ZERO-WASTE INSPIRES CREATIVITY

“To eliminate the concept of waste means to design things…from the very beginning on the understanding that waste does not exist.”—William McDonough and Michael Braungart (104)

Millions of textile scraps enter landfills as more and more clothing is produced. 1 Timo Rissanen, a zero-waste pioneer, educator, and designer indicates that despite the fashion industry’s strife for maximum efficiency in material use, only about 80-90% of fabric is used. 2 Rissanen designs and creates garments that utilize 100% of the fabric and generates no fabric waste. Below is a Hoodie pattern Rissanen created and constructed.

Timo Rissanen, Zero-Waste Hoodie 2009

Inspired by the work of zero-waste pioneer Timo Rissanen, Susan Avila’s Design 170 Experimental Fashion class created zero-waste garments from about 1 yard of digitally printed fabric. Students drew inspiration from photographs taken on the UC Davis campus. Images ranged from redwoods in the Arboretum to abstracted images of the sewing lab floor. The cost of these personalized fabric prints ranged from $40-80, which further encouraged students to use all of their fabric.

Students began by creating three small mock-ups for their wooden mannequins. They experimented with different silhouettes to create shirts, jackets, pants, and dresses.

Left: Gabriela Mendez, Desiree Cox, David Lee (Front to Back)

Right: Antonia Huang

Helen Trejo

After deciding which silhouette and design would suit the zero-waste project best, students finalized their designs to create full-scale mock-ups.

Left: Desiree Cox

Right: Nidia Trejo, Kim Ju, Charlotte Pong

Anxious to begin their final garments after the mock-up critique, students printed, steamed, and washed their fabrics. They began to work diligently on their zero-waste projects.