Fairly Fashionable?

 

 

“Good designers don't just consider the aesthetics of an object, but how that object comes to be - right down to the growth and manufacture of it.”

Fashion Revolution

 

The Event: Fairly Fashionable

Fairly Fashionable? challenge commenced on Fashion Revolution Day, April 24th, the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory disaster in Dhaka Bangladesh, where 1133 lives were lost (with many hundreds more injured) -- with devastating long-lasting effects on families and friends.

Designers were challenged to create a garment or fashion accessory (jewellery, head piece, bag etc.), in 14 days by incorporating in their design a piece of original Fair Trade fabric (supplied) originating from countries including India, Peru, Cambodia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Fairly Fashionable? culminated with a public fashion show on the eve of World Fair Trade Day on May 9th at MANY 6160, Fremantle’s premier new fashion quarter in the old Myer building.

A public exhibition of designed work was display at MANY 6160 from World Fair Trade Day, May 10th-May 18th, 2014.

 

 

 

The Experience:



The Fashion Degree at Curtin places a value on sustainability, teaching us about the environmental and humanitarian impacts which the fashion industry has on the world. Because of this and through my personal enthusiasm in the area, I was keen to become involved.

The Fairly Fashionable? Design Challenge firstly asked for an expression of interest where designers explained their brand or personal values. On Fashion Revolution Day (24^th of April), we were all invited to MANY 6160 to come together and debrief on the project. While we were there, each designer chose a hessian bag that contained a piece of fair trade fabric from different origins, varying types of material and of different sizes, shapes, colour and textures. It was our challenge to create an outfit, accessory or fashion component within 14 days incorporating the fabric we had received. 

One of the objectives of the challenge was to show that fair trade and eco design can be contemporary and interesting so it was important for the designers to demonstrate new ideas and innovative fashion design within their pieces. Even though we were able to use additional elements for our design, we were asked to think sustainably with what we used and how we used it.

My Outfit:

For my project, I received a piece of fair trade fabric from Anjel Ms which was a contrasting black and red Cotton tie dye fabric, much of which still supported ties used in the dying process. With this fabric I was I was inspired to create a menswear design featuring the unfinished, as well as the finished, fabric as a way of conveying the story behind the material. My outfit includes pants which contain no inner or outer leg seam to provide added comfort for the wearer. I also recycled leather off cuts and upcycled cotton for my design as well as investigating the idea of ‘zero waste pattern making’ by using one piece of cloth which was tucked and cut and the pieces reoriented to form a shape for the body.

          

It was a great idea to put a short, 2 week time frame on the challenge to make the designers, as well as the audience, consider the idea of ‘fast fashion’ and the pressure which some people are put under to produce products for an extremely quick turn over. The whole experience was fantastic, it was great to see updates on how the other designers were going and seeing the ideas they came up with at the end of it all. It was also fantastic to see so many people attend the runway event to support the designers and the cause and create a wider understanding of the importance of fair trade in the fashion industry.

 

 Cordelia




Thanks to Trilby Temperley for images

Spirit of the Black Dress 2013 Submission

“Everything has value, no matter how old or broken up, everything has a soul, an identity, behind everything there is a story, a story with a continuation”

-Sustainable Designer Naomi Maaravi

I feel it is important to up-cycle in a way that celebrates the origins of the garment, promoting the story of sustainability. My dress is made up of two components; a slim fitting dress and an open front skirt which together create a classic silhouette with contemporary detail. The outfit shows the design journey by continuing the language of the original garment, utilising the original finishings and showing the construction.   

The dress was created using components from two men’s trousers. By draping the pre-shaped panels, my design was created by how these shapes fitted in to each other as well as how they could be used around the body. This process is made evident in the skirt where the seams are turned out as a feature. The panels which had pockets on the original trousers have been reoriented to be just as usable on the new design. Lastly, the waistband and fly front zip have been utilised as a practical element, further adding to the ‘story’ of up-cycling.

My garment has a number of sustainable elements as outlined below:

Sutainable practice: By using pre-shaped panels and draping them onto the body, I have considerably reduced the use of resources including paper for patterning and fabric for toiling. Furthermore I was able to reduce energy consumed in sewing, by pinning seams to the outside and sewing them in one sitting.

Lifecycle: The dress is made up of two components; a fitted dress and an open front skirt which are able to be worn individually. Furthermore, the skirt can be rotated on the body to create attractive silhouettes as well as being reversible as the seams are designed to turn to the outside as a feature.

Sustainable Materials: My garment is made out of almost all of two pre-worn men’s trousers, using the separate panel pieces as they were and re orientating them to fit in to each other and around the body. I have utilised the panels with pockets so they are just as usable and one of the waistbands and zip as a practical fastening on the open front skirt.   

Sustainable Fashion

As part of my university course, we are required to take a unit called Sustainable Fashion. We study the environmental and humanitarian impacts caused by the fashion industry and stud designers and design houses changing their ways to reduce the problem.

As students, we have been looking at ways to make our own garments more sustainable. For this project, I made a simple, sustainably made dress... Check it out

-Modular (able to be worn different ways)
-Organically produced fabric
-Fair trade
-Energy saving (minimal seams etc)
-No fabric wastage (all parts of 1x2 metre piece of fabric used)

Simple Skirt

Dress design

Off sholder

Mini dress

Mini dress 2

Another skirt desing

With two draw strings, stretchy fabric and loose sections, the garment has endless possibilities

Cordelia x