A new approach to sustainable fashion

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Adidas zero waste soccer cleat, eco fashion, endlessly recyclable, ethical fashion, fair trade fashion, freelance fashion designer, recycle clothes, sustainability, zero waste fashion

The impact of fashion industry processes on the environment is increasing at an alarming rate. The world’s natural resources are being depleted at a rapid rate and cannot keep up with the growing demand for fast fashion. Water resources are one of the most heavily affected, with global demand for water exceeding supply in 2030 by as much as 40%. Fabric scrap and waste left over from garment manufacturing factories constitute 30-40% of waste generated by the textile and apparel industry.

Landfill of fabric scrap and waste left over

Sustainable fashion is the only way to overcome this crisis. Zero waste fashion, eco fashion, recyclable fashion, fair trade and ethical fashion are various forms of the sustainable fashion movement. Currently zero waste fashion is rapidly gaining traction amongst the fashion designer community.

Zero-waste fashion refers to items of clothing that generate little or no textile waste in their production. There are generally two strategies for zero-waste fashion:
1) Creative pattern making that uses 100% of a given material, and
2) Generating garments from remnant materials.

A recent example of sustainable fashion has been an initiative by Adidas the sportswear brand. With the “Endlessly Recyclable “Zero-Waste Soccer Cleat” , the company envisions a system where worn-out sportswear isn’t thrown away. Instead, it is broken down and remoulded with scrap material from other sources to create new products. The result is a product that can be recycled endlessly and prevent damage to the environment. Read complete article here.

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Supriya Ghurye is the founder and owner of Fuel4Fashion, the freelance fashion design studio for multiple product designing in apparels that caters to start-up fashion labels and growing fashion brands with a diverse portfolio of design services. She is a member of the Cherie Blair Foundation’s Women Entrepreneurship Program and has over a decade of fashion industry experience. Twitter , Instagram , Pinterest

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Creating the Perfect DIY Fashion Ensemble

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apparels, clothes, colors, DIY, Do it yourself fashion, fashion blog, fashion designers, fashion history, freelance fashion designer, garments, ideas, Punk, recycle clothes, sustainability, trends, upcycling fashion

Love wearing stuff you’ve created yourself? There are hundreds of posts out there dedicated to making your own fashion design – from old tees, shirts, skirts and more. DIY (Do-It-Yourself) fashion can be an interesting and inexpensive way to apply your creative skills and create some new and interesting clothes and accessories.

So why not create an ensemble entirely made up of your DIY creative skills? We’ve already showcased DIY fashion post in the past, and thought we’d put one up for you again, from the hundreds of examples we’ve come across. You’ll need a few hours, some glue, paints or markers, and a small amount of bling to create:

1. A Top (any t-shirt)
2. A pair of jeans (always a favorite!)
3. A pair of shoes (any serviceable pair)
4. A purse/clutch
5. A belt
6. A headband

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here goes!

1. The Top

I loved this Lattice T-shirt design by Wobisobi. It’s simple to make, requires just a few cuts and studs to turn an ordinary boring tee into a glamorous top – no sewing needed. And it can be done in just twenty minutes!

2. Jeans

Tired of your old pair of jeans? Dip the lower portion – a few inches will do – in watered down bleach for a couple of hours (more if they’re dark), wash and let them dry completely. Then use fabric paint or permanent markers to create your choice of designs, like mintedstrawberry did. The bleach and washing might take half a day, but the designs are up to you, so an hour should do it! Bleach and color markers are the only tools needed!

3. Shoes

Spice up your old shoes with a little lace or studs like ispydiy – all you need is a glue gun and sufficient braid. Be sure to let the glue dry completely before you wear them though. Time required – 20 minutes.

4. Purse/Clutch

No ensemble is complete without a clutch, and we love this cute neon number by SurpriseDIY. This one requires a bit of effort as you’ll have to stitch the pieces together, but it requires straight stitches and should be easy to do. A little arty press stud or vintage button completes the bag. If you’re inclined, you can add a thin leather strap through button holes in the side as well and sling it over your shoulder. A couple of hours of effort – but the result is worth it!

5. Belt

Grab a decent length of canvas/cotton rope, slide a few beads from each side, knot up the ends and voila – a funky belt to go with your top and jeans! You’ll need no more than a few minutes for this, and the beads need to be the right size, like the ones transientexpression has used. If you’re inclined, dye the rope in fabric dye, but be sure to dry it well and wash thoroughly before use – you don’t want rope-marks on that funky top!

6. Headband

Create this funky leather headband from pieces of scrap leather and a vintage button, like missikrissie’s done. All you need is a plain old headband, some glue and leather scraps. You can create your own shapes and designs to turn heads your way with this funky headpiece.

