In an increasingly fragmented world where community ties and personal relationships are rapidly changing, people are seeking comfort in objects they have cherished over time—particularly garments and textiles that serve not just as material possessions, but as repositories of memory and as companions through joy and sorrow.

Research has shown that what truly prolongs the lifespan of these items is not just their material quality, but the emotional narratives they carry—stories of the people who wore, made, gifted, or passed them on. Yet, such deeply personal layers of meaning remain largely absent from current documentation practices. This paper, presented by Sareekah Agarwaal at the 28th IFFTI Annual Conference held in Vietnam, proposes a reimagining of fashion pedagogy—one that combines storytelling with technical documentation and views garments not only as products but as living archives of personal and collective identity.

It invites a shift from product-driven design to purpose-driven practice. Aligned with the conference themes, this paper advocates for a shift in fashion education towards innovative, human-centred pedagogies that foreground emotional durability, encourage regenerative practices, and reposition storytelling as a core strategy in both fashion design and documentation.