Look de Impacto

About the project

Look de Impacto is a behavioral intervention designed to interrupt the automatic habits of fast fashion consumption in urban environments. Created under a speculative brief for the Community of Madrid, the project explores how public space, visual storytelling, and behavioral science can work together to spark conscious reflection.

At the heart of the campaign is a large-scale installation in Gran Vía — Madrid’s most iconic shopping avenue. A symbolic mountain of used clothing, built from real textile waste collected by the city, transforms abstract data into physical experience. The 2,718 tons of clothing collected in 2023 become impossible to ignore.

Next to it, a digital totem confronts passersby with a disquieting question:

“What part of this mountain is yours?”

The installation is complemented by a metro campaign that replaces silhouettes of trendy clothes with images of polluted rivers, smoggy skies, and textile waste. The goal is to trigger emotional dissonance and activate self-awareness.

Challenge

How might we reduce impulsive fashion consumption among Gen Z in Madrid, without blaming or moralizing?

The challenge was to create an intervention that could bypass cognitive defenses, make sustainability feel urgent and personal, and do it all within a public space context.

Research and Insights

• Desk research on Gen Z’s attitude–behavior gap in fashion

• Analysis of behavioral biases like social proof, present bias, and decision fatigue

• Mapping of fast fashion hotspots in Madrid (like Gran Vía and metro stations)

• Environmental data showing alarming levels of textile waste in the city

• Prototyping of visual and spatial triggers for salience and emotional activation

We found that while young consumers often know the environmental cost of fashion, their shopping behavior is driven by emotion, impulse, and context, not information.

Solution

The campaign uses principles of behavioral design, including salience, cognitive dissonance, and ethical nudging, to make the invisible impact of fashion visible and emotionally resonant.

Key elements:

• A mountain of used clothing in Gran Vía built with real waste

• A digital totem asking: “What part of this mountain is yours?”

• A metro campaign replacing fashion imagery with polluted landscapes

• Strategic messaging designed to prompt emotional reflection, not guilt

The intervention aligns with SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, and invites the public to pause, reflect, and reset.

Impact

• Made the issue of textile waste tangible and impossible to ignore

• Leveraged public space to create low-cost, high-reach behavioral nudges

• Used visual storytelling to engage emotion without moralizing

• Created a scalable and replicable format for civic and environmental messaging