2012 is to be The Year of The Sustainable Wardrobe.Myself, like most people in the creative industries, appreciate clothes and do consider garments an important part of self-expression.  I have always maintained a conscious wardrobe and have very long-relationships with some items.  But will admit, I have not always shopped as ethical as I could have, possibly because the information was not there. However, this was to be changed.

Towards the very end of 2011, Amisha Ghadiali invited me to bring to life "The 12 Rules to Dress By”, which she wrote and lives by for the last couple of years, keeping track of every clothing item that enters her wardrobe.

Ever since the Master's project (where I archived my own waste for a month...) I have had an interest in the story of objects, temporary and permanent, and our relationship with them – where they came from, how they been used and where they go to. My first insight into the world of sustainable fashion was while at the Doi Tung Development Project, where I experienced the production process from the fields, to fabric weaving, to sawing garments.

I really believe knowing the story, strengthens the respect for any object.  In this sense, there seems to be alot communication design can do for a better understanding of where clothing really comes from - beyond the shop and the factory.

Like Amisha says "The responsibility to change fashion is shared between the fashion industry, governments and us. What we buy or demand makes an enormous difference to what is made. There is a whole vocabulary building up around ethical fashion, with phrases such as Pre-Loved, Up-Cycled, Organic and Fair-trade. It’s important that we all start to understand what these mean and this is the future of fashion."

With in mind and passion for change-making communication, I dove into researching on ethical fashion, and a graphic solution for Amisha's "12 Rules to Dress By".

“12 Rules to Dress By" is a step forward in being conscious about what we wear. A poster which also works as print-out pocket guide (trying to minimize the ink coverage).  In order to make “The 12 Rules” practical and applicable to the everyday, they were also designed in the format of a Checklist – an easy, simple tool, downloadable in many world languages - read Amisha's post Here This is one of the few times I would encourage printing.  But do print it out, stick it by your wardrobe, and commit to making a change.

Tweet your commitment – #12RulesToDressBy by @amishaghadiali and @joana_cl are helping to make 2012 the year of my sustainable wardrobe