Threads of Memory – Building Emotional Attachment Through Clothing Narratives

This thesis explores how personal storytelling can foster emotional attachment to clothing as a strategy to extend garment lifespans. Through the development of StoryTag, a physical tag linking wearers to a shared archive of memories, the project aims to shift mindsets around disposability and promote more meaningful, lasting relationships with clothes.

In today’s fast-paced fashion culture, clothing has become increasingly disposable. The rise of fast fashion and the pressure of trend cycles have led to a widespread detachment from the garments we own, wear, and eventually discard. Behind every t-shirt or jacket lies a story, yet in the culture of overconsumption, these stories are often overlooked, and clothes are treated as temporary, throwaway items. As this mindset’s environmental and social costs grow more visible, it becomes clear that a shift is needed, by not only in how we produce fashion, but in how we relate to it.

“The average consumer throws away 60% of their clothing within the first year of purchase.”
– Ellen Macarthur Foundation

This project introduces StoryTag, a small fabric-based tag designed to carry personal narratives. It allows individuals to reflect on their clothing when they are ready to let it go, whether before donating or swapping through writing and attaching a memory or story. In doing so, StoryTag preserves emotional value and creates a bridge between past and future wearers. The project aims to nurture emotional durability through storytelling, extending the life and meaning of garments within circular fashion systems. It is not just about clothing, but about the relationships we form with what we wear, and how those stories can be carried forward.

Workshop at Erikshjälpen

To test the StoryTag in a real-world context, I hosted a workshop at Erikshjälpen Second Hand, where participants were invited to bring garments they were ready to donate. Each person interacted with a physical fabric tag embedded with an NFC chip, which directed them to a digital form where they could write a personal story or memory connected to their garment. After writing, they stitched the tag onto the clothing, allowing the story to travel with it to its next wearer. This test provided valuable insight into how people engaged emotionally with the act of storytelling and how accessible and intuitive the tag’s function was in a second-hand retail environment.

The StoryTag

To use the StoryTag, simply scan it with your smartphone to open the linked website. There, you can upload a photo of the garment and write a short story or memory connected to it. Once finished, publish your entry to the shared archive. If the garment is being story tagged for the first time, attach the tag by sewing or using the built-in velcro patch.

Check the stories here: https://padlet.com/as227rt/storytag-garment-stories-vzpnmyd2xlgaaocq