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week 8

Week 8

Constructing final garments. I began with my dress because it was fresh in my mind being the most recent twoile I had completed.  I then moved onto my sleeves which is the most time consuming aspect of my jacket.

Time management was becoming a real problem and everything especially my jacket sleeves were taking much longer than I thought they would.

I needed to finish my tech manual and ideally print my manual and concept boards all in one go.

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week 7

Week 7

We learned what went into our tech packs and what work sheets needed doing. We learnt a lot about washing labels.

I made the required adjustments to both my jacket and dress. I did much more pattern cutting to my dress adding the skirt. I decided to add a little symmetry and continue with the circle skirt that I was using in my jacket. It created a really interesting silhouette with all the layering.

I began cutting out my fabric, I was slightly behind at this point because I wanted to get my dress perfect. I also hadn’t cut my jacket lining yet which took some time.

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week 6

Week 6

After cutting up my sleeve and playing with it a bit, I likes the idea of plaiting it, which came from the crazy French hair styles. I also looked back in my sketchbook at my panelling from the Versailles ceilings. I adapted my collar and made it stand much more and made it much longer.

During twoile reviews I had a little girl come in to model for me. I was originally worried the sleeves of the jacket wouldn’t fit and would be too low and restrict movement but they were fine. I was told to bring the bust line of the jacket down a bit. the girl wanted much bigger pockets but liked the fun panelling on the sleeves

I had completed the bust of my dress and was happy about it although a little worried the neck would be too tight. Although the neck was fine and was snug but turned out to look pretty cute the arm wholes ended up being indecently big. I was unsure which design I would pursue yet on the bootom of the dress. Although I knew I wanted a very volumous and fun skirt. I had made thelining for my review. Although I wish I had completed more

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week 5

Week 5

I had a very basic shape for my first fit. But I was pretty happy with it as a starting point. In my fit, I was told that it was too basic, which I was aware of. Jodie recommended adapting the collar to make it more interesting, to add some fun pattern cutting. Some other comments were about fabric and what I wanted to do with it.

Jodie even suggested changing it into almost a biker jacket. I had originally put a tie around the back which was suggested to be either removed or turned into elastic.

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week 4

Week 4

We had a wacom embroidery session. I was pretty Ill for this week but it did make me think about embroidery and if I wanted to use it for details on my jacket. In particular I thought about continuous line drawings and if they would look cute and add some character to my garments. Using an eccentric picture of mary Antoinette I began looking at some continous line drawings that I could possibly bring forward.

We began sewing the rest of the sample jacket.

Then we began started twoiling our designs.

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week 3

Week 3

Design development I began to look specifically at marie Antoinette and Versailles moving on from paris. I was perticullarly interested in the shapes I found on the ceilings of Versailles. I somehow wanted to incorporate these shapes into my garment. I designed some very simple shapes at the beginning partly because I was a little lost but partly so I could come back and work into them so that for example I could put these panels in. We began pattern cutting the lining for the jacket and sewing the outer shell.

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week 2

Fat

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week 1

Week 1

This week we began research for the project. Having already found a brand (or a couple of brands I was interested in. meme and hundred pieces were my top choices. Meme is a brand that sustainably make children’s clothes oversized so that the children can grow with the clothes. Where as I thought hundred pieces was a brand that had a more interesting and broad aesthetic. I decided for my concept I wanted to look into something very classical and historical almost and then juxtapose it for a more quirky but modern kids wear look. I began looking into paris and then versailled and Mary Antoinette. I wanted to look at this very old historical period around the French revolution and then twist it into something fun and appropriate for kids. We also began pattern cutiing the outer shell for our sample jacket. Specifically the revere and

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FAT PROJECT

FAT PROJECT

 For the FAT project we were put into collaborative groups between textiles fashion and architecture. There were 2 architecture students and the rest of the group of 12 was split fairly evenly between textiles and fashion. We got given the word density and the second we split into our group we began deciding which medium we wanted to use.

We immediately decided we wanted to do a collage, we were talking about the things we wanted to include and the materials we already possessed. We also thought that a collage meant everyone could participate equally. We went off individually with home work of some pictures ideas and materials for our collage. The majority of us went to Poole to collect the research. others used books maps and the internet.

