3. Circular fashion

Circular fashion leading to a circular economy is one of the fastest grwoing area of focus for many designers, reserachers and impact makers. Circular fashion is the process sof production where every produced solutions/design leads to a better economy. Mainly focusing on sustainability, lesser waste, use of bio materials etc.

Research

Benefits of Circular Economy as stated by "Designed so that its sub-components can be disassembled or separated to facilitate repair, remake, reuse and eventually material recycling at its end of use; Designed with high quality materials and in timeless style to maximize its durability, longevity and attractiveness to many users (if passed on to new users); Designed on demand (custom-made) in order to be more optimally designed for its specific user in terms of fabric/material, style and fit, thus increasing its perceived value and likely lifespan; Produced with non-toxic, high quality and preferably biodegradable materials, so that its material(s) may be safely biodegraded and composted at the end of use; or produced with non-toxic synthetic materials that may be effectively recycled (such as recyclable polyester); Produced in such a way that all waste generation is minimized during production, and all potential spill material and rest products can be reclaimed and reused as raw material for other processes, thus minimizing the extraction of new virgin material; Produced, transported and marketed using renewable energy, such as wind or solar power, wherever possible, and using water and other raw materials effectively and safely throughout production and distribution; Can be used by multiple users throughout its life time through swapping, borrowing, rental, redesign, or second hand services, thus extending its user life; and Can be safely and effectively reclaimed and recycled, whereby its components are utilized as raw material for manufacturing of new products, or are biodegraded and turned into biological nutrients for microorganisms in the soil."

  • (http://www.greenstrategy.se/what-is-circular-fashion-2/)
  • (https://circular.fashion/)

Modular Fashion

For modular fashion project, I gained my interest by looking at the honeycomb structure. The honemycomb structure is known to be one of the best and most efficient form of architectural construction. Keeping this structure in mind, I constructed the follwoing shape by finding the best way to use the material. When practicing modular fashion, there is a tendency to just design a basic module/pattern and repeat it by creating the male and female parts and connect them. For this experiment, I however, used the honeycomb strcuture as the base of constructing the pattern. This was done using rhino and using the follwoing honey comb image as the "backgroundbitmap"

Honeycomb structure

Patterns were further skecteched over and the follwoing images showcases the process, I had also side by side used paper to understand the mechanism and details.

This was further cut using Cameo Silhoutte as the laser cutter was not available. Using Cameo is not as accurate as the laser cutter but could give good results. The tryout were done in blue and green and then later cut useing laser cutter in the LaserCut 5 machine.

Varying the sizes added excitement to the whole exploration. The most interesting part was to observe the reversed side of the cutout.

I then changed the pattern to completely use the material leaving almost zero waste. In addition I played with negative and positive cutouts, and 2d to 3D structures. Following are images of examples both explored in paper and synthetic felt.

As a designer with interests in materials, systems and fashion, the design outcomes arise from the porocesses of making and material properties. Although I explored very less within the given time, the new areas of growth and understanding are the following * 1) Modular Fashion using male and female does not necessarily have to be separate module. One module can be both male and female. * You can see this when you compare the first pattern and the second pattern. In the first pattern, the male is a separate module from the female, where one is the insert and the other the cut. In the second experiement one module behaves as the male and female all at once. * 2) Hexagonal base structure is one of the most efficient and smart ways of cutting, leading to zero waste. * 3) Modular fashion is the process of making a 2D material into 3D outcomes, where each module is normally 2D. However this 2D module can be modified to create 3D outcome within one module. * 4) Cuts and sizes used for one specific material will vary according to material type, size and flexibility.

Redesigning the pattern and recutting using the Epilog Fusion Lazer Cutter.

  • In Adobe Illustrator, I created the file as attached here, by using the shape tool.
  • docs/files/Hexagon_Felt._lazercut.ai
  • I cut removed lines that were overlapping to avoid double cutting on the lazer cutter. Observing the file can provide a detailed understanding of this.
  • Next at my univeristy, I used the Epilog fusion Lazer cutter to cut the felt.
  • As before the cut modular peice leave zero waste. For creating my piece, I used unwanted felt and cut the pattern to connect.
  • Below are images showing the front and the back of the joined pieces. I find that in modular fashion, sometime both side of the ensemble is instresting to be used.

Eplilog Lazer Cutter setting and cutting. from Rabab on Vimeo.

  • Select Document size by opting printing preference and chose the right lazer cutter. Document Size = size of sheet you are cutting
  • Speed = 50%
  • Power = 25%
  • Frequency = 100%
  • Job Type = Combined as default setting
  • Resoultion = 600 dpi

The final outcome created is a piece of modular anklet made out of felt.