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3. Circular Open Source Fashion

Week Recap

I really liked the contents of this week's class. I love thinking how we can make the fashion industry more sustainable. Among the issues/proposals that we discussed were:

  • Zero waste fashion
  • Modular fashion
  • Agile fashion
  • Distributed production

I belive there is a lot of space for innovation to solve the current problems in the industry. I am specially interested in how technology can help us with demand planning, the use of big data, AR/VR, etc.

A great example of how distributed production can be adopted, is JW Anderson releasing (for free) the knitting pattern for the sweater that Harry Styles wore since multiple fans started to try to recreate it in social media.

@lilbittylivie I made myself a knock off of harry styles’ jw anderson cardigan lmao #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #harrystyles ♬ original sound - Liv Huffman

Extract from the pattern instructions, JW Anderson

Camper, a Spanish shoe company has the Roku shoes which feature a modular design. It is made up of 6 pieces: an outosle, insole, inner sock, knitted upper, shoelaces and a cord. The shoes can be completely assembled and disassembled, repaired, recycled and customized and it can be sold assembled or in separate packs to DIY or repair your existing pair. Each pair also features a QR link to a product passport, so you are able to trace its journey. It took 3 years for them to develop this shoe but it is not the first time Camper has attempted to create more sustainable choices. Their model Wabi, is a proposal to create a shoe with the least number of pieces while the Tossu sneakers are completely recyclable made from a 3D knit interior and layered construction.

Roku parts: outosle, insole, inner sock, knitted upper, shoelaces and a cord

Roku assembly

Roku shoes by Camper

Camper Tossu sneaker

Camper Wabi clog

References & Inspiration

Pacco Rabanne Known for working with metal pieces, I think his work really showcases the broad spectrum we have to play with in fashion. Chaining and linking the pieces, he creates beautiful garments with a futuristic vibe. In this collection in particular, I like how the metal pieces are not all uniform but cut in angles to shape the body.

Rabanne RTW SS2012. Model: Magdalena Frackowiak. Photo: Alessandro Viero / GoRunway.com

Jean Paul Gaultier I love how for this garment, the leather is manipulated to shape the dress and how one sring can take different forms such as the cups in the bust area, the volume for the hips, and the flowiness of the skirt.

Jean Paul Gautier Couture SS2010. Model: Tara Gill. Photo: Monica Feudi / Gorunway.com

Research & Ideation

Marisa @meshtimes on social media - she is a UI/UX designer who previously studied fashion. Her @ name actually comes from her modular fashion project to which she refers to as "legos for fashion". I love the way she documented the pieces and assembly in the way we do in the digital product industry, as a design system.

Design systems themselves derive from the concept of Atomic Design coined by Brad Frost in 2013. According to Frost, Atomic Design is a methodology for creating design systems. Atomic design allows cosistency and scalability. There are five distinct levels in atomic design

  1. Atoms - the basic unit.
  2. Molecules - groups of atoms bonded together.
  3. Organisms - formed by combined molecules as building blocks.
  4. Templates - groups of organisms
  5. Pages - A specific instance of a template.

Brad Frost’s Atomic Design

Brad Frost, Atomic Design

I started with a doodle I used to do on my notebooks when I was little, a chain of hearts.

I found these patterns online that cover a surfae with the heart chains. I like how the second one is like woven.

Woven Hearts Pattern Design by KTogeretz Designs


Then, I started ideating how they could link to each other and be one module. In this case, the module has both female and male endings. It can create chains and loops.

I tested on paper to see how it would behave and these are my atoms and molecules

My idea was to do a bodice with princes seams. The direction of the chains can give it a different look on each section. However I didn't have enough links or time to complete it so, it became a bra/harness.

Here's the final product:

Tools

Process and workflow

I started with Inkscape but I felt very lost in the UI. I am more familiar with Adobe prodcuts and I quickly changed to Illustrator. Our instructor Capucine was very kind to give me a quick tutorial on the tools I needed for my idea since it was my first time using vector programs.

Step 1 - Design in Illustrator

Draw the heart shape using basic shapes. Commands: Select all>Object>Path>

Duplicate the shape, rotate, add a small rectangle to use as link. Add the heart shaped "hole" with a smaller heart inside. In retrospect, the rectangle link should have been bigger and the heart shaped cut out should have been bigger to make the links stronger.

Create a grid that covers the surface. This is a reason to use Illustrator over Inkscape, the grid command is very customizable.

Step 2 - Laser Cut Tests

I decided to use vinyl (faux leather) for this task. We started with some test in small size to understand the settings needed.

Power: 50 Speed: 10

First attempt: white vynil. Not enough to cut completely

In the end, I decided to go with black vynil leather because I needed more material than what we had available in white.

Step 3 - Laser Cut

Power: 80 Speed: 15

The shapes were almost completely cut out but I still neded to push the shapes out. I found out the material had started to melt so it was re attaching to the main canvas. So in retrospective, I would tune down these settings.

Assembly

Started with the "outline". Straps and back clasp, with the simple heart shape. The direction of the hearts is very deliberate since it allows the different conenctions.

Filling out the cups with diagonal chains. Here the most challenging part was maintaining the proper tension in the chains to mold the cup but also maintain the link.

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Fabrication files

Bonus - Tessellation Illustration

I made this illustration of the sheep from the Woolshed project. It was my firs time doing this and I'm a Procreate newbie so it took some trial and error and googling. I kept the colors and shape very basic for simplicity but I still learned a few things:

  • Only 3,4,6 sided figures can tile a flat surface perfectly. So I choose an hexagon as a base.
  • It's important to mark the vertices of the polygon to avoid drawing outside the area.
  • Just copy the line drawing from one side of the figure to the side in front. Repeat for all sides.

Here's a time lapse:

This tutorial goes into the stpe by step:

You can also try an analog version. Again, this is a very basic shape but you can complicate it as much as you want.

@lyyyssssssss A great project for late elementary & middle school students - Tessellations! :) #teachersoftiktok #fyp #artteachersoftiktok #steam #childart ♬ SUN GOES DOWN - Andreas Roehrig

Bonus - Wool Felting

We learned how to felt wool with Capucine. Although it is a very time consuming process, the result is very rewarding. We started with the carded wool, which means that the wool has already been thorough some processing (shearing, washing, carding). The process took us about 1 hour for a 30x30cm piece of felt. We will try in the coming weeks to laser cut on wool felt.

Materials:

  • Carded wool
  • Soap (we used Savon de Marseille)
  • Hot water
  • Plastic/bubble wrap
  • Cardboard tube to roll with
  • String to tie (optional)

Process:

  • We started laying down the plastic then added 4 layers of wool but alternating the direction each layer.
  • Then, add the soapy water to wet all of the surface. The hot water with soap will allow the fibers to open up and stick to each other.
  • Cover with more plastic and roll around the cardboard tube.
  • We should roll on the table for around 10 minutes. Then unwrap, and roll again in the oposite direction. We rolloed about 4 times. The more time you spend rolling, the better.
  • Unwrap the wool and massage it with soap, for 20 minutes. Again, the more time, the better. Don't forget the other side.
  • Rinse and remove the excess water.
  • Slap the wool into a flat surface.
  • Leave to dry
  • You now have a beautiful piece of felted wool

Here's a timelapse of our process: