Leggere il contesto per orientare il progetto. Metodologie e approcci per la produzione e visualizzazione di conoscenza ad orientamento della pratica progettuale nel design della moda.

1. Introduction and description of objectives The research aims to define a methods and tools set to grasp evolutionary signals in material and immaterial cultures and organize them in knowledge chunks as orienting instruments of new design directions. Starting from a pre-comprehension phase to define differences in knowledge creation activities in fashion and design-oriented sectors, the objective is to understand how these praxis diverge in participating actors, actions, methods, goals and outputs in grasping, decoding and transferring phases. The research problems are focused on peculiar research processes and design tools in fashion design that aim to identify relevant signals and potential design scenarios. These praxis refer to “trend research”, a peculiar activity in knowledge creation and transfer in fashion design that aims not to develop a product but to the surveying of signals and contents to define innovation paths to orient the design process. Starting from a mapping of present trend research praxis in fashion design and considering its “informal” instruments that are based only on a personal “sensitiveness” of the trend “author”, the research develops a methods and tools set that aims to combine codified and structured research methods from different disciplines: design, social sciences, economic sciences, etc. In both cases, fashion sector and design driver sectors, there are research and visualization processes not oriented to product development but to generate information sets and knowledge chunks that are necessary to define design directions and then to orient companies strategic decisions. In design driven sectors these activities are based on a research and analysis system focused on contexts of use, user’s profile, typological evolution of the product , the relation between user and product, competitors’ solutions, anticipating sectors’ analysis, etc. So, in this sector, research process is strongly codified; centred on dynamics/context of specific use; directed to create innovations through hybridizations with other productive sectors, more or less contiguous, if referring to a specific merceological category. The outcome knowledge set is characterized by high explicit and codified information that define clearly expressed field of analysis and that, in some cases, being high detailed, deepened and specific information, they reduce the design leeway. This information set often outcomes from the influence of marketing analysis and instruments that bridle the possible solutions range into a detailed, strongly articulated, top-down brief,. At last, this knowledge is codified by the transition from analytic information to visual concept (vision, scenarios, storyboards), so the visualization phase is defined in a second time. However, this phase represents an essential step for these research praxis, in which the presence of design competences assumes a main role. Opposite, in fashion sector, knowledge construction praxis, in processes that precede the product development, assumes different shapes and means. The process is not structured; the analysis unit is wider, less specific, not referred to a defined context and therefore to a defined product typology (considering also t in this field typologies are invariant); there is a large use of “primary” and non specialized resources to capture “weak signs” in socio-cultural dynamics, explored by epistemology, sociology and fashion psychology instruments; there is an orientation not to a product innovation but to a “symbolic” innovation. The main issue is represented by the poor codifying level of fashion research processes and by the lack of scientific interpretation of these research praxis and also of the research outputs, identified as “trend books”. At the moment, fashion research praxis consider all the cultural statement of a social context as research area but don’t define them in a precise way, using fixed exclusion or evaluation criteria. Data selection is based on quantitative criteria, that consider only discontinuous and not very wide phenomena (weak signs), identifying what is “different” and “not so diffused” as “new” or “innovative”, and on not specified qualitative criteria that allow to select which weak sings are effectively anticipatory of a probable future. The evaluation of high potentiality of a content is demanded to the personal intuition, without any tangible and certain verification, as a kind of divinatory praxis recognized as a dogma. On a conceptual pint of view this interpretation has a strong limit. It depends on different drivers as product nature and typology (in this case we talked about high symbolic, identifying and communicative contents, increased by high turn over and inter-changeability); the presence of a selling orientation in companies of this field for which information pass through the raw, from distributive channel throughout commercial actions, without being organized by a managerial intelligence that, in design driven sectors, organizes and transfers these information into structured packages. The identification of a fashion product on the contemporary cultural evolution denies the possibility to identify an already existing trend, in an embryonic phase or in a first early adoption by a sophisticated consumer. As fashion is linked to the reality and influences it giving an its own interpretation, a trend is defined as a reading of a present condition and a design of probable contents; so it can’t be found or intercepted by an uncertain sensitiveness antennas. However there is a lacking codification of knowledge construction processes, fashion sector develops different products (trend books) with high codified contents, shapes and structures. It depends on different factors as quick generative phase of information, referring to seasonality of productive process times, and therefore need of available concrete instruments supporting design praxis; high specialization of creative and managerial professionals from which depends a tacit knowledge sharing that are translated in high structured products. From this point, a huge difficulty to read and interpret these products by other sectors. Starting from these considerations, the research is focused on the possibility of reconfigure the research process and outcomes. 2. Methodology The research is based on Grounded Theory model, a de-structured methodology of research in which activities and goals are not planned. This model provides a qualitative analysis of some relevant case studies through structured clinic analysis instruments (interviews) as field research, a de-structured observation on field (external observation) and a desk research. Theoretical and critic activity is developed integrating comparative analysis on knowledge creation processes in design-oriented sectors, starting from existing bibliography and case studies. The research is articulated as follows Phase 1 – Research Area Definition Analytic activity to identify and structured research topic. Phase 2 – State of the Art Mapping Theoretical research on innovation and innovation processes in design system Phase 3 – Interdisciplinary contents Human sciences and design approach (Qualistic approach and meta-design approach) support the definition of knowledge transfer process and instruments. Phase 4 – Best Practices Case studies analysis shapes an emergent model and support a theoretical and critical comment. Phase 5 – Interpretative Model Definition Theoretical formalization of a method and tools set to manage meta-design processes. Phase 6 – Design Verification Practical application of the model. 3. Discussion of the results obtained The research demonstrates the convergence of interests of design driven sectors to instruments of knowledge representation, defined in very specialized and interesting solutions, as trend books. Starting from some case studies in fashion sector and in other merceological sectors, the research explains, on different levels, the existence of an acting convergence to similar models of knowledge generation and management for the design orientation that make the codification of shared methods and instruments possible. In particular, the research gives the following operative results: • An interpretative model of innovation concept in the fashion sector. • A research format for case studies, highlighting peculiar criteria of evaluation. • A catalogue of the best practices in trend research praxis in fashion design. The map describes actors, praxis, methods, instruments of the trend research. • An original interpretative model for sign grasping & direction design process. This model is the first theoretical formalization and permit to develop specific tools to manage fashion design processes.