Towards A Ch’ixi Fashion: Building Sustainable Futures In The Present

In this major research project I explore the transformative potential of fashion in implementing sustainable alternatives in the present. Through the use of a ch’ixi framework, the study employs a transformative arts-based approach integrated with a conversational methodology, and is broken up into three parts. In the first section, I put ideas borne out of a decolonial stance in conversation with notions of sustainability and circularity as found in fashion studies. In the second, I outline the work that went into creating QISU, a brand proposal where I explore upcycling as a sustainable design alternative positioned around ideas of respectful coexistence based on indigenous spiritual knowledge. In the last section, I discuss the prototypes created for QISU and explain how these can be considered as a prototype for building sustainable futures in the present. The import of this study is that it aims to contest a long history of colonial erasure by directly engaging indigenous perspectives around issues pertinent to scholars or practitioners interested in sustainability and in contributing to larger positive social change.