3. Circular Open Source Fashion¶
Research & Ideation¶
Leather, a material long associated with luxury and durability, carries a paradox of beauty and imperfection. Every hide bears natural flaws scars, insect bites, and irregular textures that challenge efficient material utilization. Traditional leathercraft often discards these imperfect sections, resulting in up to 30% material waste. This project reimagines that assumption through a design-driven circular approach.
A review of scholarly and industrial literature highlighted the urgent need for sustainable innovation in leathercraft. Studies (Kumaravel et al., 2022; Smith & Jones, 2021) confirmed that leather waste constitutes a major cost and environmental issue. Concepts from Design for Sustainability (DfS) and Zero-Waste Pattern Cutting (Fletcher, 2020; McQuillan, 2021) suggest that design itself must become a waste-prevention tool. The adaptation of geometric tessellation, common in textile zero-waste design, can be extended to leather. Moreover, artisanal craftsmanship especially hand-stitching adds flexibility, quality, and cultural value to sustainable products (Anderson, 2022; TechStyle Group, 2023).
This theoretical foundation informed the project’s focus on modular, hand-stitched hexagonal components as both a design and sustainability strategy.
weekly assignment
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about your images..delete the tip!!
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Remember to credit/reference all your images to their authors. Open source helps us create change faster together, but we all deserve recognition for what we make, design, think, develop.
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remember to resize and optimize all your images. You will run out of space and the more data, the more servers, the more cooling systems and energy wasted :) make a choice at every image :)
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get inspired!
Check out and research alumni pages to betetr understand how to document and get inspired
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0-waste modular dress - Stephanie Johnsons - TextileLab Amsterdam
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Modular balaclava - Mina Mayo Smith - FabLab Kamakura
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Modular jewellery - Shefali Desai - Somaya
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0-waste garment - Ruby Lennox - FabLab Bcn
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0-waste garment - Alve Lagercrantz - FabLab Bcn
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Assembly instructions & embedded message - Jessica Stanley - TextileLab Amsterdam
Add your fav alumni's pages as references
References & Inspiration¶
Fletcher, K. (2021). Craft of Use: Post-Growth Fashion and Clothing. Routledge.
McQuillan, H. (2020). Zero Waste Systems Thinking in Fashion Design. Bloomsbury.
Von Busch, O. (2008). Fashionable Technology: Open Source and Hacktivism in Fashion. VDM Verlag.
Inspiration¶
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Download reference
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Remember to credit/reference all your images to their authors. Open source helps us create change faster together, but we all deserve recognition for what we make, design, think, develop.
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remember to resize and optimize all your images. You will run out of space and the more data, the more servers, the more cooling systems and energy wasted :) make a choice at every image :) This image is optimised in size with resolution 72 and passed through tinypng for final optimisation.
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Tools¶
- [2D/3D modelling Rhino3D](http://class.textile-academy.org)
- [2D modelling Inkscape](http://class.textile-academy.org)
Process and workflow¶
Step 1 The sketches of the bag¶
The mockup design sketches are ...
Step 2 Canva design of the bag¶
The canva design was will displayed here ...
Step 3 Pattern making and cutting¶
The pattern making and manual cutting was displayed here.
Step 4 Final product assembled with paper cutted¶
The cutted pattern was assembled here.
Step 4 Final product assembled with waste jean¶
The Final product developed will displayed here ...