forward fashion: inspiration deck on sustainable clothing initiatives

@Designistan_org

forwardfashion

sustainability inspiration deck22.11.2013

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Table of conTenT

@Designistan_orgSustainability Inspiration Deck

1 slow fashion2 Material innovation3 re-use, re-duce, re-cycle4 labels & brand initiatives5 Global and local6 future fashion

table of content

1 2 3 4 5 6

Table of conTenT


slow fashion

ch.1

@Designistan_orgC&A Design challenge


ch.1

tend to the herd

Dutch textile designer

Claudy Jongstra keeps her own flock of Europe’s oldest

breed of sheep, the ‘Drenthe Heath sheep’. The Drenthe

Heat sheep do not only supply wool but also contribute to

landscape preservation on the Dutch moorlands. She hopes to

contribute to the survival of this age-old

breed.


ch.1

edible fashion

Conceptual edible wedding dress of rhubarb and flowers by Marjolein Wintjes, de culinaire werkplaats. A project at the cutting edge of fashion and food: an edible fashion collection which was especially designed for and during Amsterdam International fashion week. The dress can be worn once, and disposed of by eating it.


ch.1

a wearers Manifesto

Local Wisdom is a project originated by Dr. Kate Fletcher, Reader in Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion. The project explores resourceful practices associated with using clothes. She aims to challenge the dependency of the fashion industry on increasing material output and proposes solutions through sustained attention to tending and using garments and not just creating them. The research has accumulated into a manifesto for a garment that is:• easily repaired• shared between people• enjoying a third, fourth of fifth life• surprises you each time you wear it• tells the story of how it has been used• worn in ways that defy the producer’s values• worn regularly• is washable

Adapt existing patterns


Materialinnovation

ch.2


ch.2

spray the shirt

The product is an instant, spray-able, non-woven fabric. After spraying the liquid, the fabric grows itself. Applications are endless: its aesthetic appeal to hip designers all over the world, to First Aid Clothing Spray for emergency situations like floods and earthquakes to Sex toys to Auto-dressing Cabins for the elderly and the disabled. Clothing will be something you buy from a supermarket shelf and when you travel, you only need to bring some extra cans. But most importantly: you will never have to wash your clothes again – the ultimate disposable material in a throwaway society? The self-sprayed clothing can be recycled by tearing it to pieces and mix it with a substance that makes the fabric liquid again.


ch.2

eco-ok Manolo’s

Step away from the Birkenstock, your green shoes have gotten a major makeover by none other than Mr. Manolo Blahnik. The sole master teamed up with Marcia Patmos (formerly of Lutz & Patmos) to create his first eco-friendly footwear collection. Made entirely from discarded reptilian skins, cork and raffia, we can’t think of a chiquer way to manage your carbon footprint.


ch.2

spare parts

London-based British fashion designer Rachel Freire used 3,000 nipples from a U.K. tannery as a source material for her leather garments. The nipples are from European cows slaughtered for meat in veterinarian-approved and checked slaughter houses. The designer draws attention to the excessive amount of leather that goes unused and pleads for creating art from waste.

“If people don’t have a problem

with leather, they shouldn’t have a problem

with these designs,” – Rachel Freire


re-usere-ducere-cycle

ch.3


ch.3

parachutinG to faMe

Rather than seeking inspiration from the styles and shapes of military uniforms, London based designer Christopher Raeburn (known for his collaborations with Fred Perry) takes end of line military textiles and redeploys them in beautifully crafted men’s and women’s outerwear. His signature style has become the parachute fabrics which form the foundation of his collections. Although Christopher makes sustainability a priority for his brand, he says that he simply sees his approach as “making the most sense”. He works with fabrics that he loves and saves them from sitting in a stock room for months and eventually making their way to landfill.


ch.3

diaMand, Gold and bottle caps

The Italian label Marni used recyclable materials for its summer 2013 Jewelery Collection with pieces made from sustainable materials such as recycled plastic bottles, flowers buds, abstract petal shape leaves and geometrical boules in vibrant hues, transparent materialsand black. The necklaces and bracelets are exquisitly made, and their humble origins are a playful stab at high society.


ch.3

couture scraps

Trash Couture makes evening dresses using leftover fabric from European couture houses.


ch.3

shredded silk

Designer Sylwia Rochala

uses shredded men’s silk shirts, delicately layered and knotted

together, to create exquisite pieces in the shamani

tradition.


ch.3

turninG it inside out

Dutch designer Elisa Van Joolen took

leftover sample stocks from popular brands like Nike,

Converse, Clarks, and others, and turned the materials inside out to create new shoes for her invert

Footwear collection. The designer cut out the bottom of the shoes, turned the shoes inside out, and

stitched on bases from cheap sandals to turn them into

new sneakers.


