Conceptualization

Today is the day we presented THE dress to our course leader. It’s about time you get to know it to. I will tell you its name but not right away. A good writer knows how to distill information skillfully for the sake of suspense. And to those of you who are too curious, I will only say that you will miss the best bits.

Let me walk you through our concept first. You may have notice in a previous post, we are lucky enough to have Dr. Kate Fletcher as a lecturer. She recently presented us a new set of ideas, quite revolutionary in the way we perceive fashion if you ask me. She questioned the concept of consumer and user when it comes to garment. She ruled in favour of the second and I couldn’t do anything but agree with her. We often read that 80% of a product’s impact is decided during the design phase. Yet when it comes to clothing, most of the ecological impact is due to the laundring aka the use. (By the way, if you are interested in those questions, check this out) In addition to that, we rarely buy a piece of clothing for a one time use like, say, food. We use our garments more than we consume them. Following this principle, another necessity unfolds: designing with the use in mind. Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tam formalized it in their project LIFETIMES through the idea of clothing rhythms.

If we were to design according to this rule, then our dress would be a one time, eco-friendly disposable piece. Yet we wanted to make a change in the fashion industry. We used THE dress to “redesign” the relationship between designers and celebrities. We wanted to create a durable relationship between them, bringing them together in a garment and put an end to that bilboard status of public figures on the red-carpet.

This is why we created “THE DRESS THAT REMEMBERS”. Using a natural dyed silk base dress that can be worn on more than one occasion, we decided to add up a set of fully disposable or recycled “superstructures” to bring theatricality, glamour and drama under the spotlights. This way, you have a new eco-friendly dress for every occasion. In addition to that, THE dress retains the memory of an exceptional night for you through the seam lines left when the superstructure is removed. It’s a bit like Andy Warhol stopping from wearing a perfume after a special event and keeping it as a memory trigger. For us, it is an invitation for the user of the dress to go back to the designer for to dye the base dress in a different colour if the former faded away, get a new superstructure… or even ask an other designer to challenge their aesthetic through sustainable practices.

Anyway, this video will tell you much better about it than I did:

Impression

It must be Spring but I am in a poetic mood those days. Impression is a bit of a word play here. In French (my mother tongue) it means print but it also means the same as in English when it comes to the realm of feelings…

I picked this word because it allows me to talk about our techniques to create some print effect on the dress: Shibori. It’s pretty fashionable at the moment as it was in my younger years though we called it “tie and dye”. It creates an impression of movement and volume on the fabric which brings the garment to life. Betty also experimented with ink on tissues to create colourful prints. Her technique was very similar to shibori.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I also wanted to talk about the impression a dress is suppose to make. To be stunning, it must be perfect. It also must be unique. And when it comes to natural dyes and shibori, there is one thing you can be sure of: it is going to be unique. When we were experimenting on the onion skins dye, one of our swatches ended up in a beautiful effect because the pigment was not evenly spread in the fibre. There is a uniqueness and beauty in the accident that is to look for.

I will quote the Japanese ceramic as example. Every damage resulting from an incident during the baking would be treated as an adornment and every repair would be enhanced with, say, gold. It shows the persona of the piece, its history. We live in a world where the culture tends to become global. We should borrow from the Japanese culture and infuse a little bit of animism in our material world.

Investigation

So today, I put on my detective trench coat (more like my leather jacket actually) and put up my collar (this I really did). I had questions to ask around because you can’t announce you’re going to change the world if you don’t have a clue of what is going on. I mean it may help you because you will think outside the box but you will probably end up on the wrong shelf.

As I am and always will be an art historian, I went to look for answers at the museum. Museum are like Wikipedia. If you know where to look, you’ll find every information you are searching for and in a material form. London is a great place for this. Especially because of one specific museum: the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Ashley Shairp desk working on 'Tis pity she's a whore

The theatre and performance department of the V&A was definitely the place to look at on the question of costume and design for performance. It helps understanding the importance of the garment in building the overall show and also reminds of what remains from the performance afterwards. I particularly like two displays in that gallery. The first one is Ashley Shairp’s desk recreating her creative process as a set and costume designer. The second one is Kylie Minogue’s dressing room from the “Showgirl: Homecoming” tour. It gives you a proper idea of how much a pop-star is carrying with her on tour.

Call me nosy but now that I've seen her dressing room, I feel closer to Kylie.

When you investigate, another method is to ask questions. I am lucky to live with live singer Michelle Daly (check her website) who told me from her Opera experience that the one place for costume is this one: Angels. They actually have a long history of vintage, second-hand and garment for hire that sounds very sustainable to me.

Back on the red carpet, I turn into a little bit of a cynical private investigator. In a way, we all know that designers lend the outfit to the celebrities for the night (this article will tell you if you didn’t know about it) Yet, as the author mentions, the wearer get to keep the gown. However, if you get caught wearing the same one twice, don’t expect any mercy.

