Fashion Design BFA Systems & Societies Pathway Parsons School of Design

valentina@chirkes.com.ar @adamo.studios I @valenchirkes

The current fashion system exists in a paradox between what businesses and customers perceive as valuable.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE VALUE?

Submit your answer to www.adamostudios.com

Each year, the average U.S. shopper discards

81.5lbs of clothing

90%

Of shoppers encounter problems frequently or occasionally when buying clothing

THE PROBLEM Currently, fashion business defines value as growth fueled by scale, while fashion consumers consider value based on factors like comfort, fit and empowerment. This disconnection between the system and consumer is held in place by intentionally distancing the “designer” from the “user” by time, physical distance and understanding, resulting in loads of fashion waste and the problems customers face when shopping

THE HYPOTHESIS Adamo imagines a new fashion system as co-creation between designer and the fashion client. The thesis concept was prototyped with four “clients” to create garments to reflect their individual taste, fit, and needs.

This participatory process brought the designer and wearer into direct conversation to define and expand value from the customer’s perspective.

The Fashion System Today: Designed for Disconnection

New System: Reimagining Fashion Through Co-Creation

Involving the user in the design process reframes the value we place on clothing moving towards preferred conscious fashion practices.

It often takes the introduction of a radical concept - or simply the introduction of an unfamiliar way to undertake familiar tasks - for users to actually stand back and recognize the sheer banality of the objects with which they have been mindlessly interacting up to that point.

Jonathan Chapman, Emotionally Durable Design

Meet the Collaborators

Rose is a 32 year old designer for Coach, and she leads the Coach (Re)Loved project which focuses on upcycling secondhand product and giving old items a new circular life.

Designed with Rose

Cristina is leather goods designer from Italy living in NYC for over 10 years.

Most days she wears her “uniform” of leather pants and an oversized blazer.

Designed with Cristina

Ariela is a 23 year old creative strategist and stylist from San Diego based in NYC. She prioritizes style over comfort or function and loves to thrift and find pieces nobody else has.

Designed with Ariela

Designed with Ariela

Violeta is a 23 year old therapist from Buenos Aires. She loves clothes, has a very unique fashion sense and struggles to find cool and original pieces in Argentina that fit her style and body.

Designed with Violeta

Designed with Violeta

Waste is symptomatic of failed relationships

Jonathan Chapman, Emotionally Durable Design

These garments build relationships

Things to consider to

INCREASE A GARMENT’S VALUE

Purchase

Material

Fit

Who are you shopping with?

Why? When?

Does it feel good? Is it comfortable?

Will it last? How do I care for it?

Does this fit properly?

Does it make me feel confident?

Price

What’s the return on investment?

What’s the price/quality relationship?

Need

Do I need it?

Do I have something similar?

Care

Can I get it tailored or mended?

Am I reading the labels and washing it properly?

Disposal

Can it be fixed or redesigned?

Does the brand have a take-back plan?

Is it recyclable? Can I donate it?

A garment’s value is greatly influenced by your actions, make sure to make conscious decisions as often as possible when it comes to your clothes.

Sustainable consumption involves pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase.

Louise R. Morgan and Grete Birtwistle, An Investigation of Young Fashion Consumer’s Disposal Habits

Fast fashion is designed to be worn less than 10 times.

Relevant Thesis Readings • Emotionally Durable Design, Jonathan Chapman

• Thinking in Systems, Donella H. Meadows

• Meaningful Stuff: Design That Lasts, Jonathan Chapman

• Defined by Design, Kathryn H. Anthony

• Speculative Everything, Anthony Dunne & Fiona Raby

• Fashion: A Manifesto, Anouchka Grose

• Circular Design for Fashion, Ellen McArthur Foundation

• Consumed, Aja Barber

Designed objects can work to slow us down and help us gain temporal stability by enabling us to shift value from material objects to experiences that perhaps help us tune our consciousness Ann Thorpe, Design’s Role in Sustainable Consumption

END OF LIFE QUIZ Do you love this garment?

NO

YES

Is something wrong with it?

YES

Do you use it?

NO

NO YES

Stains or tears

Size or fit

Is it in good condition?

Do you use it?

Keep it!

NO YES

NO

YES

Re-dye

Customization

Tailoring

Redesign

Rental

Resale

Recycling

Take this quiz to choose the best solution for your garment’s end of life

GIVE YOUR GARMENT A NEW LIFE ALTER & EXTEND RE-DYEING Try at home with fabric dye

SHARE & CIRCULATE RENTAL Try Pickle, local Facebook groups or start your own exchange group

RESALE CUSTOMIZATION Can be DIY, or try New York Embroidery Studio or local artists

Find the platform that best fits your style and needs:

DEPOP

• Low price point • Self-managed

REDESIGN Try a local tailor or designer, Eva Joan, or reach out to me :)

• No selling fee

POSHMARK

• Low selling fee • Immediate deposit • Self-managed

TAILORING Explore your local tailors or find one with Alternew

FACEBOOK

MARKETPLACE

THE REALREAL

LAST RESORT THREADUP

• Focus on local pickup • Self-managed

• High selling fee • Luxury authentication • Full service

• Low payout • Good for selling in bulk • Full service

RECYCLING Government facilities, Helpsy, Fabscrap

• Not fashion exclusive

VESTIAIRE

COLLECTIVE

• High selling fee • Certified B-Corp • Self-managed