The Mediating Role of Design Knowledge and its Relational Effects on Interactions with Fashion Objects against the Chinese Cultural Backdrop

Harah Chon (2015)

Designers engage in various activities to shape individual experiences and perceptions in the creation of finished objects, implicating the communication of design intent as an extension of design knowledge. This thesis investigates the role of design knowledge in mediating the interactions between users and fashion objects and analyses the flow of knowledge as the transaction of meanings from the perspectives of design theory and theory of design practice. The study conducts a series of pilot interviews with young Chinese designers in Shanghai, which investigates how local designers respond to change and re-evaluate their practices to align with users' needs within their local fashion communities. Their experiences were analysed to map how design practices generate knowledge of design and influence the creation of meanings. This research follows a constructivist epistemology of knowledge, taking sensory experiences into account to produce real interpretations. The fashion movement triggers social interactions to become a socially constructed phenomenon embedded with cultural meanings.