Research Statement
The apparel industry and the educational field that supports it have shifted considerations regarding what we design, who we design for (or with), and how those designs are executed. My research in fashion design focuses on the intricate connections between Inclusive Design, Sustainability, Product Lifecycle Management, and the application of emerging technology. What sets my work apart from traditional practice-based fashion design education is the incorporation of critical cultural theory. My approach, deeply rooted in the scholarship of teaching and learning, involves active research, knowledge acquisition, and dissemination.
My research and teaching are guided by four overarching and interrelated themes: sustainable design, interdisciplinary practice, lifecycle thinking, and critical cultural theory. Each theme uniquely contributes to a comprehensive vision of how fashion design can transcend its traditional focus on artifact creation, with an eye toward impact on the industry and education.
Theoretical Frameworks
Sustainable Design
The term ‘sustainable design’ has taken on myriad meanings in design education and practice. My sustainability research focuses on evolving industry practice with a critical eye toward care. While "care" can be interpreted in various ways, the intent I laid out in the Chiba Care Protocol (2021) as design for care seeks to link notions of health and well-being to design development.
My research explores identity politics, health, and well-being in this "caring" or seeking to impact industry practices. To deploy this agenda, I have conducted investigative projects, written academic papers, gathered primary data, secured grant funding, and built partnerships across disciplines and institutions at regional and national levels. This comprehensive strategy has allowed me to deeply engage in research related to fashion design and reshape its societal impacts.
My ‘design for care’ approach has yielded tangible results. I have challenged students to move beyond their traditional roles as makers and instead employ design thinking and user-experience strategies as foundations for creating community engagement. For instance, I led a series of workshops entitled Sustainable Design for Healthy Communities (2022-2024), which allowed our college to engage with local community partners and raise awareness about sustainable living. As a result, we secured a position with the Greater Denton Arts Council as part of their regular programming, a testament to the impact of our community engagement efforts.
This agenda has allowed me to partner with Interior Design and User Experience educators to explore shared tenants of user-centered design and holistic lifecycle development within our discipline and its impact on design education. While our initial findings were published in Taylor and Francis’s peer-reviewed Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice (2022), this research collaboration continues to provide rich content for ongoing dissemination.
Interdisciplinarity
Collaboration and interdisciplinarity are critical components to success in design education, as participants emerge with experiences that emulate complex work in professional settings. Since 2017, I have been regularly involved in interdisciplinary collaborations, such as spearheading grant applications that blended Sustainable Design Education and Entrepreneurship between the College of Business, the College of Merchandising, and the College of Arts and Design to the Venture Well Foundation. I have also contributed to various sustainable design grants awarded to our department through Cotton Incorporated.
Lifecycle Thinking
My professional experience and industry perspectives have significantly impacted how I interact with my students, whom I see as an integral part of moving the industry toward a more sustainable future. During coursework, I challenge the students to develop product concepts based on the circular economic development model. This model centers on a reduce, reuse, and recycle development strategy, which views the end-of-stage of a product as the beginning of a new opportunity. My students worked collaboratively with non-institutional partners from various STEAD (science, technology, engineering, arts, and design) backgrounds before developing their prototypes. This Circular Design Challenge project has been presented at the International Textile and Apparel Association conference (2022) and the Junior League of Dallas (2024) and is currently being finalized as a full manuscript for publication.
Critical cultural theory
Critical cultural theory is an essential lens through which I challenge my students to see beyond traditional project-based learning scenarios. Critical Cultural Theory is foundational for emerging designer training to challenge students to express their conceptual ideas through various modes of visual representation. In my Alternative Practices course, I challenged students to apply their product development skills in collaboration with UNT’s Opera department. This research generated conversation around the Me-Too and Social Identity movements as students sought to reimagine the characters of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. As presented at ITAA (2020), this reorientation was essential to the project as the means to transform it beyond its classical context and instead place it at the center of shifting perceptions of gender identities, gender violence, and their expression in popular culture. Critical Cultural Theory is also a theme my students explore as foundational in their Fashion Drawing training as they explore embodiment and the physicality of fashion apparel.
Research Strategy
I approach my research as a multi-pronged strategy which includes projects, writing papers, gathering data, securing grant funding, and building partnerships across disciplines and institutions at the regional and national level. I use this strategy to engage in research related to fashion design that has the potential to re-shape its societal impacts. My work also centers on broadening the definition of sustainability beyond existing considerations to include aspects of identity politics, health, and well-being.
