Sustainable fashion

Many fashion trends are recyclable and circle around about every 20 years or so. For example at the moment a lot of 80’s trends are resurfacing like the shoulder pad, beading and blazers. Many designers draw inspiration from old trends adding twists to create entirely new designs. Another excellent example is the corset. Originally a device for shaping women's body's to achieve the ideal “Hour glass” shape. Now we often ware a corset on the outside as a feature piece to an outfit.

Sustainable designs and fabrics are the future of the fashion world. They are better quality, last longer and have a much more practical feel.

7 Ways You Can Support Sustainable Fashion

1. Try op-shopping. Browsing through vintage stores and op-shops is an adventure, you never know what you will find! And you come away feeling great because you always get a bargain.
2. Now you’ve been to the op-shop, think of all those clothes you have at home that you don’t wear anymore. Are they in good condition? Donating to the Op-shop will continue the cycle.
3. Buy natural fibers. Using natural fibers is better for you and the environment, these fibers tend to breath more so they react better with your natural body heat and movement while synthetic fibers tend to itch and hold heat and sweat to the body. Some examples of natural fibers include: hemp, cotton, bamboo and silk.
4. E-bay. Shopping online is a wonderful experience and a great way to breathe knew life into garments that are still in great condition but for one reason or another are no longer wanted or needed by their previous owners.
5. Have clothes in your closet that you just love and no longer fit into? Learn to sew and create new garments from them. You will have fun turning your old treasured garments into new funky designs.
6. Check out eco friendly brands when buying new. Supporting eco friendly designers will encourage people to continue using sustainable fabrics and designs.
7. Always remember you can re-ware anything you have in your closet. Mix and match old items and don’t forget to experiment, you don’t need a whole knew wardrobe to get a new fab look. Just go through what you already have and get creative.

There are designers and scientists working on new and better sustainable fabrics. Blends using coconut husks, banana peels and other fruits have been developed while other ideas are still in circulation.
Australian designer, Sonja Baumel, has conducted experiments to create a sustainable fabric using skin bacteria on the human body. The growth creates complex fiber layers that can then be crocheted, or woven into fabric and garments. She is currently working on a project called “ Invisible membranes: life on the human body and it’s application’s”It sounds confronting but Sonja says the human body is host to large amounts of bacteria anyway so we might as well use this and ware the sustainable clothing that can be created from it.

Example of woven fabric :

Example of bacterial growth :


Examples of crocheted fabrics :

“crocheted membrane” is a visualization of the growth of bacteria to create complex fiber layers. An organic body hugging silhouette. Displayed concept in Dutch Design Week.