IxD Case Study 3 - The 2 Euro T-Shirt (2015)

A non-profit organization called Fashion Revolution created a wonderful social experiment that challenged people to reconsider how to buy their clothes. The Fashion Revolution established a vending machine in Berlin sells per shirt for only 2 euros (about 2.19 US dollars), but before the shirt be sold, they first had to watch a video about the exploited sweatshop factory workers, these workers make cheap clothes possible.

The video was released on 23 April 2015 or Fashion Revolution Day. This day is to commemorate the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in 2013, where more than 1,000 garment workers were killed in an unsafe working environment. These workers have been producing garments for American brands. The workers in these factories are often underage workers, and most workers have low wages and are overworked because there are almost no labour laws. The Fashion Revolution hopes to encourage people to start asking questions about the ethics of clothes, such as where and how the clothes they were made.

Full video:

As the video shown, the Fashion Revolution team set up a vending machine that stating “T-shirt only 2 euros” at a plaza. The cheap price attracted passers-by and stopped to watch it. After that, some passer-by tried to buy it. After they inserted money and selected the size they want, suddenly the vending machine displays a short video that about exploited sweatshop factory workers, these workers make these cheap clothes. After the video is displayed, the vending machine asks whether they still want to buy or donate 2 euros. Some people still chose to buy it. Of course, most people decided to donate to their money instead of going through with the purchase.

I think this social experiment is a good use of technology to find people who have the potential to do charity. Through this series of interactions, people can choose whether to sympathize with them and donate money to them. This interactive design is more effective and convenient than the traditional way of donation, and also more attractive to make a donation. Charity workers also don't have to travel around asking for donations. In addition, the spread through social media will make people who have not yet used the machine want to give it a try. You can see how fascinating the machine is.