SUSTAINABILITY IN THE WORLD OF FASHION

DesignX weaves up-cycling themes throughout it’s offerings, committed to informing and educating kids, our future, the value of responsible consumption and production. Finding creative solutions to the world’s most pressing sustainability issues includes instilling the right values in the rising generation.

UPENDING “FAST-FASHION” 

Designed to meet current fashion trends at a low cost, the concept of fast-fashion originates from a mentality in the 1980’s claiming that brands must find a “quick response” to the ever-changing tastes of consumers. Retailers such as Forever 21, SheIn, Zaful, H&M and Zara emerged as leaders in this industry, providing trends from the runway to consumers on a budget for a fraction of the price. However, since their items are made of cheap materials, they are not durable and intended to last only the length of one season. As a consequence, fast-fashion clothing items are often rapidly discarded for newer trends–and far too much of the materials wound up being thrown away as waste in landfills, making the carbon footprint worse. Fast-fashion brands have unfortunately become one of the biggest contributors of wasteful products today.

FINDING SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS 

It’s time to make way for up-cycling—a trend both fashion forward and highly sustainable. Up-cycling differs from traditional recycling in that it completely re-purposes an existing product so that it may fully have a functional life of its own outside of what its previous one might have looked like. In contrast, with recycling, only a segment or small portion of the old product is used to form a more inferior byproduct while the rest of it is discarded as waste. It is no secret, then, that the most responsible and sustainable solution in fashion today is to re-purpose the entire product into something new and equally trendy. This is called up-cycling.   

Check out Morocco Method's brilliant distinction of the two on the right. The practice is in no way novel to human history. In fact, artisans in developing countries have long been using this technique. For instance, in Morocco, once handiwork fabrics serve their purpose, village artisans will often use them to make pillow cushions, rugs and even handbags—giving a completely new life to an old product. Similarly, in Jaisalmer, a district in Rajasthan, India, vintage fabrics from dresses worn over 70 years ago are stitched together with hand printed cottons to form decorative and vibrant new patchwork quilts. Colorful handwork on these quilts gives them a new life like the textiles below. The concept introduced decades ago by the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, has become a cottage industry today, employing thousands of artisans.

Incredible India. (2018, November 7). Jaisalmer - The desert jewel [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/advertorial/2018/11/07/jaisalmer-the-desert-jewel.html

Time and time again, countries with big artisan populations have proven to be more resourceful than their industrialized counterparts. This is because scarcity spurs creativity and innovation. With the growing threat of climate change and the alarming decrease in resources available to us on the planet, we are at critical crossroads in time. How we choose to proceed with regards to our resources will dictate the climate of future generations to come. 

UPCYCLING WITH DESIGNX

Take a pair of jeans, for example. Once you have outgrown it or it wears out, as a consumer, you have the decision to either dump it or extend its life. In our fashion up-cycling workshops here at DesignX, we teach children as young as 7y how to turn denim into skirts and bags and t-shirts into scarves and braids.

We make leather bracelets out of old belts collected from the community, as seen in the picture to the right. The kids love it—their eyes are opened to a new way of transforming old garments into the newest fashion accessories. It really is neat watching them tap into their creativity with a greater awareness of and appreciation for environmental and social factors at play.

DesignX is committed to promoting that being mindfully green is important to practice year-round. What was once an unspoken truth has now become a social movement—a cause we encourage our kids to champion.

FD II and FD III students from DesignX summer camp

FD II student from DesignX summer camp

WHAT WE CAN DO AS A COMMUNITY

Fortunately, in the last few years, there has been a cultural shift in regard to fast-fashion. Many corporate brands, such as Madewell and Patagonia, have taken a stand against the wasteful consumption of their products and steps towards becoming more sustainable in the long run. Among others, they accept used clothing from their shoppers as a means of recycling and give these shoppers incentives like discounts for recycling old clothing. Urban Outfitters recently introduced a line called Urban Renewal in which previous clothes are re-purposed as new items. The rise in popularity of thrift shopping has offered another alternative to sustainable shopping for stylish consumers. 

As an average consumer, here are some things you can do in order to be more conscientious and sustainable in your habits.

1. Buy for quality as opposed to quantity. We recommend that instead of being lured by discounted prices choose clothing that are better quality and last for a long time.

2. Choose clothing made of materials that are more organic — cotton, linen, silk and wool are some good options. While they could all be produced more sustainably they are a good starting point. Try to stay away from polymer fabrics like polyester and nylon. They are not only plastic based but also leech plastics (micro plastics) into the water systems that make its way back through our food systems.

3. Try thrifting! This practice is especially popular among younger generations searching for unique pieces of clothing that can’t otherwise be found at regular department stores.

4. Pick up some maker skills, get creative and Up-cycle. With anything you do not use anymore but that still has eye-catching details and is in great condition, there is always an opportunity to give it another life. There are numerous YouTube tutorials that can teach you the ropes.

At DesignX we provide opportunities and resources for elementary, middle and high school students to be creative with materials collected from the community - materials that were left over from sewing projects, fabrics that have been worn out, etc. We estimate that we use over 150 pounds of donated materials every year during our summer camps! Up-cycling themes run through all of our programs: Fashion Ucycling, specifically geared towards 2nd and 3rd graders focuses on using scraps from old projects to make new accessories like stylish bags, scrunchies and more, weaving in concepts of circular design where possible. In Fashion Design II, our 4th and 5th graders learn how to convert used denim jeans into stylish skirts. In the more advanced Fashion Design III course, middle school students are challenged daily to use fabric scraps to create new clothing design albeit on a small scale. In our Toy Design II course, common materials like empty toilet paper rolls and empty thread spools (collected from our FD classes) form the basis for design challenges that spur creativity among the students. For many of our students it is their first exposure to sustainability in design. It is our hope they continue to integrate these lessons into other aspects of their lives, whether it translates into questioning our consumption habits or reducing waste.

Join us in unleashing creativity in the next generation of consumers and leaders while engaging them in humanity’s most pressing action - protecting our planet! Here at DesignX we believe it takes effort from every single one of us and it’s never too young to begin!!!