Eco fashion and sustainability have always been of interest to me, alongside the use of developing technologies to create art. "Eco Fashion" by Sass Brown is a book which explores the world of ecological design and the work of forward thinking eco-pioneers in today's design industry. Following through on the idea of an artist as an activist the book examines design processes of those who harness fashion not only as a means of expression but as a way of generating change. Reading about the range of processes such as; upcycling, hand loom embroidery, shibori dye resit, heat photogram printing alongside the use of nettle fibres and low impact dyes, was really inspiring to me as I never really there was such a broad range of techniques associated with the movement. It's something I've always had an interest in but never really knew how to put theory into practice. For one, eco-minded fashion has been endlessly criticised in the past as being limited and poorly designed but I believe that executed along with a keen sense of craftsmanship, originality and cultural consciousness eco innovation could rise to the acclaim it deserves.
The disposable nature of fashion has a grave impact on those who work in the textile industry, particularly those at the bottom of the chain. According to fair trade standards "for a product to be marked as 'Fair-trade' at least 20% of its mass must be made up of a Fairtrade product" - which makes me question how much of the remaining 80% was fairly traded and what impact this has on farmers in developing countries. Something I also found quite troubling is that "15% of all textiles purchased for garment construction are destined for the bin". The buildup of textile waste degrading slowly in landfills is having a profoundly negative effect the environment, which is why as designers we must acknowledge and avoid adding to the dyer impact it's having on our planet - not to restrict the creativity of our art but by using it intellectually to push boundaries and create change in the way people respond to fashion in today's society. Mark Liu, one of the designers featured in the book uses a highly complex pattern cutting technique, using only rectangles, to make each pattern piece fit together like a jigsaw piece, thereby eliminating material waste altogether. Another designer, Holly McQuillan uses 'surplus as a resource' in her work, taking the excess fabric removed during the fitting stage and re-incorporating it back into the garment - another method of eliminating all material waste. Her ethos lies upon how she feels that "the industry is responding to the climate crisis with 'less bad' solutions, i.e. using organic and recycled fibers but within a wasteful production and consumption model".
Something which I wrote about on my other blog is the Melonia shoe by Swedish designers, Naim Josefi and Souzan Youssouf. The shoes are 3D printed to exact measurements so there's virtually no material waste, making them both economically and environmentally friendly. I love these shoes on principal (plus, they're pretty kickass) as they collate my two passions by harnessing new technology to forward eco sustainability. The uses of 3D printing have become increasingly publicised of late, 3D printing everything from spaghetti to skin cells, it's really a technology that's set to take off.
Image 1 - via pinterest, used for cwk purposes only, no copyright infringement intended.
Image 2 - shot by me at The National Design Museum, August 2011.
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