TASK:
Visit the Trash Fashion exhibition and..
1. Write reflective notes on your experience of the exhibition, what you learnt and explain the different processes/approaches to 'designing out waste' from 3 differing projects - discuss the merits of each approach in contributing to the sustaining of the environment and what the issues might be regarding what IMPACT they can have.
SCIENCE MUSEUM: Antenna Gallery - Trash Fashion
The trash fashion exhibition aims to show the public how harmful their waste is to the environment. Most of the time people throw away perfectly good clothes that have been worn maybe only once, or were bought, never worn and then thrown away. Both of these are contributing factors to the amount of dyes, polymers and toxic chemicals that are contaminating our environment. I think the trash fashion exhibition is excellent as it shows how as an individual you can really be resourceful with your clothes thus preventing the release of harmful chemicals and build up of landfill.
Trash Fashion asks :
'How can the latest design and technology help to create wear without waste? And what can we all do to reduce the impact of throwaway fashion?'
Living in a world where celebrity fashion dominates the cover of every magazine, fashion is becoming more and more demanding. It has since become a tool to symbolise one's identity and individuality; new trends come almost daily and manufacturers have to compete with each other thus contributing to the waste and breakdown of the planet. High street fashion means people are buying more clothes, wearing them once or twice and then disregarding them in a rubbish heap. Fashion designers have thus begun to create beautiful garments that are not only fashionable and wearable but green and friendly to the environment.
1. Material Desires Section:
Most fabrics when they are disposed off takes years and years to degrade due to the synthetic fibres they are made of. What's worse is that in today's society a lot of clothes are made with these synthetics, i.e nylon, polyester and acrylic. The main issue is that when they decompose they release toxic gases into the environment creating a hazardous atmosphere.
CSM researcher and fashion designer Suzanne Lee has targeted this problem by using bacteria to grow garments. She uses nature alongside technology to create a fabric that is not only wearable but easy to recycle and decompose. Her garments, entitled 'BioCouture', are made using cellulose; most commonly a natural polymer found in plants.
Her cellulose however is not made from plants as plant cellulose consumes an obscene amount of water and is thus damaging and wasteful to the planet. Suzanne Lee uses 'Bacterial Cellulose' which she makes from sheets of sugary 'biofilm'. The material is produced by the microbes that ferment green tea and is grown in bathtubs of this natural stimulant alongside a mother culture of yeast and bacteria, allowing it to feed on the sugar in the mixture. As the bacteria breeds, fibres sprout and produce thin layers of cellulose that can then be molded onto mannequins to create figure-hugging shapes. The garment can then be dried allowing the edges to fuse together giving a seamless allusion. It can then be printed on using natural dyes from brightly coloured fruit and vegetables and stitched to make wearable, eco-friendly designs.
Bacterial Cellulose under a microscope
Image: antenna.sciencemuseum.org.uk
I think Lee has produced a fantastic process as she targets the main issue of water consumption and creates a sought after alternative that I feel can only improve with further research and practice. Her work appears almost like a second skin, scale-like, leathery and tea stained in colour. It reminds me of papyrus paper that Egyptians used because of its organic, multi-layered and natural texture. When molded onto a body it almost envelops it, resembling a close-knit skin imprint that will fit structurally around the body. I like that she involves mother nature alongside modern technology to create an innovative new material.
A major issue surrounding the project 'BioCouture' is the fact that cellulose is extremely absorbent of water. Therefore if it rains the garment will absorb up to 98% of its own weight and instantly turn into a soggy, gooey, heavy mess. Lee however, has consulted this problem and with the help of Alexander Bismarck (a researcher at Imperial College London) she hopes to add water-repellent molecules to prevent the break down of the material when wet. This would be a major concern if the garment was to be sold in shops however if the molecules work they will attach themselves to the fabric's structure as it is being made preventing any jelly-like disasters. Another merit of Lee's work is that there is already a great deal of support for her projects, with researchers already attempting to grow this bacterium on a larger scale.
I feel her project is extremely beneficial to sustaining the environment as it successfully brings together science and fashion establishing a new ground breaking material that can only be enhanced. Lee sums up her future prospects and shows her excitement with this new technique by stating:
‘One day it might be possible to produce bacterial cellulose in a huge array of different forms, feels and colours. In the future we could find ourselves surrounded by bacterial cellulose – in our clothes, our books and magazines, our cars, our buildings… the possibilities are almost endless!’
2. Cut it Out Section
Although designers may produce exquisite items of clothing, I always wonder what happens to the odd, off cut pieces of fabric. In order to create garments you use pattern pieces to create seams and joins within fabric. In production, a machine tightly fits together hundreds of pattern shapes in order to minimise the amount of waste material, however there is still gaps between the pieces that will inevitably end up in landfill. It is said that as much as 15% of the fabric is wasted. Sometimes these remnants can be used as stuffing for beanbags or cushions, but the majority of the time they are binned or thrown away. Designers have acknowledged this and thus begun to work their magic on creating garments that leave no waste material whatsoever.
