“How many different materials are you wearing today? One to 10? Eleven to 15? More than 15?” Fashion Positive/Cradle to Cradle Director of Fashion & Textile Sector Annie Gullingsrud asked this during an interactive workshop at the CFDA last Tuesday, which focused on materiality and sustainability to improve how fashion is made; a major plan for CFDA + Lexus Fashion* Initiative designers.
The conversation – which brought out C/LF*I and Elaine Gold Launch Pad finalists as well as select CFDA designers – started with Gullingsrud’s inspiration – her daughter. “There’s nothing like seeing the future when you have a child,” said Gullingsrud. “In 2030, she’ll be 12. Is there going to be clean air for her? Clean water? Clean production? A sky that you can see?”
Gullingsrud proposed a circular cooperation exercise which asked the designers to think about how their brands mend, reuse, renew, remake, and recycle materials. “What is your role?” Gullingsrud asked. “What part do you not understand? Who do you take your part from? Who do you hand it off to?”
According to Maria Kazakova of Jahnkoy, “My approach is promoting handcraft. My work focuses on recycling and reusing. My next focus is raw materials.”
Samantha Klemik of Rag & Bone said, “Rag & Bone is trying to figure out a way to recycle our denims.We are still at the exploratory phase.”
“We’ve been on our journey for three years, and we want to get to a place where we are not remaking, but recycling,” explained Dana Davis of Mara Hoffman.
As for Tracy Reese, she has been in business for over 20 years, so, she said, “we’re still in the baby steps learning more about how materials are produced – quality has always been important to me.” Alyssa Jones of Tracy Reese added that as a brand they also want to educate their consumers and get other designers on board.
“We’re just entering the door of sustainability, but some of our products are made from dead stock fabrics exclusively,” said Dao-Yi Chow of Public School.
So what are the next circular materials? Faux leather, chemically recycled polyester, and indigo sparked the interest of the designers, with Caitlin DiStefano of Prabal Gurung making a case for grape leather. Chow explained that Public School recycles plastic bottles in their process, and Abrima Erwiah of Studio 189 discussed how they work with farms to grow natural dyes like indigo.
The workshop wrapped up with a second exercise. Designers were tasked to design a garment based on their designated material (polyester, faux leather, recycled polyester, recycled nylon, crailar, or re:newcell [recycled viscose]), and consider material health and material reuse principles from the start. Klemik and Reese designed a recycled nylon coat that will be reused as a shag rug that can be zipped together with another to expand the size of the rug. Let’s keep the conversation of clean fashion going.
Learn more about sustainability by ordering Annie Gullingsrud’s book Fashion Fibers: Designing for Sustainability HERE.
