Throw Away Future: Tonight

Friday 27th November, 8pm

House Upcycling!

Taken from the itv.co./tonight website...

"Tonight’s challenge is to make-over a family’s home using only furniture, fabrics and paints headed for landfill. Anything considered to be junk by its previous owners will be eligible material for our family’s home’s make-over. With only one week to source the furniture and one week to re-decorate the whole house, the question is will our family actually like their new home filled with other people’s rubbish? "

Furniture upcycling with 'eco designer' Oliver Heath and...

"Sussex University product design students, keen to put their skills to the test and find out more about sustainable living."

The website also give advice on the businesses used:

The Furniture Re-use Network http://www.frn.org.uk/
Emmaus http://www.emmaus.org.uk/
Shabitat http://www.magpie.coop/shabitat.php
YMCA http://www.hoveymca.org.uk/charity_shops
Furniture Aid South Thames http://www.furniture-aid.co.uk/

As well as furniture the house also required textiles and mentions a favourite, LMB!

"For the décor most of the material came from LMB recycling. On an average week LMB now collects 170 to 200 tonnes of textiles, clothing and shoes from its recycling banks spread across the South East. It’s the sort of fabric which might end up in a charity shop near you. They do lots of work in their local community and have a shop on Bethnal Green Road, London, selling clothes designed entirely in re-used cloth from their textile bins. The chair in the living room was upholstered using these fabrics by Brighton University Textile students." www.itv.com/tonight


Check out Oliver Heaths website
for Heath Design, Eco Design, Interiors and Architecture.

Even though this is not directly related to Fashion, the concepts of Upcycling, Zero Waste, and Landfil Diversion are central to this inititative undertaken for the TV programme.

Now let's hope for a Wardrobe equivalent!! Fingers Crossed!!!

Heidi and Seek

This cute Australian business have now relaunched their etsy site!

Click here to be taken to the site

and to see their blog

Lidl + Luxury for all?

This is the new Chrismas logo and sentiment from Lidl, entirely contradicting the recent comments and themes arising in many craft and slow debates and lectures I have attended recently.

The main element many craftspeople and designer-makers rely on is the consumer understanding that quality should cost you more. The only way many talented makers can earn a living is by communicating to the public and their customers that what they have to sell is worth paying extra for. The time involved in making, materials, quality and the unique nature of the products are elements that are worth a higher price tag.

Although Lidl specifically focuses on the food industry, sending out the message that luxury is for everyone, and quality shouldn't cost you more is a dangerous contradiction and direct opposition to the message trying to be communicated by the talented community of craftspeople wanting to make a living from their skills.

Co-Design

I went to a lecture by PHD student Jennifer Ballie on Friday around the concept of the Co-Design relating to the Fashion and Textile Industry.

I was not aware of the concepts behind Co-design and it was so interesting and relevant to my MA to hear about such an exciting area.

• Mass customisation v customisation
• Fashion systems
• Participatory play
• Open source fashion
• Design and fashion activism
• Transformation design

As well as learning about the 6 core areas of Co-Design I also noted some fab websites that I can't believe I hadn't heard of before!!

check out
• threadless.com
• burdastyle.com
• SANS homemade
• Cute circuit
• Trashionista
• Hacking couture NYC
• Alabama Chanln
• Howies ‘Do Lectures’
• ThreadBanger.com

Upcycling on You Tube

Indie5 videos "Upcycling and guerilla marketing tip#1"
Monologue about the meaning of Upcycling and differences between this and recycling
"When you upcycle you are taking something that would be a waste product and making it into something that isn't"

Planet Green TV "G Word - Upcycling"
From the TerraCycle Factory:
'Taking a product that would be waste and turning into something totally new"

Jukesandproops: "Remake/Remodel 1: Jukes & Proops Bolero"
"Taking something of little or no value and turning it into something fabulous"
www.jukesandproops.co.uk

Knit the City .com

The remains of a halloween inspired knitthecity.com display on the Strand. The rise of craft based trends such as knitting are taking on a new role in our culture, and by displaying the work around the city allows it to reach a new audience.

click here for the website

Using traditional craft techniques to decorate/adorn/graffiti our surroundings adds a new dimention to the usually 'safe' and maybe somewhat 'old fashioned' outlets for craft.

