Would You Still Buy That Dress After Watching This?

It's been a year. What progress have we made?
It is impossible to gain a clear perspective, but overall it seems progress is slow and laden with obstacles.
Question is, will we forget about this in time to come? I hope not.
Read about it, think about it:
http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/activities/all/WCMS_218693/lang--en/index.htm
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/may/30/rana-plaza-bangladesh-forced-labour-supply-chains
http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2014/04/24/zakia-uddin/after-rana-plaza/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-27141385
http://www.fidh.org/en/globalisation-human-rights/15179-one-year-after-the-rana-plaza-catastrophe-slow-progress-and-insufficient
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/rana-plaza/

Amazing Process: YUZEN (KIMONO-MAKING)

Published Collab Project: Renaissance d'Ordures

...this little project from long ago was more than heaps of fun...
photography by Jacinta | jewellery and accessories by Fiona (Gould's Finch / fionacaripis.tumblr.com/)
garments and headpieces by Adel(taikensonzai), made from waste paper and trashed "enviro-bags"
shoes by Rose (rosebrinkley.com/)
models Carly and Ana (RIP)
make-up by Nicki
hair by Biba

 

A Whole New Cloth: Politics and the Fashion System

In fashion, despite more than 400 eco labels, an incremental ‘do less harm’ approach has addressed the symptoms, but not the principal cause, of our difficulties: an economy based on perpetual growth in a finite world. 

Read on...

Spend, Don’t Mend.

Advertising and consumerism dull our capacity for empathy.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 26th November 2013.

Guilt is good. It’s the feature that distinguishes the rest of the population from psychopaths. It’s the sensation you are able to feel when you possess a capacity for empathy.

But guilt inhibits consumption. So a global industry has developed to smother it with a 13-tog duvet of celebrities and cartoon characters and elevator music. It seeks to persuade us not to see and not to feel. It seems to work.

Incidental Reading: George Monbiot's Anti-consumption

Not quite sure what to make of this, but Monbiot sure makes a dicey issue even more complex...and criticizes the UN, no less...

Population is just a sidekick to the real big baddie – consumption 

Beyond the headlines from the UN population report lies a clear message: consumption is still a far bigger threat to the planet

Choice Quotes:
"It seems to be a reliable rule of environmental politics that the richer you are, the more likely you are to place population growth close to the top of the list of crimes against the planet."

"What this means is that even if all the measures I've mentioned here – education, contraception, rights, redistribution – were widely deployed today, there will still be a population bulge, as a result of the momentum generated 60 years ago. So what do they propose? Compulsory sterilisation? Mass killing? If not, they had better explain their programme."

Read more here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/oct/27/population-consumption-threat-to-planet

Let's stop hiding behind recycling and be honest about consumption

We have offshored the problem of escalating consumption, and our perceptions of it, by considering only territorial emissions

"At a reception in London recently I met an extremely rich woman, who lives, as most people with similar levels of wealth do, in an almost comically unsustainable fashion: jetting between various homes and resorts in one long turbo-charged holiday. When I told her what I did, she responded: "Oh I agree, the environment is so important. I'm crazy about recycling." But the real problem, she explained, was "people breeding too much".

I agreed that population is an element of the problem, but argued that consumption is rising much faster and – unlike the growth in the number of people – is showing no signs of levelling off. She found this notion deeply offensive: I mean the notion that human population growth is slowing. When I told her that birth rates are dropping almost everywhere, and that the world is undergoing a slow demographic transition, she disagreed violently: she has seen, on her endless travels, how many children "all those people have".

As so many in her position do, she was using population as a means of disavowing her own impacts. The issue allowed her to transfer responsibility to others: people at the opposite end of the economic spectrum. It allowed her to pretend that her shopping and flying and endless refurbishments of multiple homes are not a problem. Recycling and population: these are the amulets people clasp in order not to see the clash between protecting the environment and rising consumption.

In a similar way, we have managed, with the help of a misleading global accounting system, to overlook one of the gravest impacts of our consumption. This too has allowed us to blame foreigners – particularly poorer foreigners – for the problem."

