slow fashion - the future of clothing

kate fletcher
http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/clothing/269245/slow_fashion.html

http://fashioninganethicalindustry.org/resources/factsheets/issues/slowfashion/


what is slow fashion?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/05/what-is-slow-fashion_n_116990.html

 http://www.slowfashion.org/

http://theethicalfashionblog.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/what-is-slow-fashion/

slow design and profitibility

http://m.ecouterre.com/how-can-eco-designers-stay-profitable-while-advocating-slow-fashion/

streetunique

awesum clothing, not sure where fabric comes from yet, wether its waste or not. but love it!!!!!!

the clouds are lined with gold!!!!

the clouds are lined with gold
so many riches in this world to be found just by looking
our earth nourishes us
yet we choose on a daily basis to harm it
because we are selfish and righteous
and think we know right from wrong
the problem is people have different perceptions of this concept
based on where, who and how we are created
it is not wrong to think differently to others but it is a crime to punish the earth that gives us life!!!!!!
this you must know
in your mind and in your heart
to be truth
this is my truth

what you have and are as a being should always be honest to self and earth alike!!!

peace!!

waste what????? all about processes!!!!!!

3 bags of fabric collected from St Clair Design.

What are we wasting? by the bags I've collected from 2 places in Dunedin a lot!!!!  I originaly wanted to collect waste from the fashion school, but there just isn't enough. So in realising I wasn't collecting enough fabric I decided to approach local designers and factories, I also realised that I needed enough of the same fabric to make something cohesive and as its a collection of pieces they needed to do this. So I approached many places in Dunedin, a few already had waste initiatives in place, handing pieces off to others for reuse in textile art, to community groups, schools and artists. Others using the waste exchange www.wasteexchange.co.nz. Only one place had no initiatives in place except for giving them to people who come in and ask. which is definitely a good way of getting rid of it but what happens when no one wants it???

back - jersey knit 1

Front - jersey knit 1

So it's been my goal to show people how useful that fabric actually is. I've collected fabric from St Clair Designs and Adventure Outfitters. Let's start with St Clair Design, They have very colourful fabric which is great and a lot of different types such as drills, lycra's, wools, knits, chiffon, silk and linings. the fabric I was most excited about was the jersey knits, these were great to work with as a first experiment as I realised that working this way would be easier without having to deal with closures as most seams wouldn't be straight or aligned properly.and I was right, I really like the as yet unfinished outcome, it made me want to do more. I continued on with other fabrics that I had from St Clair Designs and tacked together at least 6 garments. I then realised I wasn't going to have enough of the same fabrics to make a 3 piece collection that was as cohesive as I wanted it to be, as I would need to gather more of these fabrics to fulfill that,  St Clair designs doesn't have a big output at this stage of the year, I have managed to collect only 4 bags from them but have asked for exclusiveness for the next few months to continue collecting and collating fabrics for next semesters project.

However the opportunity arose for me to collect 2 bags from Adventure Outfitters, they are a CMT business mostly specialising in uniforms, they do have a small range of their own as well. They also outsource to smaller designers here in Dunedin. I was fortunate to get a bag of merino and as they CMT they do more lays when cutting so I found the same pieces many times over, this was very exciting as I knew this could be more profitable for me in having enough material to create a cohesive collection. The colour pallette was also very good black, grey, red, purple, blue. These all work well together.  I have worked on 4 pieces consistently a hoody, 2 tops and a dress. I didn't know they were going to end up as these at the start I just went with where I thought the pieces should go, made decisions about seams and gathers. I will talk more about these pieces in a later post.