Some of the red carpet walkers are actually braver than the average. Carey Mulligan was seriously told off for wearing the same dress twice last January (the title of this article is pretty straight forward). I don’t know why she did it but starring in two major movies in 2011, I can’t help thinking it was a bit of a statement she made. And I don’t see were the problem is actually, the dress is really nice and on those big occasions, you might as well want to wear something you feel comfortable and confident in. She is a human being after all, not a plastic mannequin.

Livia Firth is more open and more active about it. The Green Carpet Challenge is a very nice initiative. I would be absolutely enthusiastic if it wasn’t for a faux-pas about Meryll Streep in her Lanvin’s gold-lamé gown at the Oscars. Did Livia really have to hammer down the nail of bad eco-design by adding “Can you tell” to her description of the eco-certified fabric? Nonetheless, it is a very good promotion for eco-friendly designers and also a good way for great names in the industry to get involved so I can’t do anything but salute the good use of the celebrities network!

My investigation confirmed there were things for us to rethink on stage as well as on the red carpet and THE dress would be our answer.

And as a week-end treat, more pics from the V&A gallery (don’t forget to check their current display and their upcoming geeky exhibition):

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Imagination

I am a bit of a philosopher, so I like to play with words. When I wrote imagination in the title case of this post, I literally meant using images to describe what you have in mind: picturing.

When you are creating, you have ideas at first but some words are tricky enough to describe a type of things but not the specifics you had in mind. It is even more important to be precise when you are working within a group. So once we had discussed words like origami, natural dyes, volume, theatricality… We had to show what we meant and Emma put it together to form our marvellous mood-board:

Then everybody started experiencing. Emma researched did some more visual research to give a more personal point of view. (Don’t try this at home if, like me, you are terrible at sketching)

After a few experimentation on our own, we got back together and showed each other what we had been up to. Combining our works in images helped us to get closer to the final look of THE dress.

They say a picture is worth 1000 words. What do you think? Those are the joy of experimentation when you become able of rendering the ideas that pop in your mind. And it’s even more satisfying when every member of a team agrees on it!

The Revolution Question

Challenging a well established industry like fashion is not an easy one. The obvious question is: what does it look like?

I have mentioned the “bad eco-design” problem in previous post (the offer still hold. If you have pics’ of the don’ts of eco-fashion, fire away) and we surely would like to avoid creating a garment where sustainability makes us forget all of our aesthetic agenda. We discussed the matter with our tutor, Dr. Kate Fletcher, and she told us about one very encouraging piece of work from Stuart Walker.

“The systems of production we are currently using to manufacture products are, in many respects, antithetical to the goals, principles and general ethos of sustainability. Therefore the ‘derived’ aesthetic, determined by these production systems, inevitably embodies and reflects these ‘counter-sustainable’ practices. In contrast, a product manufactured within a system which adheres to sustainable principles would lead to sustainable principles would lead to a ‘derived’ component which is qualitatively different; that is: a ‘sustainable aesthetic’.

A product may initially produce a positive aesthetic experience – outwardly it may be judged both beautiful and tasteful. However, knowledge of the environmental degradation, social inequity and exploitation which may have gone into the production of the product may well change this experience. We may see the object in a new light – the object stays the same but now our knowledge alters our experience of it.

Designers may be hesitant to acknowledge it, but the aesthetics of a product are, to a very great extent, a result of the system which produced it. The definition of form, detailing of shape and surface are both constrained and largely determined by the overall product system. Therefore, we should not be attempting to find a new style which we might characterise as some form of ‘sustainable aesthetic’. Rather we should be developing products and restructuring our manufacturing systems so they are conceptually and pragmatically aligned with sustainable principles. As we do so, new types of products will emerge whose aesthetics go deeper than shape and surface and which start to embody ethics and to reflect these new sensitivities and understandings.”

Walker (1997), Conscientious Objects in E. van Hinte (ed.) Eternally Yours: visions on product endurance, Rotterdam: 010 publishers

The short version (for those of you who recognized the quotation style and are experienced skim readers) is that once sustainable practices will be settled in fashion, a new aesthetic will rise. In a way, our project to wow fashion by showing you can create traditional glamour with sustainable and biodegradable materials and techniques may not be very bold in a matter of aesthetic. It is because the revolution we planned for the industry is set on another level and I will tell you all about it in a future post so keep looking!

Colorization

Let’s do a bit of live reporting here! Yes indeed, live from my own kitchen.

Who says natural dyes can’t give you rich bright colours? (Sounds like a hair dye advertising, doesn’t it?)

So we got our hands dirty  last Wednesday afternoon, got the pots and pans out. Using ingredients we collected for the last few weeks (onion skins, tea bags, coffee ground…) as well as some we ordered on the internet (madder and elderberries), we discovered the wonderful world of pigments. If you look at the colours we obtained, you’ll see that nothing is really as it seems when it comes to dyeing. From the greens of onions skins to the blue and purples of red cabbage, the real surprise came from the beautiful Terracotta we got from tea and the rich gold-like effect from coffee.