How I wish he had written about how that conversation with the rich lady ended!

Another choice quote: 

"Unsurprisingly, hardly anyone wants to talk about this, as the only meaningful response is a reduction in the volume of stuff we consume. And this is where even the most progressive governments' climate policies collide with everything else they represent. As Mustapha Mond points out in Brave New World, "industrial civilisation is only possible when there's no self-denial. Self-indulgence up to the very limits imposed by hygiene and economics. Otherwise the wheels stop turning".

The wheels of the current economic system – which depends on perpetual growth for its survival – certainly. The impossibility of sustaining this system of endless, pointless consumption without the continued erosion of the living planet and the future prospects of humankind, is the conversation we will not have."
Read more here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2013/apr/12/escalating-consumption

MAIYET

Gorgeous work by Indonesian artisans, and a fascinating combination of block-printing and batik-work

Maiyet | Hand Batik In Indonesia from MAIYET on Vimeo.

Dr Martens Official: The Making Process

Interview with Nin Castle of Goodone

Nin Castle Interview for Urban Times from Ion Products on Vimeo.
http://urbantimes.co/2012/07/nin-castle-making-a-sustainable-statement/

Arigato Shingo Sato Sensei!!!

TR Cutting School by Shingo Sato is just one of the many YouTube channels that could get me totally addicted for days. So many pattern-making ideas, and a totally alternative approach to 2D/3D pattern cutting. Must-watch...the following are just a few of the more popular videos.

http://www.trpattern.com/

Printsource: Art: Paul Jenkins

Printsource: Art: Paul Jenkins:
Paul Jenkins was an artist originally associated with abstract expressionism and his work looks more relevant and inspiring today than ...

TEDGlobal2012: Leslie T. Chang: The voices of China's workers

from: http://www.ted.com/talks/leslie_t_chang_the_voices_of_china_s_workers.html

http://blog.ted.com/2012/09/12/meet-two-chinese-factory-workers-lu-qingmin-and-wu-chunming/

Apotheosis: Ralph Pucci

Amazing and slightly creepy! But have you ever really aspired to become like a mannequin?

Apotheosis: Ralph Pucci from Monomania on Vimeo.

 from: http://portable.tv/talks/post/making-mannequins-with-ralph-pucci/

How to Create a Notched Tuck - Threads

How to Create a Notched Tuck - Threads

Light/Soft Sculpture/Movement: DIY Possibilities & Inspiration

Due to major renovations to the family home, I have recently been paying more attention to interior design and home decor stuff, which has led to a hunt for eco-friendly/upcycling DIY options for certain singular items, such as light fixtures.

SO that's how it's done!

Pretty complex huh!

With the sheer trend in fashion still around, (it will always be around in bridal I guess?) it is also interesting to consider design ideas revolving around how elements of moving/travelling light, varying degrees of opacity and translucence, and sculpted material/fabrications interact with the movement of the human body...this reminds one of the experimental "emotional-sensing" SKIN clothing - integrated with moving light reactive to various environmental/physical changes-  that Philips Design was doing before...

The garments, which are intended for demonstration purposes only, demonstrate how electronics can be incorporated into fabrics and garments in order to express the emotions and personality of the wearer.
The marvelously intricate wearable prototypes include 'Bubelle', a dress surrounded by a delicate 'bubble' illuminated by patterns that changed dependent on skin contact- and 'Frison', a body suit that reacts to being blown on by igniting a private constellation of tiny LEDs.

 And the inspiration hunt went quite naturally in a more performance art direction...super-cool stuff...

