3. Circular fashion¶
This week we worked on open source circular fashion, which I loved since it feels like the concrete and direct application of my Ph.D topic on open source hardware and my obsession for sustainable textiles.
Research¶
My favorite example of zero waste textile design comes from the brand Elvis and Kresse. This is a marvelous brand that I got to research and write about with Jem Bendell in our article on "Elegant Disruption: Theorizing sustainable luxury entrepreneurship". - My article on the appearance of Elegant Disruption
When I invited Kresse Wessling to come to talk to my class on the Sustainable Luxury Paradox at the London School of Business and Finance, she presented a new project her brand was working on for homeware. Originally, British luxury leather manufacturers scoffed at her for using discarded firehoses to make handbags. But ironically they came back a couple of years later, asking if Elvis and Kresse could do anything about their leather waste. The brilliant response they came up with was to create interlocking modules of leather that could be assembled and disassembled endlessly, just like duplo or lego pieces. This enabled the brand to continue its mission to upcycle discarded waste and turn it into luxury products.
'We should have a zero waste society—where we do not waste anything, not energy, not talent, not textiles, not ideas, not leftovers, not opportunities’, Kresse Wessling
I was also inspired by the Open Source Circular Fashion website that Zoe Romano shared.
- Open Source Circular Fashion
Particularly by the second skin pattern developped by Annie Ferlatte
I shared my assignment with Pr. Ron Eglash from the University of Michigan, since his talk at the Paris Open Summit 2018 interested me so much. He suggested I take a look at these patterns:
Construction¶
What to do with old denim?¶
I settled for the design shared by Zoe Romano
Which I built on Rhino. If you click on the image you wil get the files on Rhino and Illustrator.
Useful links¶
Ideas to reduce waste using negative/positive designs - Tiling and patterns - M.C.Escher - Open source circular fashion page
