Sustainable Design of Gary Harvey

Gary Harvey is a British fashion designer, who is well-known in sustainable design.

The pollution is a big problem today, which means it's important to recycle. Gary believes anything even rubbish can be redesign and become new garments.

This dress is designed by Gray. He chose recycled newspaper as material to make a sustainable design.

[1]

Recycled clothes can be beautiful. That's the idea Gary tried to present through his collection. The materials he used to design were all recycled. He chose denim jeans, trench coats, even garbage bags to design dresses.

[2] Denim Dress

[3] Denim Dress

[4] Trench Coats Dress

[5] Garbage Bags Dress

It reminded me some of my previous works. In order to develop my idea, I collected recycled paper to create some texture.

Gary Harvey and his collection inspired me to focus on the materials we select. Choosing recycled materials is a good way to develop sustainable design.

References

[1]Christina, M. [online image]. Available at:<http://www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/livia-firth/2011/02/20/gary-harvey-creates-livia-firths-oscars-dress/gallery/590800>[Accessed 30 Oct 2014].

[2]Denim Dress. [online image]. Available at:<http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-fashion/gary-harvey-couture-fashion-with-a-conscience.html>[Accessed 30 Oct 2014].

[3]Denim Dress. [online image]. Available at:<http://digitalmoda.onsugar.com/Slow-Fashion-ECO-Style-7563191>[Accessed 30 Oct 2014].

[4] Trench Coats Dress. [online image]. Available at:<http://parth.wordpress.com/2007/05/20/gary-harvey-recycled-couture/>[Accessed 30 Oct 2014].

[5]Garbage Bags Dress. [online image]. Available at:<http://fabgreen.com/2009/09/06/fashion-remarkable-recycled-dresses/>[Accessed 30 Oct 2014].

Sustainable Design: Design to Reduce Chemical Impacts & Reduce Energy and Water Use

During the period of studying textiles design, I found that chemical impacts and use of energy and water are two serious problems in producing textiles. After exploring many sustainable designs in lecture, I deeply realised the importance of reducing chemical impacts.

Earth dyeing[1]

Chemical dye is most common dye material, but it might cause many environmental problems for our earth. Designer Hyun Jin Jeong noticed dirt can be used a material for dying. She collected 45 different soils so that she could develop a vivid colour collection. The colours of her works are natural and pure. As described by Jeong, "There are many different natural materials that were once used but are now forgotten. I think rediscovering these materials and using them wisely is essential for a sustainable future."[2] I think it might be not easy to discover some objects that we didn't notice before. It requires chariness and enthusiasm for life. Besides, it is hard to translate those natural elements into dye material. So I believe that is what I need to improve in the future.

Blond Bieber's Algaemy project[3]

Designer Essi Johanna Glomb and Rasa Weber also devoted to study eco-friendly dye materials. They chose algae as base to create a colour collection, which are totally harmless to the earth. They claim that you can even eat them. 

Blond Bieber's Algaemy project[4]

Dying yarn is an essential step in knitting. As a knit student, I'm inspired by those designers. What surprises me most is that the colours from nature are beautiful and bright. There are abundant eco-friendly materials I should learn. I could do some more research for natural dye, apply them in my works.

References

[1]Hyun, J. (2011) Earth dyeing. [online image]. Avaiable at: <http://www.ecouterre.com/soil-as-fabric-dye-earth-dyeing-hits-pay-dirt/> [Accessed 25 October 2014]. 

[2]Kelly, E. (2011) Soil as Fabric Dye? Earth Dyeing Hits Pay Dirt. [Internet]. Available

from :<http://www.ecouterre.com/soil-as-fabric-dye-earth-dyeing-hits-pay-dirt/> [Accessed 25 October 2014]. 

[3]Blond Bieber's Algaemy project (2014) [online image]. Avaiable at: <http://www.dezeen.com/2014/10/14/blond-and-bieber-algaemy-coloured-dye-algae-lodz-design-festival-2014/> [Accessed 25 October 2014]. 

[4]Blond Bieber's Algaemy project (2014) [online image]. Avaiable at: <http://www.dezeen.com/2014/10/14/blond-and-bieber-algaemy-coloured-dye-algae-lodz-design-festival-2014/> [Accessed 25 October 2014]. 

Sustainable Design: Design for Minimise Waste

Design for minimise waste is a important concept of sustainable design. In today's lecture, I have learnt lots of designs, which well present the way how designers minimise even zero waste.

A-POC: Kanazawa 2004 [1]

A-POC, A Piece of Cloth, is a fashion collection of Issey Miyake. Those garments were started with one thread or yarn, and became a piece of fabric. Miyake created textures and designs for this fabric without any waste. 

I was really inspired by A-POC. I learnt that the process of deign could be simple but outcomes could be delicate. Sometimes, we were too fast to save the valuable part. It would be better to slow down and consider carefully the wide range of materials and design. I might need to study how to minimise the waste of knitting samples when I was translating them into garments.

As it was mentioned by Alastair Fuad-Luke, slow design is the spiritual, emotional, and mental art of living, emphasizing creativity and experiences. [2] The difficult part is how to show your ideas and minimise waste of materials at the same time. It requires highly sense of skills. 

Laser Food [3]

Food in our daily life always come with sticky labels. We may never think about the harmfulness of those labels, but actually they did harm our environment. 

A Spanish company Laser Food has developed a machine, which can apply laser logos and other information on food. This machine would reduce the use of paper, ink and glue. It is a amazing progress. It meets the requirement of minimising the waste and also enhancing aesthetic value.

I'm not familiar with this design area, but the spirit they tried to express benefit me a lot. Even a small detail of design is worthy to be noticed. A small change might benefit the environment a lot.

References

[1]Marcus, T. (2004) A-POC: Kanazawa. [online image]. Avaiable at: <http://mds.isseymiyake.com/mds/en/collection/> [Accessed 18 October 2014].

[2]Alastair Fuad-Luke (2014). Slow design. Fanayeco 17 Oct [Internet blog]. Available from: <https://fanayeco.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/slow-design/> [Accessed 18 October 2014].

[3]Laser Food. (2013) [online image]. Available at: <http://www.dezeen.com/2013/06/20/laser-tattoos-replace-sticky-labels-on-fruit/> [Accessed 18 October 2014].