Remake it

I have found a book in the library that addresses the area of upcycling and provides instructions on how to produce simple uncycled garments. This is a big step in the potential direction of the project. 'Remake it' is written/curated by Henrietta Thompson and features illustrations by Neal Whittington. It claims to contain over 500 tips and tricks for resourceful fashion as well as featuring a variety of sustainable artistic examples. The book very much so operates on the morals I wish to incorporate within my designs.

Of course, Martin Margiela is referenced as a pioneer within the craft of up-cycling and construction/deconstruction. Perhaps I should steer clear of referencing Margiela too much within my booklet due to the house being an obvious and already well-discussed area of resourceful design. 

We've all heard of jean shorts but this is a slightly different take instructing the user to craft a skirt out of old denim. The highly functional guide is one that would probably appeal to a lot of users so could be a good addition to my guide. However, maybe it's a little too boring. Also, I think the guide should be nongendered as possible and although I know men can wear skirts I think its less likely to find them wearing traditionally female clothing than it is to find women wearing traditionally male clothing.  

The book also features a wealth of ideas for the inventive wearing of already owned items. Articles like this are particularly useful and accessible to all due to the no-sew approach.

This appropriation of sleeves to form a kind of leg warmer/boot is a very interesting concept and one that I feel is fairly contemporarily relevant due to the use of 'sock' type attachments in tech wear.

The David Telfer project on minimal seam construction is a beautiful example of contemporary hyper-minimalism. The less human or mechanical output that is put into manufacturing an item and the less potential it has to come apart at the seems heightens the garments life span, promoting sustainability and the using up of an item instead of merely its 'use'. 

Reduce, recycle and Raeburn is an apt motto for a house that is in the minority in terms of considering the sustainability of its materials before any aesthetic properties. Using primarily military surplus Christopher Raeburn creates items in limited runs promoting the opposite of a fast fashion model. He is a modern pioneer in the way we consider fashion as not merely a vessel for-profit and vanity but as a medium for solving some of our problems around material waste. If Raeburn's ethos could be applied to not only the very cool waste of army surplus but more generally to consumer fashion as well then we could create a powerful vessel for social change. 

Issey Miyake's A-POC uses technological brilliance to create garments via highly efficient methods that leave minimal waste. This not only is environmentally sound but also promotes clean minimalist garments that are futuristic in style. 

The book also provides help with pattern making from currently owned a favoured items, an area of fashion design that that is pretty inaccessible to most people, even those with an interest in sustainability and fashion. The book is highly functional and accessible in this way but maybe isn't innovative enough in the actual products that it walks through.