Cheap chic ruined us

Like fast food, fast fashion hurts the economy, environment -- and our souls. The author of "Overdressed" explains

By Mary Elizabeth Williams
Book-link: http://www.amazon.com/Overdressed-Shockingly-High-Cheap-Fashion/dp/1591844614/saloncom08-20

Better than bamboo: Kenaf

From: http://fashion-incubator.com/archive/better-than-bamboo-kenaf/

An excerpt: "If you don’t know what kenaf is it can be briefly summarized as a tall, fast growing plant (hibiscus cannabinus; related to cotton and hibiscus) that requires less energy and chemicals both in growing and processing. It can be made into paper that is superior to wood pulp and it can be grown in less than ideal fields -like tobacco. Kenaf has also been used in plastics, both to strengthen and to make plastic more biodegradable. But that’s not all, it could be a solution to global warming in that it absorbs more CO2 than any other plant. It is claimed that one acre of kenaf absorbs as much CO2 as 8 acres of pine forest or more CO2 absorption that 2 -3 acres of rain forest. In areas that don’t freeze, kenaf can be grown year round (3 crops).  Research from Purdue says that over 20 years, one acre of kenaf can produce ten to twenty times more usable fiber than an acre of pine."

Gotta love K.F's commentary at the end of the article: 
"Keep kenaf fabric on your radar and you’ll be the coolest kid on the block. It is much much better than bamboo because bamboo is very chemical intensive -it’s rayon. Kenaf is much cleaner and more sustainable. Now we have to find a way to make it cool. What we lack is a substitute for a cute panda bear to sell it to consumers. I vote for chinchilla bunny puff-balls. What those would have to do with an African plant is beyond me. Say, maybe we could show cheetah kittens romping amid a field of kenaf?"

The New Luxury

[re]design at 100%Design - London Design Festival 2011

[re]design at 100%Design - London Design Festival 2011 from Sublime Magazine on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/29613287

http://www.redesigndesign.org/

http://sublimemagazine.com/

Collaborative Consumption

Collaborative Consumption from NESTA UK on Vimeo.

Clothing of the Future: Predictions from the Past and Present

Gotta love Ecouterre articles that spur a research trip into Youtube. To think that 80 years ago, fashion experts' predictions were to be so spot-on!

Innovation is predictable, perhaps? We now think of technology as a daily essential and it seems perfectly alright to merge technology with next-to-body items we use and carry every day. It is also intriguing to think about the potential of wearable technology to enable user-experience to reach higher levels.

 

It's interesting to think about all these advancements in the context of 'costume' and not so much in terms of practical everyday applications, though perhaps a breakthrough is soon to come. And it always helps to have a sense of humour when wearable technology crosses the ludicrous line.

Now to incorporate sustainability and eco-design into the futuristic mix...

More Recycled Paper Furniture

Recycled Paper Furniture that is also truly inspirational modular design!

http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/2010/03/02/molo-design-paper-softseating-recycled-paper-furniture/

Beautifully described: 

"softseating uses honeycomb structure and fans open into stools, benches, and loungers. Each piece of softseating has magnetic end panels, allowing an element to connect to itself, forming a cylindrical stool or low table, or to connect to other elements of the same size in series, creating long winding benches and endless possibilities for seating topographies. The beauty of these pieces is that they are sculpturally abstract forms, each made from a single material, that can be used creatively and interchangeably as seating or low tables."

The idea of playing with furniture and space simultaneously seems like infinite fun!

From: http://www.molodesign.com/

DIY Magazine Stool & Recycled Paper Furniture

...wondering if it would also work with Yellow Pages with the sides painted, and straps made from elastic or discarded bag straps...the base is probably more tricky to source and perhaps needs some carpentry skills...

http://www.econesting.com/2011/08/10/diy-magazine-stool/

With all the paper waste that life generates, be it at work or at home, it seems a good/sustainable idea to find new and innovative ways to create raw material through recycling waste paper, use it for furnishing, thus effectively creating new product life-cycles without using up more virgin wood resources...

World's easiest assembly! from Way Basics on Vimeo.

http://www.waybasics.com/

Perhaps the challenge is in durability and long-term functionality in view of daily wear/tear. Paper is still seen as disposable and/or not as strong as conventional furnishing materials such as wood/plastic/leather/etc. We have to rethink the concept of sustainability in our furnishings when considering waste paper as a new raw material.

Below: an inflatable paper sofa from http://www.e-side.co.uk/product/58

http://inhabitat.com/take-a-break-on-the-blow-sofa-a-seating-option-made-from-recycled-paper/

Repainting old wooden furniture must be deeply satisfying...