Design to Minimise Waste

Design to minimise waste, well we've never really considered this in the past but as our climate continues to change due to waste strain we put upon it, we begin to realise that each one of us needs to do our bit. In today's society people are slowly becoming more aware of their own economical footprint, I know this because recycling and the idea of 'waste management' has been drilled into my generation persistently for the entirety of my education. It is through education and the press that we encourage and promote the idea of waste and recycling.

On the textile toolbox website the fashion industry is split up into two main types of fashion waste; Pre-consumer and post-consumer.
Pre-consumer waste consists of the lack to cut patterns with the idea of no waste in mind and also all the excess waste created in the manufacturing countries, as no thought is put into the cutting or design patterns. This is a big issue as we continue to fill up land fill sites with non bio-degradable materials, or even burning excess fabrics, thus polluting the atmosphere further. However if we were to put these excess scraps of material back into the fashion industry perhaps we could change the face of fashion waste. Designers are partly responsible for the increasing amount of fashion waste as they fulfil the constant need to wear the next trendy outfit and meet sales targets etc. Perhaps more thought should be put into the creation and technical developments of a design such as the cutting patterns, using materials that last longer and have had more time taken on them when choosing fibre types etc. like in Alabama Chain, they only produce what they need, they makes garment s to order and don't make or have any unnecessary waste.

As consumers I don't think we recognise the amount of waste we produce through the current industry of constant fast fashion, we merely care about being on trend, wearing what the celebrities are wearing, basically being 'cool and fashionable' and we dont care about what ahppens to our clothes once we bin them. However we need to be more aware of how we recycle our clothing, but this is not a new thing. Vivienne Westwood has been encouraging the idea of recycled clothing and re-inventing what you wear, basically D.I.Y, e.g. The 'punk' era. Vivienne Westwood as an example recently re-design the uniforms for Virgin atlantic airline staff, creating trendy fashionable uniforms but out of recycled polyester yarn that originated from plastic bottles and canvas created from reused roadside banners and leather cut-off's.
Marks and Spencer's are also one of many companies who are now promoting consumer recycling within their fashion department, encouraging their customer to bring their worn out and unwanted clothes back to the store so that the company can recycle them themselves. Encouraging an easy way for consumers to get rid of  and recycle their clothing.
The state our fashion climate is in though isn't due to the manufacturers or the designers, it is a constant cycle of the WANTS and NEEDS of the public. There is such a high demand for faster fashion and new products, that companies barely have the time or resources to start to think about a more waste friendly way of designing.

In my opinion Design to minimise waste is the future collaboration that both the designer and consumers need to think about together, to reduce the concept of fast fashion and develop a mutual understanding of how we can reduce the waste impact of both pre and post consumer consumption. We should be creating clothing with more care and a quality to them which will make them last longer, like many years ago when you would go to a dress maker for  a dress, and a tailors for a suit etc. Waste was less back then because we didn't have such a competitive fashion industry or have to cater to so many new trends and styles, you had several well made and crafted outfits, which you could adjust according to the time of day or event, there was no need for having mountains upon mountains of clothes. I think where the fashion industry is concern we need to start thinking a little bit more backwardly, and promote the smaller companies who create well crafted products that last much longer, rather than these convenient fashion stores which churn out new products on a weekly basis. It shouldn't be waste for the sake of waste. It should be minimised waste for the sake of a long lasting and well crafted product. It is our responsibility as future designer to incorporate the environmental impact of our products in the design process and also to make the consumer realise the  impact fashion has on the world.

Examples of Designers who think about the waste side of fashion:


Zero-waste garments by David Telfer, 2010. Photograph by Thomas McQuillan, courtesy of David Telfer

Tefler, D photograph by McQuillan, T. (2010) Zero Waste Garments. Photograph. Retrieved from: http://www.textiletoolbox.com/posts/design-minimise-waste/



Vivienne Westwood


Alexander, E. (2013) Westwood designs Virgin Atlantic Uniforms. Retrieved from: http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/05/02/vivienne-westwood-designs-virgin-atlantic-uniforms