Loved this piece? Do write in to us with your ideas and creations!

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Supriya Ghurye is the founder and owner of Fuel4Fashion, the first virtual design studio that caters to new and upcoming fashion design labels with a diverse portfolio of design services. She is a member of the Cherie Blair Foundation’s Women Entrepreneurship Program and has over a decade of fashion industry experience with international labels and start-ups.

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Upcycle Fashion

Tags

apparels, eco fabrics, fabric, fashion blog, freelance fashion designer, garments, recycle clothes, reusable, sustainability, trends

Fashion has a new meaning in the fashion industry and that is called upcycle fashion. As they say, investing time, skill and creativity can never go waste, that’s why an unwanted or damaged dress can be transformed into your best item in the wardrobe.  It’s fun and also harmless for the environment as this method reduces the amount of waste and also to save money. So here are some easy ways to do upcycle fashion.

1. Upcycle Denim Sandal:

Summers are the time of fashion and the way to spend this summer’s intelligently is to Upcycle. For this you might need scissors, thread and needle and tons of inspiration.  For e.g. everyone has those extra long, baggy worn-out jeans that are taking the cupboard’s space but you will never wear them. Create these sandals which are opened toed and high ankle. Designed by Danielle, a designer based in Haifa, Israel, these jeans retain the signature features like zipper, buttons, pocket and the leather label.

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/XQTk32
Upcycle Sandals

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/9Yagq6
Beautiful Shoes

2. Rubber Dress:

Weddings are the time for extravagant and profligate spending and who can blame the bride for buying a wedding gown worth a fortune? But when you have the option to look good in an eco way then who would deny it? This dress is created by a British artist Susie Mac Murray and is made from 1,400 inverted rubber gloves, a common household variety for doing the dishes. It will be featured in New York’s Museum of Art and Designs in a new exhibition which is ironically named ‘Second Lives’.

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/mQ7YqR
Intelligent Upcycle Fashion

3. Gown made out of  Recycled Soda Tabs:

Sweet snacks are now converted into new and chic prom dress.  Sixteen year old Maura Pozek   spent 100 hours threading countless yards of pink ribbon to create this. This gown, called Cantastic also shimmers in the sunlight giving quite an entry to the wearer.

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/eZTpcQ
Cantastic

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/Q5lR1S
Spin-Web

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/HpqOdo
Another creative Venture

What do you think about these innovative and sustainable creations? Sound off in the comments section.

Do it yourself fashion

Tags

1970's fashion, apparels, clothes, DIY, fashion blog, fashion designers, fashion history, freelance fashion designer, garments, ideas, Punk, recycle clothes, upcycling fashion

Mismatching tops with skirts are old school, nowadays people are getting more and more creative with their needs. To make sure that a red purse looks ravishing with a sooth black dress one can use a little imagination and add colorful stones at the hem of the black dress. It’s due to these ideas that Do-It-Yourself trends are gaining popularity and also due to economic factors like re-usability and novelty but the prime factor is that it encourages wardrobe revamping.

Image courtesy: http://goo.gl/ZA9tJM
Revamping plain heels

For young people D-I-Y projects come to the rescue. They would clutch their glue and scissors, then look for inspiration on the internet.  The age group that is driven towards these projects are the young college students who find it hard to keep up with the changing patterns. In these projects people can update old clothing through simple tools and can change their total avatar with these alterations. For most of the people, love for D-I-Y starts when they see how creative the old clothes look, once they are transformed. To change the look of the old worn out jeans at the knee, grab a pair a scissors and rip off the other knee in the similar manner, thus starting a trend. Within one hour the new jeans has gone through the hell and back and later that can become the wearer’s signature outfit.

Image courtesy: http://goo.gl/PJlDCw
Upscaling a table cloth

The term coined for this is upcycling and it’s not only about saving money, it’s also about getting the satisfaction that one can have from wearing their own designs. This feel good is worth a lot more than the money saved. It’s about those skill set that one acquires while designing.

Image courtesy: http://goo.gl/73IKR5
Drape from a boring shirt

These methods have gained a lot of popularity in the recent times thanks to buddy internet and YouTube. They originated in the 70’s, in the era of punk rebellion when opposite to the mainstream culture, the pop bands would wear shredded jeans and holed tee-shirts. The intent was to be classified as new and different, more like rebel, and with it stirred the love for DIY amidst young crowd.

Image Courtesy: http://goo.gl/z9hJta
Punk in 70’s, DIY in its cradle

Do you think that D-I-Y clothes are creating more fashion awareness amongst people or are it just like other trends that pass without leaving any mark?