Of course, the results depend on many variables. First is the textile you are using. We worked mainly on silk and cotton and confirmed our original preference for the former. The second is the quantities of dye stuff we used. If for some of them, we went by the book, I must confess that we also played the sorcerer’s apprentice on certain experiments (the tea miracle might as well be largely due to living in a house of 7 heavy tea drinkers).

The process is pretty easy in the end and very much like cooking. You first need to prepare your mordanting bath. This will allow the pigments to penetrate and stay in the fibre. In some cases, you don’t actually need one. The mordant is usually made of metallic salts and can be disposed of to water your plants and garden. In the mean time, prepare your dye bath by plunging your ingredients in simmering water. You can scoop it out before putting the fibre in or not. Leave it to cook for a little while. When it’s ready, just rinse it and put it to dry. Yes, it’s that simple. The only real problem is the space, the pots and the scales. But if we managed, you probably can! Just follow the recipe.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Germination

Considering the time I am posting at today, I’d say me telling you all about our project is a bit of a bed-time story…

So where was I?

Yes, it was about creating THE dress. How were we to accomplish such a miracle? First of all, we had to swear an oath: forsaking the traditional “eco-fashion” look (aka bad eco-design, if you get what I mean, just post a pic in your comment). THE dress is shiny, glamorous and theatrical. You want “Fab”? Sustainable fashion can do that for you. All it takes is our second decision: combine our fashion super-powers.

On my side, my super power is quite lame from a making perspective. It’s more or less a genuine enthusiasm. My part of the business is building the concept. But my playground buddies, they know a good deal about making a garment and they all have their own field of interest.

You already read more than once about Kiki’s love of non-fabric materials and biodegradability. Ani is miss “Zero-Waste”. She looks into origami, kirigami and all the techniques that can create beautiful without using loads of fabric. Betty is fond of creative printing: ink work, natural dyes, digital printing… Name it, she likes it! As for Emma, she is all about aura and drawing you what she means.

Here we were, with all those elements to bring into our design. We could as well create chimera, a composite thing without harmony. So we needed an idea, a super villain to defeat with our garment.

Have you ever heard about those ‘scandals’, those poor celebrities who dare wear the same dress twice? Or even worse, a dress that somebody already wore… We were to come to their rescue. Our garment would be splendid, but just for one time and then go back to the environment without any sort of harm. Our tools: paper, bio-plastic, natural dyes and biodegradable fabrics.

But it is way past bed-time and I don’t want to ruin your beauty sleep. So until next time…

Alter-materialization

Forget shiny plastic sequins and say hello to edible bio-plastic!

Well, when I say edible, Kiki tried it when she was experimenting and said it did not taste that great. Nonetheless, in case of emergency… Who knows!

The diversity of materials used in fashion is pretty amazing and the creativity of designers is no limit to what can be used in a garment. The materials library from the Institute of making is a very inspiring collection for innovative mind. Sustainability is also thinking of the materials you use, their impact and work on new solutions to help you materialize what you imagined.

I guess that’s what Kiki had in mind when she first started researching Bio-plastic. It’s easy to make your own at home (just like this) with potatoes or even tapioca. To leave Kansas and land in colourful Oz, simply add food colourants. Yes, it’s that simple. The tricky bit is that you need a week for the plastic sheet to dry and it shrinks, breaks… So, not ideal for monumental pieces. But if you stitch back the crumbs together, you will catch the light with your home-baked sequins!

See for yourself!

Emulation

Nowadays, we live in a world of sharing (sometimes, it’s a bit too much if you ask me). Nevertheless, you usually don’t want to talk too much of what you are doing because somebody might still your idea. Sometimes, you don’t whisper a word and you find out that somebody just got the same idea. I personally don’t think it’s a bad thing. To me, it just proves that your idea makes sense and that you’re heading in the right direction.

This is why I am very happy to share this with you. To me, this project represents a move forward and people really starting to embed sustainability in their practice.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2012/mar/28/young-vic-low-carbon-footprint-play

That is the amazing thing in sustainability. I believe the metaphor is very appropriate considering our line of work. Sustainability is like origami. You have a set piece of paper but you can fold it in any shape you like. You can experiment on your own or learn about it.

You can approach the same problem from different angles and find multitude of solutions. People usually see sustainability as limitation. I see it as emulation and a wide open field for imagination.

Ignition

In the beginning… there was me getting a fringe and my amazing Anna Wintour-ish new look inspired everybody in a flash.

Anyway, let’s be honest in the beginning, there was lots of ideas coming from every direction. Yet if you want to create, you need a frame. Otherwise, we would end up designing the next Royal Wedding gown (if Prince Harry would be nice enough to get engaged any time soon).

We are five girls in the fashion industry so our first desire was to promote the women’s cause. We wanted to design a universal accessory to be worn on International Women’s Day. The brainstorm started and the wind of inspiration hurled us to a place where we were reduced to design a charm black scarf. The main issue was actually communication and made us realize that when it comes to fashion, it’s all about one thing:

Celebrities in the magazines

So we decided to take on a bigger challenge. We were to prove that eco-fashion was not afraid of theatricality and glamour. It would be in the press, on a stage, on a red carpet… It would be THE dress.