Sandy Black; a designer at London College of Fashion has created a brand new process that uses knitting to create a piece of clothing which starts with one thread and ends with that thread - no waste involved. Black is influenced by science and mathematics and by combining her love for knitting and textiles, she is capable of creating logical, mind-blowing designs. Her new method uses 'made to measure' technology to literally scan the naked body from head to toe recording the exact dimensions of the body in only 6 seconds. This bespoke technology creates a 3D version of your body on screen that allows Sandy to draw an outfit that will fit perfectly to your measurements. The design she creates is then fed into a computer which reads her design like a book and prints out the garment all in one, meaning no loose ends, no left over scraps, no waste - just a one piece wonder! Subsequently, why make cheap tacky clothes that will inevitably be thrown away when you could have a custom made garment that will remain in your wardrobe forever?
Pattern pieces fitted onto a piece of fabric (see excess waste material)
3D body scan to record body proportions/dimensions
Black successfully portrays customer's desirability with sustainability. This made to measure formula is unique and not only fits the customer perfectly but also enhances digital technology. It is a brilliant idea as it means you will have designs that really fit you and so not only will there be no need to settle with second best, but you will have the luxury of having a bespoke creation. This will also create a huge impact on the economy as when shops produce batches of clothes, they guess the average sizes and a lot of the time their clothes are ill fitting or unwearable, amounting to waste and cost. Blacks new technique is cost effective as you get to see your garment before you choose to print it, which means there is no reason for it not to fit. Her 3D body scan also suggests there is possibly no need anymore for changing rooms. If the scanner can record all of your dimensions accurately then you simultaneously wipe out the hassle of standing in queues waiting to try on clothes only to find they don't even fit. Being able to rotate your body 360 degrees will also give the added merit of seeing what your clothes look like from every angle, which in a cramp changing room is not even achievable. I think it's a great new idea because it means you will be able to see what you will look like in a design before buying it and also it is personal to you as it will be one of a kind.
The only problem with Sandy's production process is the time concept. As it a new technique it currently takes a large amount of time to print each garment, however I believe that in time they will create ways to reel of designs at the flick of a switch.
Her work also follows fellow designer Issey Miyake who successfully launched his project called A-Poc (a piece of cloth). Like Black he uses industrial knitting and weaving machines to create continuous rolls of dresses and long sweaters that can be cut to fit by the customer. It is not only a more resourceful technique but it puts the customer in control as they get the opportunity to take part in designing the shape of their product.
3. To dye for Section
Another issue contaminating the environment is that of dyes. Most garments contain an awesome amount of colour which although gives them a bright and vivid look causes huge problems to the world's water systems. More than 70 toxic chemicals are released into water through washes, dyes and finishes causing extreme pollution and thus problems not only to human health but aquatic life aswell. These chemicals can stay in the water forever causing havoc unless somebody stops them.
Sydney based designer Donna Sgro has come up with a master plan for creating exciting and innovative displays of colour without the use of any dyes. She mimics the irridescent colours of peacock feathers and the morpho butterfly's wings through the use of Morphotex, a nanotechnology-based, structurally coloured fibre. The morpho butterfly is one of the largest of its kind and is known for its exquisite vivid coloured wings. The sparkling scales which make up its structure are created by overlapping each other and picking up specific wavelengths of light that refract, reflect and scatter to produce its phenomenal appearance. Sgro has used this nanotechnology; known as 'structural colour' to imitate the microscopic structure of the wings. She creates a trompe l'oeil style garment that appears to shimmer with the use of light instead of dyes. Japanese textiles company Teijin manages to reproduce the microscopic structure by using '61 ulta-thin alternating layers of polyester and nylon to create each Morphotex fibre'. As each layer has a thickness of between 70 and 100 nanometres it is possible to monitor how much the light bounces, bends and scatters inside the fabric. The result is amazing, the fabric reflects light exactly like the insect's wing creating a rainbow effect of red, blue, green and violet.
The morpho butterfly's wings - afar and close up
The merit of using Morphotex is that the colour will not fade in time like most clothes in your wardrobe. Morphotex helps to sustain the environment because it does not use water, chemicals or energy and dyes or pigments to create colour. Sgro successfully follows Teijins example by getting influence from nature and creating a fabric that is magnificent under any light. The opal effect is also a contributing factor in maintaining the environment as if more people wear these clothes then it will further limit the amount of dyes being used. It is also successful in creating an innovative new style of clothes and a colour changing technology that is certain to provide a brighter future.
Donna Sgro's Morpho dress
David Snoswell, a nano- colour expert at the Cambridge University has also created a colour technique that does not require any dyes. His team have observed the crazy rainbow flecks in opal gemstones and replaced the stacked glass spheres in regular opals with tiny plastic ones. This allows the fabric to bend and appear like durable plastic. When the fabric is twisted or stretched it creates fluorescent mind boggling colours as the colour constantly changes and causes havoc with the eye. I think it is a sensational design and definitely good for the adventurous youth of today. The new opal is shockingly bright and would look amazing on swimwear or party-wear creating almost an 80's retro vibe. The downside could be that it is not for everyone; however getting lighter, subtle changes in colour is attainable.
To conclude I feel that there are many new and innovative processes that help to combat the amount of textile waste that ends up in landfill each year. With science and technology working alongside fashion the possibilities are endless and I feel this new age of fashion will only grow and grow (perhaps even literally out of bacteria). Each new process pushes the boundaries and creates disbelief within the public, which I feel only spurs designers on and in turn provides us with renewable resources that in the long term will save our planet. I for one can’t wait to get my hands on some iridescent, light reflecting, bacteria grown clothes!
Now who’s with me??
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