Making as Thinking: A Guideline to a Systematic Design Development Framework

Creative Practice-Led Research (PLR) positions artistic practice as central to the inquiry, generating new knowledge through creative processes, material experimentation, and thinking in action, where reflection and making occur simultaneously. This approach emphasizes the integration of theory and practice, recognizing making as a legitimate and rigorous form of research. Within this context, researchers often adapt existing methodologies to suit the unique demands of their creative disciplines. Creative PLR plays a crucial role in not only responding to contemporary trends but also generating novel insights and knowledge in Fashion, one of the world’s fastest evolving fields. This study explores the potential of Creative PLR in engaging with intangible folklore themes to inform fashion product development. Using a qualitative mixed-method approach, the research investigates into the Sri Lankan folklore to extract cultural, symbolic, and narrative elements. These elements are examined using reflective techniques, including reflection-in-action, in tandem with iterative design processes typical of fashion development. The researchers, operating in dual roles as designers and practitioners, leverage their positionality to translate intangible cultural narratives into tangible textile design outcomes. The resulting folklore-inspired design outcomes demonstrate the value of the designer’s dual role as a researcher and a practitioner in bridging traditional artisanal knowledge with contemporary design thinking. The study contributes to Creative PLR discourse by proposing a systematic design development framework that embeds reflective making into fashion practice, illustrating how heritage can be preserved and reinterpreted through innovative design practices.