The process starts with collecting and collating the fabric into different types, it took me 3 1/2 hours to sort through the first three bags from St Clair Design, but then only 1/2 hour for the one bag from Adventure Outfitters, as this was only filled with 5-7 different types of fabric. In hindsight I probably should have weighed the bags and been more technical about the amount of waste I was collecting and eventually using. But hey I'm not a numbers girl so it really didn't matter. It's more about what can be done with that fabric.  How it can still be utilised to make garments. I have found that this is definitely possible. It is one way of using the waste fabrics, instead of having to pattern make the waste out, it can be used for embellishments or to make more clothes.
So after sorting the fabric, it is layed out on the floor so you can see the different shapes and sizes of pieces(negative spaces from cutting), draping around the form starts from there. It is about placement and sewing with the right tensions to create nice pieces. sometimes you make a mistake and have to cut a piece off, but that's fine as it's experimenting with what can be done and how different shapes can be made to fit together. This is done by gathering and pleating in to create ease and fit. It is a fairly simple process when working with knit fabric. I have alot more experimentation to undertake working with woven fabrics, this will be the next challenge.

Before!

vest

After!!!!!

skirt

What you have and are as a being should always be honest to self and earth alike!!!!!!

Peace

Senorita Awesumo

RHLS

RHLS spring/summer 2011

RHLS

geometricity, all materials sourced ethically, awesum!!!!!!!


Brooklyn, NY!

Shingo Sato

TRworkshop for Fashion Design/the skirt projects by TRtechnique

Shingo Sato

shingo sato video

this guy is awesum

http://youtu.be/mCTn4YylKhE         TRpattern workshop/ Origami concept by TR-3D technique

http://youtu.be/Yq9zunlyQ5U           Transformational Reconstruction by Shingo Sato

i love the way he moulds around the body! creating interesting seams and lines, as this to me is where clothing is going, everything is the same now and just things reproduced over and over, now we need to get more inventive with the way we cut and shape our cloth. this is the future of fashion!!!

R*I*P LARRY MATHEWS beautiful magic shaman

http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/files/imagecache/display/images/larryumbrlla2email.jpg

My dear friend Larry,  how I miss you so,  your magical smile, your cheeky chuckle. your love of art and finding things, our conversations about design, life, thoughts, feelings and love. our drawings and writings. your magical way of being and appearing as if from nowhere, your light and presence.  so brilliant, bright and free! honest and true!  thank you for showing me the brilliance of this world. it sometimes feels as though the world has lost a little bit of magic, but now i look and i see the amazement and wonder of this place everywhere because of you.


It was rainy and tempestuous after you left, it stayed this way for days.
until we scattered you into the sea, and here you will stay. in our hearts and minds.
the light shines through more free and clear these days.

be @ peace my wonderful friend.

i wish you all the light, freedom and love wherever you are.

PEACE FiSaurus

Dinosaur's in the Cloud's

Larry's Lanyop( a little extra something for nothing) cookies

1 cup butter/ margarine, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup finelly chopped nuts( roasted and smashed)
1/4 tsp salt
orange peel
cardamom

oven temp 220c 400f
mix butter, sugar, vanilla in big bowl. add all other ingredients.
shape dough into 1 inch balls, place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
bake 10-12 mins, watch at 10mins, cook till set but not brown. cool slightly on wire rack.
roll in powdered sugar, cool, roll in sugar again.

fast and easy and delicious to make, gluten free flour can be used, add guar gum.

                                                            

http://www.dowse.org.nz/News/Latest-News/Yield-Making-Fashion-Without-Making-Waste/

so very excited about going to see this exhibition over queens birthday weekend, it will be great to see what other people are doing and have done in the past, how it is evolving into the future, to create a better fashion system. these people are all inspirational for me and i have been following some of them for the last few years. Zandra Rhodes for her tactile and unstructred way of working, Yeohlee Teng for her amazing hoods, Holly Mcquillan for her tailored zerowaste designs. Julian Roberts for his experimental view on creating fashion and his way of working. Timo Rissanen for his research and papers on waste in the fashion system. All of these people have given me ideas and helped in my research towards creating clothes from waste fabrics. Waste not, Want not! is a big idea that could be taken to many places. I am hoping to show that with the clothing i create this year!