When we re grouped we liked a lot of the satellite images and we also liked the look of some acetate that one of our group had printed their pictures onto. Aloth of people liked the idea of looking at a map with different poole bus roots on it. We scaled up some big satellite maps of poole high street. Where we began the basis for our collage

 Going back to our word density we liked the idea of blocking out the tops of buildings with different bold colours. Using the colours from the bus routes. We then wanted to lay some CAD embroidery on top to mirror the colour blocking. We then began sewing different patterns using different hand embroidery techniques into the map to mirror the bus route and link some of the surrounding pictures. We made little acetate windows of some of poole and looked at it as almost a zoom in onto poole highstreet. All the pictures were from the highstreet and they were placed strategically on the map as if they were big landmarks of that area even if they were just bricks.

I think our group worked well together with the smaller details of things and including people in new skills, for example textiles taught us a lot of new embroidery techniques. We all had input and something to say. However I would say that attendance was quite a large issue with the group. A couple of whom I didn’t see at all, and on the day of the final presentation only me and one other girl managed to actually turn up. The presentation its self went very well considering there were only two of us.

Over all I’d say the experience was fun, however I didn’t find it particularly relatable to fashion or our unit and it was slightly frustrating when people didn’t turn up. On the positive I made some decent friends and I found my voice in a big group with a lot of opinions. I realised I enjoy group work and I learnt a few new skills as well.

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FAT collaboration project presentation (fashion, architecture, textiles)

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Goodone  -niche report

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Niche report - Goodone

Goodone was born in 2006. The woman’s wear Brand was created by Nin Castel and Phoebe Emerson and is mainly a ready to wear and knitwear based brand. The Eco friendly orientated fashion brand, has won a few awards for its creative endeavour to help the environment. Goodone ‘specialise in up-cycling and innovatively combining new British and sustainable fabrics with reclaimed textiles. Known for bold, colour-blocked styles, they have developed a design method which is informed by th e use of recycled fabrics, but not restrained by it.’ (goodone.co.uk)

Nin the designer claims that their mission is to:

‘• Instigate positive change within the fashion industry

• Provide a creative alternative for waste reduction

• Exceed people’s expectations of what upcycled garments can be by creating high-end fashion-forward collections’  (goodone facebook page)

Nin Castel grew up on a pig farm near Oxford. In 2001 while doing a Fashion and Business Studies degree at Brighton University she became interested in sustainable design. The business began when she met Pheobe Emerson and the two shared a mutual interest in sustainable fashion "One million tonnes of textile waste goes into landfills every year and around 50 per cent is reusable, so we decided to concentrate on recycled fabrics." (the telegraph) They made a deal with a local charity shop who let them go through all the bags of textiles being sent to the rag factory, and they paid the charity £1 a bag. They then moved into an old car showroom in Brighton. "It was an open space, with two makeshift beds and our studio in the middle. We had no funding, were living on housing benefit and doing part-time jobs to try and get the business Goodone up and running. In 2006 our first customers were local boutiques. We were full of enthusiasm, and rather naïve as we really thought that our tiny business could make an impact on the huge fashion industry."  (telegraph interview) When the business had been going for six months they went on a three-day course for start-ups run by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship, inspired by this course they then moved to London to a new studio in Hackney, and won a £15000 prize which got there business properly started. "I think we won because we put everything we'd got into the business, and had big ambitions rather than wanting to remain a small creative project," (Nin Castel the telegraph)

Goodone truly began in 2006 by Pheobe and Nin the first studio was in a former slipper factory before the brand relocated to London. In 2007 the pair went on to collaborate with Noki an art brand that stand up against mass produced fashion. In the same year they also became international shipping orders to Japan and Tokyo. In 2008 Pheobe Emerson went her own way to become a human rights lawyer leaving the brand in the capable hands of Nin Castel. The same year Phoebe left Nin developed a capsule collection for ASOS and showed in London fashion week and also created a limited edition collection for the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign. In 2009 the brand found their true calling using off cuts and excess fabric from the industry for their summer collection and then showing it in London fashion week again. They designed a limited edition handbag for Puma and Goodone introduced British made fabrics into the Autumn Winter 2010 collection. 2009 was an important year where the brand found this new evolution to their brand. The brand had always been an eco brand but they managed to find a specialism with in the industry. In 2010 Goodone became briefly available at Topshop.com and at the flagship Oxford Street store launching during London Fashion week. They began to start mixing sustainable fibres with the recycled fabrics they were already using. Later becoming part of the SS11 collection. They were sponsored to walk at Greece fashion week. And that year they worked on a sustainable up cycled project with Tesco re working their ends of roll fabric with off cuts from the factory floor. The brand later began to use reclaimed silks and leather and Nin was asked to teach sustainable fashion at central saint martins with her new partner Clare Farrell and the Ethical Fashion Forum asked Goodone to judge the 2011 Innovation Awards. One of the biggest things they did around this time was the one big factory project (later explained) which opened some doors for some massive collaborations. Slovenia Fashion Week invited Nin to speak at the October finale and also have a catwalk show of the SS12 collection.