ch.3

speed

Speedo’s LZR Racer suits were banned from competitive swimming, leaving them with a huge unusable stock. Designers From Somewhere snatched them up and turned them into wild dresses.


labels & brand

initiatives

ch.4


ch.4

honesty is the best policy

Belgian designer Bruno Pieters new initiative, Honesty.com, is called ‘subversive’, transformational’ and ‘a game changer’ in its approach to green design and merchandising. The site carries a collection of 56 pieces for both men and women that are made from natural and ecological fabrics sourced from around Europe, including vegan items and pieces made from recycled wool and other fabrics but beyond. It is completely transparent in its manufacturing processes as well. Under the section “material information” you will find the description of material used, its composition, weight, yarn or piece-dyed, the origin of the raw material, who spun it, who wove it, whether it is organic, if so, what certificate it has earned (and what said certificate means), and a website for the supplier – and you will find this for the fabric, the zipper, the lining, the trim, the label, the buttons, and more...


ch.4

wearable sculpture

Artist Jeffrey Wang

collaborated with Levi’s on the creation of wearable

sculptures, formed from Levi’s jeans.


ch.4

denhaM aGain

Denham jeans have launched a line of clothing made from

re-purposed used denim.


ch.4

upcyclinG dead stock

Re;code is a Korean brand specializing in up cycled fashion. Launched in March of 2012, they started from a place of consideration for the environment, and the realization that dead stock fabric and garments from major brands, including that of their own umbrella corporation, was being incinerated to protect brand integrity. A sub-division of Kolon Industries, a 3.6 billion USD company founded in the nylon textile development of the 1950’s, Kolon is iconic in Korea’s fashion industry for revolutionizing the contemporary fashion market.


Global and local: identity

and production

ch.5


ch.5

the neiGhbourhoodie

The hoodie has become a global phenomenon, worn by youth across the world, creating a unified youth culture without much local distinction. The Neighbourhoodies were created when fashion students from MA Fashion and the Environment at London College of Fashion reflected on their ‘local’ London identities through the design of a special hoodie – a Neighbourhoodie.


ch.5

Made by GrandMa

Granny’s finest is a Dutch brand of knitwear that produces its products with local elderly women across Holland. Designers develop the patterns, and the women produce the products, which turns their hobby into valued skills, creates a sense of pride and breaks the circle of loneliness. Each product comes with a label that gives information about the granny who produced it. Consumers can write directly to the granny to say thanks.


future fashion

ch.6


ch.6

rayfish footwear

Rayfish Footwear is a fictional company that offered personalized sneakers crafted from genetically modified stingray leather – which would be more sustainable, and ‘fun’ than other leathers. The launch of the company catalyzed a debate on emerging biotechnologies and the products it may bring us. It furthermore questioned our consumptive relationship with animals and products in general. While discussions about biotech almost never reach the mainstream, the designers behind this prank project made the concept tangible by creating a concrete (albeit fake) product that people love or hate.


ch.6

Grow your clothinG

Clothing can be made out of more than just woven fabrics or synthetic fibers. Artist Donna Franklin and scientist Gary Cass have designed Micro’be, a fashion line consisting of clothing made from micro-organisms. Where conventional clothing is woven in parts and stitched together, Micro’be consists of one seamless piece. The clothes are made from wine, and with the addition of the bacteria Acetobacter, the wine is fermented into vinegar. The by-product of this fermentation is cellulose, which is in turn used to grow the garment. The color of the fabric is determined by which wine is used. Red wine gives a red fabric, while white wine (and even beer) gives a translucent material.


ch.6

catalytic clothinG

Catalytic Clothing seeks to explore how clothing and textiles can be used as a catalytic surface to purify air, employing existing technology in a new way. It is the brainchild of artist / designer Helen Story and chemist Tony Ryan – people from very different worlds whose minds have come together over recent years in highly successful art/science collaborations.


ch.6

wonderland: the dissolvinG dressProduct of a groundbreaking collaboration between artist and fashion designer Helen Story and scientist Tony Ryan, ‘Wonderland’ used fashion as a ‘Trojan Horse’ to progress a radical, two-year exploration into biodegradable materials. This project showcases the life - and death - of Helen Story’s collection of incredible ‘dissolving dresses’, captured in a unique fashion film by Nick Knight.


ch.6

tea-shirtSuzanne Lee can conjure up clothing using a bathtub, some yeast, a pinch of bacteria, and several cups of sweetened green tea. Lee, who is a senior research fellow at the School of Fashion & Textiles at Central Saint Martins in London, is the brains (and brawn) behind BioCouture, an experiment in growing garments from the same microbes that ferment tea.

@Designistan_org

this deck has been assembled to provide examples of inspiring creativity from all over the world. all copyright of images and text lies with the artist, designers, brands and product owners mentioned.

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