2021 Research/Creative Activity
Spearheaded the Circular Design Challenge, an inter-institutional collaboration between CVAD Fashion Design and SMU Dedman College of Science and Humanities, connecting pedagogical approaches in fashion, design, environmental anthropology, engineering, and data science to challenge misconceptions regarding sustainable development. link to Circular Design information, link to project details: https://barbaractrippeer.myportfolio.com/circular-design-challenge
Spearheaded Venture Well Foundation Grant submission titled Sustainable Futures: Innovation, Education, & Design Entrepreneurship, in collaboration with UNT's CVAD Fashion Design, CMHT College of Merchandising, and Ryan College of Business/Frisco New School, in a request of $30,000 funding for programming support. Link to Grant Proposal
Mend & Repair workshop- developed and executed sustainable apparel webinar on behalf of SMU's Sustainable Apparel and Textiles Research Cluster
Presented two refereed papers at ITAA 2021 annual conference, The Micro-factory Model: A Case Study in Entrepreneurship, Slow Fashion, and Sustainability, and the other focused on design education titled Cooperative Learning Environment through Cotton Capsule Wardrobe Project
Research/Scholarship
Lead author on Slow Fashion and Sustainable Entrepreneurship: A Case Study Evaluation of the Micro-Factory Model article in Intellect's International Journal of Sustainable Fashion and Textiles, under review as of this writing in early February of 2022.
Authored The Politics of Exhibition: Using Bourdieu's Theories of Culture and Taste to Evaluate the Politics of Display at the Première Vision, Paris, Fashion and Textile Trade Show manuscript currently under review manuscript with Sage's Journal of Consumer Culture, (journal impact score 4.16).
Co-authored grant proposal for Cotton Incorporated Grant: Understanding Cotton's Sustainability Story as part of an interdisciplinary partnership between CVAD Fashion and Interior Design (awarded $42,199 to be distributed in 2022). Cotton Incorporated is a global research and marketing company promoting goals for sustainable practices and environmental stewardship.
Co-authored two refereed papers published as part of ITAA 2020 Conference Proceedings: (see linked documents) Micro-factory Model: A Case Study in Entrepreneurship, Slow Fashion, and Sustainability and Cooperative Learning Environment through Cotton Capsule Wardrobe Project
2020 Research Purpose/ Overview Statement
The three purposes that drive me as a faculty member and a designer are that of ensuring that my efforts build a legacy of positive impact, significantly benefit my profession by guiding others to be successful, and produce valuable contributions to both my industry and my institution.
Goal One: Positive Impact (Research related goal)
Since my MFA, my research has been focused on actively exploring the question, “What else can fashion do?” Both In terms of its impact on society and the means through artifacts are produced.
Over the last three years, I have applied this goal as a lens through which to approach a range of projects, whether it was as a guiding reason behind my ongoing research in a collaborative project related to biomedical apparel (value: earned a DC Faculty Fellowship), leading sustainability workshops as part of a joint program funded by Cotton Incorporated (impact: awarded $45K in Grant funding, significance: documentation awarded Distinguished Paper by ITAA), or partnering with the College of Music to engage students in alternative platforms from which to address societal changes through their art form (impact: awarded 1st Place Innovative Teaching at the 2020 ITAA conference).
Research Highlights
1. Opera Project: In the Fall of 2019, I collaborated with UNT’s College of Music on re-imagining the characters of Mozart’s Don Giovanni opera through costume representation.
This project allowed me to create value for students by guiding them on how they can use their art form to challenge standard design tropes through visualization of contemporary social issues, such as the me-too and gender identity movements, as well as embed the traditional product development process within client-based collaboration alongside other art forms as part an ongoing live performance, which went on to win 2nd place at the National Opera Association.
I used this project to create an impact by presenting this as part of my scholarship of teaching as an Experiential Client based learning, which I then presented at the 2020 ITAA conference, earning 1st place in Innovative Teaching. The project was also cited as significant because of its press in the Denton Chronicle, D Magazine, and spotlight in UNT’s President’s Message & UNT Today.
2. Cotton Incorporated Grant- Cotton Education and Sustainability:
Impact: At the end of 2019, I was invited by my Fashion Design program coordinator to collaborate on a grant proposal with College of Merchandising, regarding cotton education and sustainable development, and was awarded $45K.
Value: My role in project execution was designed to capitalize on my professional network and secure industry experts to present at our 2020 Cotton Education Symposium, as well as design and coordinate related hands-on experiences student workshops.
