Design process studies, and therefore design-thinking literature, tends to come from disciplines outside of the textiles domain. Research relating to the design process is dissected and describes creative production at key stages. Designers, in the creation of new textile and fashion related artefacts, often refer to historical resources but minimal insight exists regarding the textile design creative process. The research presented in this paper examines the utilisation of archive resources during the initial and subsequent stages of the design process in the creation of new textile and fashion related artefacts. Fourteen textile and fashion practitioners participated in the project. Creative process journals were used by each of the participants as the primary method of data collection. This method enables creative practitioners to record, analyse, evidence and explicate their own creative process. The research findings reveal insight into the textile design process and propose considerations for archive utilisation. The creative process journal as research method is reflected upon and areas for further investigation described.

This paper adds to minimal existent literature regarding the textile design process and utilisation of archive resources. Creative process journals are used and examined as the primary data collection method.