An inspiration deck on sustainable clothing initiatives developed for a global retailer, featuring slow fashion, material innovations, inspiring re-use of waste and the future of clothes.

1. @Designistan_org
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fashion
sustainability inspiration deck
22.11.2013

2. Table of content
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Slow fashion
Material innovation
Re-use, Re-duce, Re-cycle
Labels & brand initiatives
Global and local
Future fashion
Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org

3. Table of content
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2
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Slow
Fashion
Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.1
C&A Design challenge

4. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.1
Tend to the herd
Dutch
textile designer
Claudy Jongstra keeps
her own flock of Europe’s oldest
breed of sheep, the ‘Drenthe
Heath sheep’. The Drenthe
Heat sheep do not only supply
wool but also contribute to
landscape preservation on the
Dutch moorlands. She hopes to
contribute to the survival
of this age-old
breed.

5. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.1
Edible Fashion
Conceptual edible wedding dress of rhubarb
and flowers by Marjolein Wintjes, de culinaire
werkplaats. A project at the cutting edge of
fashion and food: an edible fashion collection
which was especially designed for and during
Amsterdam International fashion week. The dress
can be worn once, and disposed of by eating it.

6. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.1
a wearers manifesto
Local Wisdom is a project originated by Dr. Kate
Fletcher, Reader in Sustainable Fashion at
London College of Fashion. The project explores
resourceful practices associated with using
clothes. She aims to challenge the dependency
of the fashion industry on increasing material
output and proposes solutions through
sustained attention to tending and using
garments and not just creating them. The
research has accumulated into a manifesto
for a garment that is:
• easily repaired
• shared between people
• enjoying a third, fourth of fifth life
• surprises you each time you wear it
• tells the story of how it has been used
• worn in ways that defy the producer’s values
• worn regularly
• is washable
Adapt existing patterns

7. material
innovation
Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.2

8. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.2
Spray the shirt
The product is an instant, spray-able, non-woven
fabric. After spraying the liquid, the
fabric grows itself. Applications are endless: its
aesthetic appeal to hip designers all over the
world, to First Aid Clothing Spray for emergency
situations like floods and earthquakes to Sex
toys to Auto-dressing Cabins for the elderly and
the disabled. Clothing will be something you buy
from a supermarket shelf and when you travel,
you only need to bring some extra cans. But most
importantly: you will never have to wash your
clothes again – the ultimate disposable material
in a throwaway society? The self-sprayed
clothing can be recycled by tearing it to pieces
and mix it with a substance that makes the
fabric liquid again.

9. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.2
eco-ok manolo’s
Step away from the Birkenstock, your green
shoes have gotten a major makeover by none
other than Mr. Manolo Blahnik. The sole master
teamed up with Marcia Patmos (formerly of Lutz &
Patmos) to create his first eco-friendly footwear
collection. Made entirely from discarded reptilian
skins, cork and raffia, we can’t think of a chiquer
way to manage your carbon footprint.

10. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.2
spare parts
London-based British fashion designer Rachel
Freire used 3,000 nipples from a U.K. tannery as
a source material for her leather garments. The
nipples are from European cows slaughtered
for meat in veterinarian-approved and checked
slaughter houses. The designer draws attention
to the excessive amount of leather that goes
unused and pleads for creating art from waste.
“If people
don’t have a problem
with leather, they
shouldn’t have a problem
with these designs,”
– Rachel Freire

11. re-use
re-duce
re-cycle
Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.3

12. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.3
parachuting to fame
Rather than seeking inspiration from the
styles and shapes of military uniforms, London
based designer Christopher Raeburn (known
for his collaborations with Fred Perry) takes
end of line military textiles and redeploys
them in beautifully crafted men’s and women’s
outerwear. His signature style has become the
parachute fabrics which form the foundation
of his collections. Although Christopher makes
sustainability a priority for his brand, he says
that he simply sees his approach as “making
the most sense”. He works with fabrics that he
loves and saves them from sitting in a stock room
for months and eventually making their way to
landfill.

13. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.3
diamand, gold and bottle caps
The Italian label Marni used recyclable materials
for its summer 2013 Jewelery Collection with
pieces made from sustainable materials such as
recycled plastic bottles, flowers buds, abstract
petal shape leaves and geometrical boules in
vibrant hues, transparent materials
and black. The necklaces and bracelets are
exquisitly made, and their humble origins
are a playful stab at high society.

14. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.3
Couture scraps
Trash Couture makes evening dresses using
leftover fabric from European couture houses.

15. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.3
Shredded silk
Designer
Sylwia Rochala
uses shredded men’s
silk shirts, delicately
layered and knotted
together, to create exquisite
pieces in the shamani
tradition.

16. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.3
turning it inside out
Dutch designer
Elisa Van Joolen took
leftover sample stocks from
popular brands like Nike,
Converse, Clarks, and others, and
turned the materials inside out to
create new shoes for her invert
Footwear collection. The designer
cut out the bottom of the shoes,
turned the shoes inside out, and
stitched on bases from cheap
sandals to turn them into
new sneakers.

17. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.3
speed
Speedo’s LZR Racer suits were banned from
competitive swimming, leaving them with a huge
unusable stock. Designers From Somewhere
snatched them up and turned them into wild
dresses.

18. Labels &
brand
initiatives
Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.4

19. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.4
honesty is the best policy
Belgian designer Bruno Pieters new
initiative, Honesty.com, is called ‘subversive’,
transformational’ and ‘a game changer’ in its
approach to green design and merchandising.
The site carries a collection of 56 pieces for both
men and women that are made from natural and
ecological fabrics sourced from around Europe,
including vegan items and pieces made from
recycled wool and other fabrics but beyond. It
is completely transparent in its manufacturing
processes as well. Under the section “material
information” you will find the description of
material used, its composition, weight, yarn or
piece-dyed, the origin of the raw material, who
spun it, who wove it, whether it is organic, if so,
what certificate it has earned (and what said
certificate means), and a website for the supplier
– and you will find this for the fabric, the zipper,
the lining, the trim, the label, the buttons, and
more...

20. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.4
wearable sculpture
Artist
Jeffrey Wang
collaborated with Levi’s
on the creation of wearable
sculptures, formed from
Levi’s jeans.

21. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.4
denham again
Denham jeans
have launched a line
of clothing made from
re-purposed used
denim.

22. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.4
upcycling dead stock
Re;code is a Korean brand specializing in up
cycled fashion. Launched in March of 2012,
they started from a place of consideration for
the environment, and the realization that dead
stock fabric and garments from major brands,
including that of their own umbrella corporation,
was being incinerated to protect brand integrity.
A sub-division of Kolon Industries, a 3.6 billion
USD company founded in the nylon textile
development of the 1950’s, Kolon is iconic in
Korea’s fashion industry for revolutionizing the
contemporary fashion market.

23. Global and
local: identity
and
production
Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.5

24. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.5
The Neighbourhoodie
The hoodie has become a global phenomenon,
worn by youth across the world, creating
a unified youth culture without much local
distinction. The Neighbourhoodies were created
when fashion students from MA Fashion and
the Environment at London College of Fashion
reflected on their ‘local’ London identities
through the design of a special hoodie – a
Neighbourhoodie.

25. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.5
Made by grandma
Granny’s finest is a Dutch brand of knitwear
that produces its products with local elderly
women across Holland. Designers develop the
patterns, and the women produce the products,
which turns their hobby into valued skills,
creates a sense of pride and breaks the circle
of loneliness. Each product comes with a label
that gives information about the granny who
produced it. Consumers can write directly to the
granny to say thanks.

26. Future
Fashion
Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.6

27. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.6
Rayfish footwear
Rayfish Footwear is a fictional company that
offered personalized sneakers crafted from
genetically modified stingray leather – which
would be more sustainable, and ‘fun’ than other
leathers. The launch of the company catalyzed
a debate on emerging biotechnologies and
the products it may bring us. It furthermore
questioned our consumptive relationship with
animals and products in general.
While discussions about biotech almost never
reach the mainstream, the designers behind
this prank project made the concept tangible
by creating a concrete (albeit fake) product that
people love or hate.

28. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.6
Grow Your Clothing
Clothing can be made out of more than just
woven fabrics or synthetic fibers. Artist Donna
Franklin and scientist Gary Cass have designed
Micro’be, a fashion line consisting of clothing
made from micro-organisms. Where conventional
clothing is woven in parts and stitched together,
Micro’be consists of one seamless piece. The
clothes are made from wine, and with the addition
of the bacteria Acetobacter, the wine is fermented
into vinegar. The by-product of this fermentation
is cellulose, which is in turn used to grow the
garment. The color of the fabric is determined
by which wine is used. Red wine gives a red
fabric, while white wine (and even beer) gives a
translucent material.

29. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.6
Catalytic Clothing
Catalytic Clothing seeks to explore how clothing
and textiles can be used as a catalytic surface
to purify air, employing existing technology in a
new way. It is the brainchild of artist / designer
Helen Story and chemist Tony Ryan – people from
very different worlds whose minds have come
together over recent years in highly successful
art/science collaborations.

30. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.6
Wonderland: the dissolving
dress
Product of a groundbreaking collaboration
between artist and fashion designer Helen
Story and scientist Tony Ryan, ‘Wonderland’
used fashion as a ‘Trojan Horse’ to progress a
radical, two-year exploration into biodegradable
materials. This project showcases the life - and
death - of Helen Story’s collection of incredible
‘dissolving dresses’, captured in a unique
fashion film by Nick Knight.

31. Sustainability Inspiration Deck @Designistan_org
Ch.6
tea-shirt
Suzanne Lee can conjure up clothing using a
bathtub, some yeast, a pinch of bacteria, and
several cups of sweetened green tea. Lee, who is
a senior research fellow at the School of Fashion
& Textiles at Central Saint Martins in London, is
the brains (and brawn) behind BioCouture, an
experiment in growing garments from the same
microbes that ferment tea.

32. @Designistan_org
This deck has been assembled to provide
examples of inspiring creativity from all over the
world. All copyright of images and text lies with
the artist, designers, brands and product owners
mentioned.
Designistan
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