Machine couture : manufacturing as consumer spectacle

Abstract

By creating spectacle through architecture, clothing Labels have developed new branding techniques through which to redefine and provoke. However, the essential behind-the-scenes models of production have remained the same: consumption, manufacturing, and distribution are linked but always independent. This thesis proposes to compress the stages of production for a new type of spectacle: a consumer factory that uses the process of manufacturing as a branding technique. Set in Shanghai, the project studies how retail and manufacturing spaces can intersect to elevate the consumer experience. Through this co-dependency, manufacturing remains within the city's urban fabric and provides an experiential consumer environment new to the traditional retail models of China.