Re-thinking the design process

For me, it has always been very important to produce our collections sustainably.

We sourced all our materials locally and used a lot of remnants, end-of-line as well as vintage materials.

But you know what, i think we can do better than that !

I want to find a way to minimise or create no waste in our production if possible and looked into a few zero-waste options.

Knitting: With knitting, you only ever use as much material as you need for your garment so it a great method.

Smart Pattern Cutting: Patterns are designed to take up the entire width of the textile so there will be zero waste at all.

Draping: Textiles are draped directly on the body to create a garment. This method isn’t new but was already used by the ancient Greeks in Chitons and Indians for Saris.

I also found a technique called Subtraction Cutting, which is kind of like a combination of traditional pattern cutting and draping but instead of adding various parts to a garment, you create shape and structure by cutting away/subtracting from the textile, hence its name.

Subtraction Cutting is a method developed by Fashion Designer Julian Robert. He showed for 12 seasons at London Fashion show but now, spends most of his time travelling around the globe teaching this amazing technique to whoever would like to learn.

I joined one of his Master Classes in London and felt utterly inspired by it. We were taught a technique called the Tunnel Technique.

Basically, this is what you do:

This method isn’t totally zero waste as you do end up with some subtracted parts but I am sure there are ways around that. I can’t wait to experiment further in the studio.

To find out more about Julian Robert, visit his website.

He also has a free book with instructions on how to Sub Cut that you can download on the blog.