Aldo DIY

Aldo and their DIY campaign although it's not so much 'design it yourself' but CISY 'customise it slightly yourself'.

This isn't an outright message to design your own shoes, but I guess any way that involves the consumer within the creative process and to engage with the product to develop variety would encourage longer wear.

Leeds Bin Strike

Leeds are now in their 9th week of bin strikes.

The strikes are still ongoing due to disagreements over equalising pay.

The council are willing to talk once the refuse collectors go back to work, but the workers won't work until they have sorted the dispute. It is a stalemate situation with unhygienic side effects.

Due to the lack of refuse collection, the council, universtiy and many businesses have had to hire private contractors to clear the backlog.

From BBC news:
"Rows of full up black wheely bins"
"In street after street bins stand full and black bin bags are piling up"
"In some places the piles are massive and there is increasing risk of public health"
"There is cause for concern"

This is an unusual scenario and I am intruiged as to how will this effect the attitudes of the people of Leeds towards waste.

As we never have to deal with or even see the rubbish we throw 'away', it is easier for us to live in a throw-away society. However, if the waste we throw into the black wheely bins stays within sight and mind, as currently happening Leeds, will people start to think about what parts of a product they will need to throw away before they even buy it?

Will people reduce the amount they throw away? Buy less food with excess packaging? Reuse carrier bags and containers?

Will people think about the waste they will create? And if this is a lot will they not buy it?!

If you are from Leeds please comment and share your views on the bin strikes!

Lumberjack check shirts in fashion?

Recession

Today on BBC Breakfast news:
'We are now in the longest and deepest recession since the records began following the second world war'
George Osbourne

In the eyes of the economists the GDP measures how happy and successful we are. The GDP is currently going down. Are we ALL less happier and less successful?

In a seminar last week a speaker referenced the following quote from Bobby Kennedy in the 60's which I thought was very poignant. The arguments we are having regarding the development and changes faced within the economy and the difficulties of implementing climate control systems are not new. For over 60 years speeches have been made, books have been writen to encourage the world to change behaviour and think differently before it's too late. Also, during the last 60 years carbon emissions have increased, erratic weather has become more frequent, and the situation we are in has serverely worsened.

Maybe it's time to stop telling and start doing.

"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."

Robert F. Kennedy Address, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, March 18, 1968

GreenMyStyle.Com

The Fabrics Behind Your Favourite Fashions: Upcycling
see the full article click here

Platform 21 Repair Manifesto

Platform 21 is a 'design platform aiming to positively influence the relationship between user and product' www.platform21.nl

Just in case the above isn't a clear image, their repair manifesto (downloaded from their website) is...

1) Make your products live longer
Repairing means taking the opportunity to give your product a second life. Don't ditch it, stitch it! Don't end it, mend it! Repairing is not anti-consumption, it is anti-needlessly throwing things away

2) Things should be designed so that they can be repaired
Product designers: make your products repairable. Share clear, understandable information about DIY repairs
Consumers: Buy things you know can be repaired, or else find out why they don't exist. Be critical and inquisitive

3) Repair is not replacement
Replacement is throwing away the broken bit. This is NOT the kind of repair that we're talking about.

4) What doesn't kill it makes it stronger.
Every time we repair something, we add to it's potential, its history, its soul and its inherent beauty

5) Repairing is a creative challenge
MAking repairs is good for the imagination. Using new techniques, tools and materials ushers in possibility rather than dead ends

6) Repair survives fashion
Repair is not about styling or trends. There are no due-dates for repairable items

7) To repair is to discover
As you fix objects, you'll learn amazing things about how they actually work. Or don't work.

8) Repair - even in good times!
If you think this manifesto has to do with the recession, forget it. This isn't about money, it's about a mentality.

