Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Multi-Wear Sustainable Bridal: A Co-design Process with Lead Users

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Abstract

Alternative wedding dresses are gaining popularity in the bridal market. Wedding gowns are not sustainable in the sense that they are designed to be worn once. A solution to this issue might be to work with brides identified as 'lead users' to design dresses they would want to wear on more occasions beyond their wedding. The researchers recruited participants for a two-part survey though Facebook wedding chat groups, convenience, and snowball sampling of women engaged and recently married. The first qualitative survey was used to identify lead users. Participants were asked open-ended and multiple-choice questions regarding their wedding and wedding dress as well as had the ability to upload images. 39 participants completed the initial survey. The second survey was sent to 15 participants identified as 'lead users' and included images of the designer's detail samples and initial sketches for sustainable wedding dresses. The dresses were designed to be worn on the wedding day but also for other occasions and participants were asked for feedback. Findings from this research confirmed the market potential for sustainable bridal apparel. Additionally, there were suggestions from the participants regarding multi-wear design for bridal party dresses, indicating several implications for the bridal industry.

Keywords: sustainability, wedding gown, multi-wear, Bridal market

How to Cite:

Rossol, E. & Lapolla, K., (2019) “Multi-Wear Sustainable Bridal: A Co-design Process with Lead Users”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 76(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.8856