Significance: Despite the pandemic of 2020, our team was successful in executing a week-long series of speakers (in virtual format) alongside the experiential workshops, reaching more than 150 viewers. Instead of holding location-based workshops in the Spring, we adapted a “workshop in a box” format which utilized take-home materials in conjunction with a series of guided video tutorials, addressing the needs of more than 75 participants.
3. DC Faculty Fellowship- Cancer Bra Project Inter-Institutional Project
Impact: In the Fall of 2019, I was nominated to be CVAD’s 1st Design Fellow as part of UNT’s inaugural DC Faculty Fellowship program.
Value: This gave me the opportunity to meet face-to-face pre-pandemic with program officers at NIH, NSF, NCI, and NEA, regarding my research related to the development and testing of a sensor-embedded biomedical bra designed to track patient response to specific forms of cancer therapies, which I had begun in 2018 in collaboration with Columbia University and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Significance: The feedback from the program officers regarding my proposals identified additional needs, such as finding potential industry partners along with addressing the concerns of rural patients. These challenges prompted me to diversify my project team, in consideration of more regional opportunities. As a result, the pandemic as enabled me to broaden my project team by connecting with research partners in UNT’s New College at Frisco, and begin building relationships with regional small businesses and minority groups.
The three purposes that drive me as a faculty member and a designer are that of ensuring that my efforts build a legacy of positive impact, significantly benefit my profession by guiding others to be successful, and produce valuable contributions to both my industry and my institution.
Goal One: Positive Impact (Research related goal)
Since my MFA, my research has been focused on actively exploring the question, “What else can fashion do?” Both In terms of its impact on society and the means through artifacts are produced.
Over the last three years, I have applied this goal as a lens through which to approach a range of projects, whether it was as a guiding reason behind my ongoing research in a collaborative project related to biomedical apparel (value: earned a DC Faculty Fellowship), leading sustainability workshops as part of a joint program funded by Cotton Incorporated (impact: awarded $45K in Grant funding, significance: documentation awarded Distinguished Paper by ITAA), or partnering with the College of Music to engage students in alternative platforms from which to address societal changes through their art form (impact: awarded 1st Place Innovative Teaching at the 2020 ITAA conference).
Research Highlights
1. Opera Project: In the Fall of 2019, I collaborated with UNT’s College of Music on re-imagining the characters of Mozart’s Don Giovanni opera through costume representation.
This project allowed me to create value for students by guiding them on how they can use their art form to challenge standard design tropes through visualization of contemporary social issues, such as the me-too and gender identity movements, as well as embed the traditional product development process within client-based collaboration alongside other art forms as part an ongoing live performance, which went on to win 2nd place at the National Opera Association.
I used this project to create an impact by presenting this as part of my scholarship of teaching as an Experiential Client based learning, which I then presented at the 2020 ITAA conference, earning 1st place in Innovative Teaching. The project was also cited as significant because of its press in the Denton Chronicle, D Magazine, and spotlight in UNT’s President’s Message & UNT Today.
2. Cotton Incorporated Grant- Cotton Education and Sustainability:
Impact: At the end of 2019, I was invited by my Fashion Design program coordinator to collaborate on a grant proposal with College of Merchandising, regarding cotton education and sustainable development, and was awarded $45K.
Value: My role in project execution was designed to capitalize on my professional network and secure industry experts to present at our 2020 Cotton Education Symposium, as well as design and coordinate related hands-on experiences student workshops.
Significance: Despite the pandemic of 2020, our team was successful in executing a week-long series of speakers (in virtual format) alongside the experiential workshops, reaching more than 150 viewers. Instead of holding location-based workshops in the Spring, we adapted a “workshop in a box” format which utilized take-home materials in conjunction with a series of guided video tutorials, addressing the needs of more than 75 participants.
3. DC Faculty Fellowship- Cancer Bra Project Inter-Institutional Project
Impact: In the Fall of 2019, I was nominated to be CVAD’s 1st Design Fellow as part of UNT’s inaugural DC Faculty Fellowship program.
Value: This gave me the opportunity to meet face-to-face pre-pandemic with program officers at NIH, NSF, NCI, and NEA, regarding my research related to the development and testing of a sensor-embedded biomedical bra designed to track patient response to specific forms of cancer therapies, which I had begun in 2018 in collaboration with Columbia University and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Significance: The feedback from the program officers regarding my proposals identified additional needs, such as finding potential industry partners along with addressing the concerns of rural patients. These challenges prompted me to diversify my project team, in consideration of more regional opportunities. As a result, the pandemic as enabled me to broaden my project team by connecting with research partners in UNT’s New College at Frisco, and begin building relationships with regional small businesses and minority groups.