Presently Good one have begun to change the way they sell their work from going from seasonal collections they decided that it would be better for them to do a tran-seasonal collection called ‘Goodone is’ getting all the best bits of they’re previous designs and selling that. This is because they decided seasonal collections was too time consuming and it didn’t allow them to focus on these big collaborations especially with the ‘one big factory’ project. They decided to slow down so that they could focus on the things that they felt made the most impact. The ‘Goodone is’ collection is available in shops and on the website and is constantly being developed and updated rather than completely renewed. Goodone also began to slow down because Nin started a family and moved to San Sebastian (spain) with her husband. However she does still work with Goodone and teaches sustainable fashion at central saint martins. They are also extremely active over twitter and face book not just marketing their own brand but really preaching the importance of sustainability (urban times interview 2015)

Collaborations with these brands like Tesco are so important not just for the brand but also what the brand stands for. Eco Fashion is something that is notoriously difficult to get people to buy because often it is expensive and can have a stigma attached with it, “The general public, however, still regards clothing made from discards with a gimlet eye, which means to woo them, style must always trump substance. Goodone has that part covered.” (ecouterre)However Goodone create clothes that are good for the environment, that can be produced for the mass market and are something that people want to wear. “The collection of clothing, made entirely from surplus jersey, factory offcuts, and other textile waste. The collection, which includes paneled body-con dresses, leggings, ands skirts, incorporates many of Goodone’s signature color-block styles” (ecouterre)

The clothes that are produced are very intelligently constructed using small panels and big colour blocks may be part of their design aesthetic but it is also a clever way of using smaller pieces of off cut fabric. And is a clever way of upcycling a garment that is just disguised as colour blocking. They want to challenge the throw away culture associated with fast fashion and make it socially acceptable to wear upcycled things. “Two decades ago there were two seasons in fashion. But advances in technology mean there can now be up to 12, explains Phoebe, who handles the more managerial side of Goodone. "It can take as little as 12 days to design an item and get it onto the shop floor," interjects Nin.” (interview with the BBC 2008) This fundamental shift means it can cost less to buy something new than to get it dry-cleaned or repaired,

Goodone have come very far with there forward thinking including some massive collaborations and winning awards for their innovation and creativity like the Trefor Campbell Award, the Small Medium Enterprise award for innovation, Nin was shortlisted for the RE:Fashion New Designer of the Year Award. They have collaborated with major organisations like Amnesty, Liberty, WWF, Greenpeace, Shelter and No Sweat, as part of a project upcycling old campaign t-shirts. In 2010 Goodone worked on a sustainable up cycled project with Tesco re working their ends of roll fabric with off cuts from the factory floor.

Nin said in an interview with the urban times that she is an upcycling brand and other brands like, Henrietta Ludgate, Aiden and Lou Lou st Cruz were all in a group together with her. She didn’t use the word competitor because in the end they all had the same goal and said ‘its all like a “commandership together” and that its extremely rare to get this in other sections of the industry.  It would also suggest that with in this niche they are also her main competitors. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctts8bYxwWU)

They began a factory in Bulgaria 2010-11 that was named the ‘One Good Factory Project’, which Nin described as a very exciting project. She decided that she really wanted to step up and begin to really be one of the first designers to start truly mass producing up cycled garments. It was developed whist creating there own collections in Bulgaria and on the back of that success they began to recognise the potential for scaling up and offering similar problem solving and manufacturing support to other brands and retailers.

“For the first time we can offer affordable, mass-produced garments for designers and brands across the UK from boutique to high street. We are really excited to be able to facilitate this kind of sustainable manufacturing, particularly given the current economic and environmental climates and the challenges they represent for our industry.” –Nin Castel

It meant Specialist manufacturing for up-cycled garments that could be affordable. They could process pre and post consumer waste textiles, including washing and grading. This may come in the form of scraps, remnants and whole garments. They could provide specialist pattern cutters. And had the resources to work with a range of fabrics from woven’s to jersey, knits and sportswear. Providing Consultancy, identification of waste streams, product/design/range development. They could start Sourcing waste within current manufacturing practice. Work alongside existing design and production teams, develop products to include textile waste and Design and develop whole new ranges based around available materials. With these capabilities they can produce consistent, standardised, high quality products that in the long run could make a serious impact on not just the way designers could begin to start really considering using  up cycled fabrics and designing with sustainability in mind and could be a feasible and easy thing to do but it could also have a massive impact on the environment, which was part of their mission. 

