PLAY TO KEEP
Category: Apparel
Competitions: Fashion Competition 2026
01 — PROJECT SUMMARY PLAY TO KEEP is a modular wool fashion system that applies game theory to the problem of textile waste. Every garment in the collection is designed to transform a single jacket separates into a vest, converts to a skirt, and adjusts in length through a system of custom-designed rings. One piece of clothing does the work of five. But the truly radical element is not in the garment it is in how the garment is earned. Each design is produced in a strict run of 10 pieces. To access a piece, you must play a digital game built around the brand. Win the game, and you earn a place on the waiting list. This is not a gimmick. It is grounded in behavioural economics: research on the endowment effect shows that when people invest effort to obtain something, they assign it significantly higher value and are far less likely to discard it. PLAY TO KEEP turns this insight into a distribution model. Every garment is made from 100% natural wool — renewable, biodegradable, and built to last. The result is a system that challenges disposability from two directions: through material choice, and through the psychological relationship between a person and what they own. 02 — STORYTELLING & CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT (The Problem I Could Not Ignore) According to the UN Environment Programme, 92 million tonnes of textiles are discarded each year. Around 60 percent of all global fibres are now synthetic. The fashion industry did not arrive here by accident — it was engineered this way. Fast fashion depends on clothes that are easy to discard. The solution most designers reach for is better materials. That is necessary, but not sufficient. I kept asking: why do people throw things away in the first place? Game Theory as a Design Tool My research led me to the endowment effect — a principle from behavioural economics first described by Richard Thaler, who later won the Nobel Prize. The endowment effect shows that people overvalue things they own, and overvalue them even more when they worked to obtain them. A mug given to you is worth less to you than a mug you earned. This is not sentiment — it is measurable, reproducible psychology. If someone plays to win a garment rather than simply buying it, they are statistically far less likely to treat it as disposable. They have skin in the game. I designed the brand around this insight. Each collection releases 10 pieces per design — a limit that makes scarcity real, not manufactured. Access is gated by a game built on fashion literacy, material knowledge, and design thinking. To win the game, you have to understand what you are winning. By the time a piece arrives, its owner already knows its story. Modularity: One Garment, Many Lives The second axis of the design system is modularity. The lead piece — a structured wool jacket — is engineered to transform. The sleeves detach, converting the jacket to a tailored vest. The body can be worn lower on the hips as a skirt. The sleeve length is adjustable through a system of custom-cast metal rings that allow the cuff to be gathered and locked at different points — producing a short, mid, or full-length sleeve from the same piece of fabric. One garment replaces a minimum of five separate items in a wardrobe. This is not just a design decision — it is an argument. The fashion industry profits from wardrobe gaps, from seasonal categories, from the idea that a jacket is only a jacket. PLAY TO KEEP refuses that premise. If a person owns one truly transformable garment, they need fewer garments overall. Fewer garments means less production, less synthetic dye, less transport, less landfill. Why Wool Wool was the only material that made sense for this project. It is biodegradable. It is renewable. It is temperature-regulating — meaning a single wool garment performs across seasons without a synthetic layer beneath it. It is naturally resistant to fire and odour, which extends the time between washes and therefore extends the life of the fabric. It improves with age and wear in ways that synthetic blends never can. Wool also carries cultural and craft heritage that connects the wearer to something older than fast fashion — to a material that has clothed people for millennia because it genuinely works. The rings that allow sleeve adjustment are made from metal — a small functional exception permitted under the brief. Their design echoes game tokens and playing pieces. They are the only detail that references the gaming system visually, and they serve a precise structural function. 03— HOW THIS ENTRY MEETS THE JUDGING CRITERIA (in my opnion) Individuality: PLAY TO KEEP occupies a position no other fashion brand holds: the intersection of game theory, behavioural economics and modular design. The gaming mechanic as a waste-reduction strategy is a wholly original proposition. The aesthetic language — functional, structural, transformable — is a direct extension of the concept rather than a stylistic choice bolted onto it. Conceptualisation:The concept is grounded in documented research: the endowment effect (Thaler, 1980), textile waste data (UNEP), and modular design theory. The game is not decorative it is the mechanism through which the sustainability argument is made. Every design decision traces back to the same question: how do we make people less likely to throw this away? Relevance: Gamification has become one of the defining cultural languages of the current generation. Limited-drop culture (Supreme, Adidas Yeezy, MSCHF) has proven that scarcity creates longing. PLAY TO KEEP uses both of these contemporary dynamics — but redirects them toward environmental outcomes rather than hype cycles. The collection speaks the language of its audience while refusing to exploit it. Sustainability: 100% natural wool throughout. Strict 10-piece production cap eliminates overproduction. Modular design multiplies the functional life of each garment, reducing the number of items a consumer needs to purchase. The game mechanic increases perceived value and psychological ownership, measurably reducing disposal rates. End-of-life biodegradation without microplastic release. This project treats sustainability as a system, not a material choice alone. Commerciality: The brand already exists (The Moodi Studio )and has produced its first collection. The limited-drop model is commercially proven. The game creates a built-in community and waiting list — removing the need for traditional retail and wholesale infrastructure. The modular garment commands a higher price point justified by its multi-function value. The concept is scalable: the game platform can expand across multiple seasonal collections without changing the underlying model.
