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13. IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

RESEARCH & CONCEPT - DENIM RECONNAISSANCE

My aim is to create a modular collection of clothing, utilizing discarded denim and all the technologies and techniques I have learned at Fabricademy.

Sustainability will be a large aspect of this project. I want to address both the producer / designer side as well as the consumer / wearer.

My collection will consist of 3 main objects / garments.

  • JACKET
  • PANTS
  • BAG

These pieces will all be interchangeable and modular in one form or multiple. Allowing for multiple variations of the same outfits.


RESEARCH & RECONNAISSANCE

I will be exploring denim and how it can be utiilized in different sustainable ways from the Producer perspective as well as the Consumer perspective.

Denim and modular clothing each have a long history as well as a shared history. Denim has a storied history and is culturaly important to many different people and countries. Whether it is Genoa, Italy; where the first denim fabric was produced, or The United States, where denim became synonomous with early working class attire and identity. Including the darker side of cotton production utilizing slavery in the early days of the U.S.A.

One of the first denim jackets ever made, by Levis, had modular elements to its design.

Modular clothing has existed in many shapes and forms throughout history, recently it has been championed and incorportated into many techware designs and concepts. I also see many new designers and brands starting to get very creative with different modular applications for their designs and garments. I want to make modular clothes out of heavier work-wear fabrics such as denim, which i have not seen as much of. this allows me to focus on denim and use it as a framework to explore my concepts of sustainability and modularity.

Below are ideas, concepts or paths i could take in this RECONNAISSANCE:

  • How can modular clothing benefit the community and consumer.

  • Repair workshops

  • Embracing wear and tear / mending

  • Swapability of modular pieces with others

  • Replace modules instead of entire garment

  • Recycling of denim back into the cycle, either as new fabric or for biomaterial packaging.

  • Research the specifics of denim recycling.

  • Utiliziing denim as it is donated, or processing into new fabrics.

  • Talk / work with BACKTOECO - a barcelona based denim full service recycling and production studio.

REFERENCES & INSPIRATION

This is a mix of research into applications for denim, its lifecycle, and how to re-use or recycle it, things more on the designer side of the industry. As well as research into modular clothing, different methods, applications, and implications it could have from the wearer side of the industry.

Case for Uniforms

Could Modular Fashion make Sustainability Fun

Blue Denim Waster Fading Plant

Roots of Denim

Rise of Modular Fashion

BACK TO ECO

What is modular fashion: Towards A Common Definition


WHAT, WHY, WHO, WHOM, HOW, WHEN

  • WHAT: I will explore all the possibilites and lifecycle of denim.
  • WHY: Denim is a big part of my design practice as well as personal uniform, as well as national identity such as CANADIAN TUXEDO.
  • WHO: This project is for consumers but also for producers, showcasing how denim can be used in new and sustainable ways, and in which the consumer has an active participation in the lifecycle of their clothes.
  • WHOM: This will involve my own design studio and network but also creating another network of recycling within the industry as well as with the wearer.
  • HOW: By using the fabricademy networks along with my own I aim to create a cohesive view of denim and its lifecycle, as well as creating garments that are viewed not only as sustatinable but stand on their own in terms of their designs.
  • WHEN: This will be done through the 2nd half of this course, but will continue afterwards either in Barcelona or back in Montreal, and Canada as a whole.

TIMELINE

I realize that this is an ambitious amount of work to complete within 2 and 1/2 months. I plan on using existing material libraries as a spring board to get further into my denim reconnaissance, so i also have time to produce the collection.

PRESENTATION