 What makes Goodone different and niche is their forward thinking and true passion for sustainability with in fashion. Goodones aim is not to stand apart from the mainstream fashion industry, but instead to achieve positive change from within it. “It’s evident that Goodone doesn’t believe in preaching solely to the choir, or restricting its affordability to an elite few.” (ecouterre) they have reasonable prices for anyone that want to buy it. They aim to make their clothes as accessible as possible and as well made as they can so that they are durable and even more sustainable. Researching I found no negative impacts this brand could really have. They only have pure intentions for doing the best for the planet we live on. It’s a truly inspiring brand that should be admired by bigger companies showing that mass producing, cool, wearable, well made, well designed and up cycled clothes can and should be mass produces.

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references

"Biography." Goodone.co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Castel, Nin. "Goodone (@Goodone_Tweets) | Twitter." Twitter.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

"Goodone." Facebook.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

"Goodone | Black And Red Body Con Bodice Jumper Dress | Designer Eco Ethical Fashion | Fashion-Conscience.Com." Fashion-conscience.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Malik chua, Jasmin. "Goodone Launches Upcycled Fashion Collection For Tesco." Ecouterre.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

"NOKIZINE." Novamatic.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Brown, Annie. "Fashion Revolution Day: Top Designer Joins Crusade To Help Sweat Shop Victims." dailyrecord. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Davidson, Clare. "BBC NEWS | Business | Cutting Your Cloth Twice Over." News.bbc.co.uk. N.p., 2008. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Keech, Elizabeth. "Nin Castle Interview." Vimeo. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

products, ion. "Nin Castle Of Goodone - Interview For Urban Times." YouTube. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Ravasio, Pamela. "One Good Factory: Goodone's High-Street Ready Upcycling Garment Factory." Shirahime - 白姫. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Rennie, Nina. "December | 2011 | Goodone Press Blog." Goodone.co.uk. N.p., 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Ridout, Annie. "My Expat Life #12 - MOTHERLAND." MOTHERLAND. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

"Slow Fashion - Introducing Melbourne Swimwear Label Lou Lou St Cruz - C-Heads Magazine." C-Heads Magazine. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

Widget, finn. "Creatives With An Ambition To Be Ethical." Telegraph.co.uk. N.p., 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2017.

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Fur

Using Fur in the fashion industry is attached to a huge ethical debate. Is fur environmentally friendly? There are a few ways to look at it including the chemicals used and the pollutants of farming. Also looking at the social and economic benefits to using fur and weather overall using fur can be justified. Fur is an ancient clothing material, the first clothing material. So why would it be so bad to use now? The amount of campaigns against fur show that many people feel that it is a massive ethical issue in current society. Is this because the way we farm Fur now is unsustainable or our society has a bigger understanding of the implications and impacts of farming fur.

 Economically farming fur can be a huge positive to a manufacturer. The Fur industry has increased by 40% which means the profit can be huge with using fur. Therefore because of the major turn over caused by the fur industry manafacturers and designers may feel that actually the social and more political issues with using fur, such as animal rights and the negative view on fur is less significant. Especially since these manufactures buy in fur that has been pre processed and so it might be easier not to think about where the fabric came from. For when a manufacture gets a roll of cotton he doesn’t think of the plant. Vintage fur is another argument that pushes the fur industry. If the fur was made before all of these policies and social propaganda would that make it okay? fake fur has the same tactile qualities and looks identical. So why would people care so much about using the real deal when it looks so similar and sometimes adds quality’s like different colours. Lots of people see it as waste full to dismiss vintage fur because if the animal has already been killed it means that it’s death was not for nothing, especially if it would only go in the bin. However could vintage fur be encouraging new fur. If the vintage fur is setting a trend then new fur will follow, people will realise fur is coming back and want a new fur coat but vintage fur is hard to get hold of and rather rare, so people may feel that people would never notice the difference between new fur and old fur. Which is a huge positive for the fur industry giving it more demand and an economic push. An example of this is That saga gave fur to students to make it more fashionable to use fur in their garments. If they are up and coming designers then when they get into the industry they will be less likely to hesitate about using fur. London fashion week, fur became a much more active roll, there were stools selling Fur and it was popular, selling blue fox and rabbit.

