Slow Fashion Project Designs

This week I've been working on my initial designs for my current design project which centres around the idea of sustainability and creating fashion that looks good but is also good for the environment and the people that make it.

I am going to design a menswear capsule collection with the focus on creating garments that can be worn in a number of ways either with detachable or reversible elements.

 

 

This first design is for a green herringbone tweed jacket with a detachable wool lining, this makes the garment suitable for both autumn and winter meaning it is very versatile.

 

 

 

The next design is a pair of drop crotch jeans made from 100% hemp denim, the trousers have knee patches, the knees of trousers often get worn so protecting these areas will allow the garment to last longer.

 

 

This design is a reversible cashmere coat, the fabric it is made from is double sided so the garment is multifunctional allowing the consumer to get more use from it.

 

 

 

The final image is two shirt designs, both designs have detachable sleeves meaning they can be worn in different ways making them suitable for multiple seasons.

Tribal Instinct III Update

Last month I blogged about Tribal Instincts III, the East African Society fashion show I designed and made some outfits for. I've just received the professional photographs from the event so I thought I'd share them with you.
There's also a photo of me and fellow designer Zoe Lipscomb taking our bow at the end.

Let me know what you think!






Shirt and shorts on the catwalk

Tunic and trousers on the catwalk

 

Fabric shopping at Cloth House

 

Last week I went to London to visit some of my favourite fabric shops, it sounds sad but its pretty exciting walking in not knowing what you are going to find and slowly bringing a collection to life. My favourite street to shop for fabric is Berwick street and my favourite shop is Cloth House, well shops because they have two  outlets on the street.

Cloth House, 47 Berwick Street
http://tolkathoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2009_01_01_archive.html
 

The first shop you come to when you turn off Oxford Street houses their linen, cotton, suiting and denim. they have an amazing collection of hand printed and woven cottons and a basement filled with every colour of velvet and corduroy you can imagine. The second shop is further down the road towards Soho and is  where you need to go if you are looking for something luxurious or unusual. As well as stocking a wide range of stretch jerseys and wools they have some slightly more outlandish fabrics including neoprene, rubber, PVC and numerous types of silk.

This shopping trip was different from normal in a couple of ways; as this project is concerned with reducing the environmental impact of clothing I had to think about the sustainability of all the fabrics I chose, and also I had by dad in tow. Rather than being a hindrance as I imagined Papa Harding actually proved pretty useful as he falls into the target customer of the brand I am designing for, it was useful to have a potential customer to bounce ideas off and he actually suggested some fabrics I hadn't considered such as combining the green and orange wool fabrics seen below.

Fabric samples from Cloth House 

In terms of sustainability I found a couple of interesting fabrics, one of which is the denim fabric which is actually made from hemp. Hemp comes from the cannabis plant and has had a reputation in the past for being a scratchy, stiff fabric worn by hippies, I was surmised to find that this fabric was almost indistinguishable from normal cotton denim so I decided to include it in my collection as it has a much lower environmental impact as it needs less water and chemicals than cotton.

The best thing I found in Cloth House was a reflective tape which I can incorporate into my collection, making tailored jackets suitable for the environmentally conscious man to wear on his bicycle. I can't wait to get started designing!

Junky Styling

 

This semester at university all my work seems to have been very focused on sustainability and designing with an environmental conscience. I think these are important issues for the fashion industry to tackle and I have been very inspired by some of the companies I have researched.
 
A company I came across a while ago but which really stuck in my mind when it came to considering a more sustainable model for the fashion industry is Junky Styling. Operating out of their shop in London this brand's focus is up-cycling and recycling clothing,  creating unique pieces from customers own clothing or second-hand finds.




Junky Styling up-cycled Jacket
http://www.junkystyling.co.uk/

 
As part of my research into the company I read the book produced for its 10 year anniversary, it tracks the evolution of the brand from an inspired idea to a full blown business. It also shows past collections, one of my favourite things about them is the way basic garments such as men's shirts can be remade in to create so many different garments in so many styles. Once you know that the dresses below are made from shirts you can see all the different elements, the collars, buttons and sleeves, but if you didn't know they still look like interesting, classy dresses. 
 

Junky Styling Catwalk
http://sustainablethimble.wordpress.com/tag/recyclable-fashion/ 

 
 
I love the idea that worn out, old clothing can be remade into something new and beautiful; given a whole new life and cherished by someone else. I think the reuse of existing materials, and so the reduction in the use of new raw materials is an important aspect of creating a more environmentally sound fashion industry.
 
 

Tribal Instinct III

Last weekend was the incredible Leeds University Union East African Society fashion show; Tribal Instinct III. I was lucky enough to be involved, creating two outfits as part of a Collection by Leeds University fashion students.

The show itself was amazing displaying the best aspects of East African culture; dance, music and fashion all coming together in aid of Tumaini Children’s Home, a Kenyan charity which supports destitute children with education, food and clothes.

Photo by Salmon Media Collective (@_Salmonmedia on twitter)

The starting point for the collection was the vibrant nature of East African culture, especially the broad range of bold colours and patterns used in native fabrics (see my Pinterest for the inspiration board).  In my outfits I wanted the focus to be on the patterns on the fabric so I decided to keep the designs of the garments quite simple, I also wanted to play with the idea of African fashion meeting British fashion so I decided to combine the African fabrics with traditional western garments to create a collection with a sense of cultural fusion.


The outfits I made up can be seen below on the stand but soon I'll post some pictures from the night showing them fully styled. Congratulations to the Tribal Instinct III team for hosting such an amazing night and to all the other designers that took part for their stunning work. Take a look at http://zoelipscomb.blogspot.co.uk/ to see Zoe Lipscomb's take on our collection.