9) Repaired things are unique
Even fakes become originals when you repair them

10) Repairing is about independence
Don't be a slave to technology - be it's maste. If it's broken, fix it and make it better. And if you're a master, empower others

11) You can repair anything, even a plastic bag.
Buy we'd recommend getting a bag that will last longer, and then repairing it if necessary.

STOP RECYCLING START REPAIRING

Reet Aus

Taken From Reet Aus Website...

"More sustainable textiles: We use only recycled, organic or natural fibres. And we try to produce to a high level of quality, so that pieces will last for years (or can be easily repaired and re-worn) to reduce waste. Equally, we are doing as much as we can to draw on traditional Estonian designs and handicrafts, to keep these alive for future generations to appreciate.

Slowing down the fashion cycle and reducing waste: Reet Aus is never going to create a new collection every two weeks. In fact, while we may work seasonally, Reet’s starting point for a new ReUse collection is to assemble different fast fashion collections from previous seasons and redesign them to create up-to-date pieces. As well as trying to use more sustainable materials, we rely on natural post-processing of the fabrics, using environmental friendly dyes.

Local production and fair trade: All our clothes are put together locally in Estonia and the artisans involved are treated with respect, including when it comes to their wages. All our recycled textiles are sourced in Estonia too (unfortunately no one is producing organic textiles here at the moment, so we have to look further afield for those).

Fashion en masse vs. Mass Fashion

Just because there are thousands of millions of people on earth (and counting) and we need to clothe everyone, does not mean we need to clothe everyone in the same, uniformally boring, cheap, simple tat that is sold by the likes of Sainsburys. In my opinion Sainsburys, Tesco and Asda etc. need to stick to selling food, get out of the clothing market and allow clothes shopping to become a luxury and an enjoyable experience again rather than a chore you bung in the trolley along with a sack of spuds and a can of spam. P.s Upon closer inspection of 20 garments in the Sainsburys clothing line, NONE of them had their country of origin marked on the label. Isn't this illegal? I'm going to investigate...

Timberland & Recycling

Timberland Shop window on Regent Street. Their Global Commitment logo from www.timberland-online.co.uk reads:

'We've all been part of the cause. We can all be part of the solution'

'What
Recyclable product is another way of saying designing product that has an after life. This means at the end of a product's life, it doesn't go into the landfill, but becomes an input for the next generation of products. This aspirational goal leverages our outdoor heritage and environmental credentials in a competitive and green marketplace by providing durable products that meet our consumers' needs and exceed their environmental expectations. '

Click here to read more from their website

I like the way the product they design becomes the raw material or 'input' for the next generation of products. Thinking in cyclical ways, avoiding landfill, using recylcled materials and promoting reuse of product after use are essential messages to communicate to the consumer and I think the Timberland window on Regent Street is a good example of this.

Underground Ethical Fashion Show

As part of the Islington Contemporary Art&Design Fair 2009 in collaboration with the concious design collective:

Current Members of the Concious Design Collective:

House of Tammam

Miksa

Sew Last Season

Elena Garcia Eco-Couture

Ria Roberts

Nancy Dee

Bibico

Vogue November 'More Dash Than Cash' Issue 2009

With the number of talented and innovative UK fashion designers, product designers and artists exploring themes of re:use and 'make do and mend' it's a joke that for their November 'more dash than cash' issue, Vogue decided to produce such ridiculous creations.

It completely undermines the work of serious desingers running businesses in the recession who are inspired by such themes. Instead of producing irrelevant 'garments' that aren't reusing anything (the team actually went out and bought all this cheap domestic plastic stuff new from the shops) they could have taken the opportunity to profile some amazing contemporary and relevant British talent.

Primark Bags Galore

Visiting the White Rose shopping centre in Leeds I was intruiged to see two women wheeling around their ENORMOUS Primark haul in shopping trolleys whilst food shopping in Sainsburys.

There wasn't much space left for the food!

Is it just me, or is this excessive shopping entirely unncessary??! This fascinating extreme of consumption is fuelled by the cheap likes of Primark