 Environmentally the use of Fur is unethical. The chemicals used are corrosive and harmful to the environment the regulations are not in place to get rid of the harmful chemicals and because most of these factories are in LEDC countries, all the chemicals just go into the water systems. Quite a lot of the time people bath and drink from the same water. People that live in the vicinity of these places can smell the chemicals and the dead animals on a daily basis. Some of the chemicals are carcinogenic so this also dips into more social issues. The environmental issues are so bad is it fair to make someone live in the area when it will more than likely affect their health. It kills the wildlife and plant life in the environment having huge impacts on the environment. However the alternative is Fake fur, which takes 600 years to bio degrade.  And the petrol chemicals used are harmful to the people working with them. It also includes a lot of oil which is running out anyway. Surely there are better uses for this limited resource than making faux fur. So therefore would it be more harmful to the environment to use an alternative to fur rather than just use the real deal. fake fur has the same tactile qualities and looks identical. And the chemicals for making leather and fur are just as bad because they have to strip the meat of them, therefore they have to be more corrosive so are these chemicals even worse to get into the water systems. Fake fur also doesn’t come with the baggage of killing animals therefore is it more sustainable to use fake fur if the impact is only about the chemical impacts than the slaughter of thousands of animals.

 Some places in Finland. Leave dead animals in their cages and don’t feed them properly. There is a huge question about the quality of life for the animals. Wich causes major social issues. Not only for the animals but also the way people look at the fur industry. They see it as such a negative thing because it is so inhuman the way these animals are bred for slaughter and then inhumanly killed. not only that but the way the fur is collected, for example angora rabbits tend to have their fur plucked from them while they are still alive. Which is why campaigns like the I’d rather go naked than wear fur exist. Which was a campaign including models who took a leap forward and protested about the use of fur. Is it right to take an animal for it’s fur, would you take a human for it’s skin. Farming animals for food some would say was a necessary evil, to eat meat, but is it necessary to waste an animal for their skin?

Working with the fur is bad for workers the corrosive chemicals damage skin especially since the factory owners don’t give the appropriate equiptment to their workers so there are huge ethical problems with this. An example of the impacts of the factory’s and environmental and also social impacts of using fur it the leather farming which is unethical for the people working in them. In Bangladesh people can loose their hands from rolling the leather, they get sores from the corrosive chemicals, they don’t have protective clothing and they don’t have any sick leave. The people working in them can be under the age of 14. So people get sick because of the corrosive chemicals.

  I think that if Fur farming was looked at more carefully and they enforced more of their policies by managing the issues with farming fur better by,  keeping better care of the animals and also managing the workers, it could potentially be more sustainable than faux fur. However because of the poor treatment of the animals and workers in most fur farms, and the massive environmental impact. I would suggest that fur farming is in humane. I think designers and manufactures should look at the impacts of the environmental, economic and social issues of fur before making their decisions. 

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An environmental factor that can seriously impact design consciousness is the over use of natural resources. Non renewable resources are used all the time. The definition of a non renewable resource is a material or substance that can not be sourced sustainably in our life time, therefore it can not be re grown or re made for millions of years. And example of this is oil. Oil is used in petrol every day and we use it faster than it can be made which means that one day it will run out. To buy ourselves time we need to find ways to use less petrol which is the main oil consumer. There fore consciously a designer has to bare in mind how much of that material can be used, this may also then alter the price because if the supply is less the demand is more. Other sources are renewable and can be produced sustainably for example wood. trees can be re grown with in a matter of years, then used for paper, or as building material. therefore it might be cheaper for the manufacturer and also be better for the environment.

There are some ethical issues with pollution. Not only can it damage the environment by destroying habitats but it can also make the quality of life. In the leather farms in Bangladesh the chemicals and hides can be smelt for miles around the factory’s.  Some of the time the fumes can be carcinogenic and therefore extremely bad for the health of the local people. The water from these areas can be polluted to and so the animals and people drink unclean water causing diseases and water pollution.

An economic factor that can influence design consciousness is over production. Over production may be something as simple as over production of packaging for the amount of actual products you have. One of the ultimate problems to this is waste. Not only does this waste time and money because it has cost money to make these extra products but it is also bad for the environment because it is so wasteful.  Therefore producing more of a product than necessary is bad. An example of this is that quite a large population of people have more than one car per person. When in reality only one car is needed, so could these cars be better distributed to cause less waste. This problem can also have some secondary problems like excess traffic on the roads causing more pollution.

 I think over use of natural resources, pollution and over production can all impact design consciousness weather it’s because of ethical reasons like the quality of life for the people who work and live around the factory’s or where the components are resourced and weather or not there sustainable.

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Kids dresses made out of upcycled material like a cloth kit designed by me. Made out of old school uniforms hand me downs and old shirts 

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Denim denim denim