Tenderness: the texture of age
Integrating longevity & aesthetic in the cross-generational clothing design
Inspiration * Ikebana is known as flower arrangement, which is translated to “ways of flower” and “living flowers” in Japanese. Ikebana presents a disciplined art form that brings nature and humanity together.
The inspiration for creating the cross-generational clothing collection was inspired by Kawase Toshiro’s floral artworks. He is a contemporary ikebana master and the publish “A Flower a Day”(2012) presents his continuous-366-days ikebana art. In the book, he presented the mindset of Japanese Zen by the combinations of seasonal wildflowers and ancient vases.
For the designer, ikebana is like the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren. A little kid is like a fresh wildflower, filling with vitality, who represents the future; the elder is a symbol of ancient vase, revealing a sense of simplicity and charm, who carries the past and tells stories.
one
two
Silk * Organic
*
*
Peace
Fair
Sericulture contains the
Bombyx mori has been
Silk is a labor-intensive eco-
mulberry tree cultiva-
domesticated as the raw
nomic activity and mainly
tionand the silk produc-
material of mulberry silk.
produces in rural areas in
tion. The processes of
In the silk production, silk
India. The forms of co-op-
producing raw silk are more
extraction is the most
eration and co-education
complex than other natu-
controversial part because
in fairtrade silk business
ral fibers. Comparing with
cocoons use to boil in hot
develop fairer trading con-
traditional silk production,
water in order to collect
ditions for producers and
organic silk provides an
silk filaments. Peace silk is
opportunities for them to
eco-friendly and sustain-
produced organically and
invest in their businesses and
able way to cultivate mul-
respectfully without vio-
communities for a sustain-
berry trees and harvest silks,
lence, which silkworm can
able future.
which excludes any residues
fulfill its life cycle.
from artificial fertilizers, pesticides or growth-enhancing substances.
three
Embracing Slow making * This clothing collection embraces the mindset of slow making by involving the handicraft technique, Shibori. The process of making causes a valuable sense of slowness. Through experiencing the slow pace of making could provide vital “practice� for the benefits of delayed gratification and long-term thinking, which potentially reaches sustainability. In addition, making by hands can always create incidental aesthetic surprisingly.
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
thirteen
Design with mindfulness *** The main concern of children’s clothing is
tion aims to encourage people’s interests of
size, their heights increase at least 42 cm
sustainability through involving and under-
during the period from 2 to 8 years old. Par-
standing a silk garment’s life cycle.
ents have to shop for clothes almost every season. Especially for preschool children (3-8
This clothing collection designed for chil-
years old) who start to develop brand aware-
dren and senior women, which involved two
ness, thus it would be important to design
core sustainable design strategies. Firstly,
long-lasting clothing with sustainable purpose
to practice the longevity of garments by
at the same.
making geometric patterns and creating trans-functional designs, consequently the
For senior women, most of them have experi-
garments can not only minimize the waste
enced with fitting problems with ready-made
but also wear at different ages and different
clothing, they tend to wear clothes with
body types. Secondly, enhancing consumer
comfortable and convenient design. Studies
engagement to create personal and emo-
reveal that they prefer to make the process
tional connections during the design process.
of dressing more independent and keep
Wearers are able to decide the technique
clothing as long as possible.
of shibori, color and material of natural dye. Each piece is handmade with an unique
*
*
*
*
*
*
texture.
Mindfulness implies being conscious and uses sensation to observe one’s surroundings. The concept “design with mindfulness” embraces a holistic thinking to approach sustainable design strategies. The purpose of this collec-
fourteen
Conscious materials
for the sensitive skin. The fabrics sourced from Seidentraum where is the leading of certif-
“Sustainability is being responsible to the en-
icated organic peace silk. The sustainable
vironment because we belong to parts of this
development of organic peace silk focus on
wonderful planet.”
organic mulberry tree cultivation, non-violent silk rearing and extraction, and fair trade with
Considering the biodegradability of silk, the
local producers.
garments were finished with natural materials, including sewing threads, strings and elastic
Natural sewing thread
rubber bands. In addition, they are easily
The garments were sewed with cotton or silk
detachable to reuse or recycle.
sewing threads, which have the certifications from GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard)
*
*
*
*
*
*
and OEKO-TEX® Standard 100.
Organic peace silk
Organic elastic rubber band
The designer decided to use silk because of
The rubber band is made of natural rubber,
the benefits of silk. They are light-weight, nice
origins from Malaysia, and certified organic
water absorbency and able to maintain bod-
cotton from Turkey.
ies’ temperature. More, silk is a nice material
fifteen
Geometric pattern-making:
trans-functional garment for children. For in-
trans-functional design &
stance, a dress for a 3-year-old girl, yet it can
waste minimization
be worn as a top when she turned to 6-yearold, and a romper for a 3-year-old kid will
“Estimated that 400 billion square meters
become a trouser when the kid grows up. The
of fabric produced globally in the garment
design strategy might prolong a garment’s
industry and 15 percent of fabrics that are
lifetime for 3 to 4 years with proper care.
wasted when garment are cut and made.�
Textile waste can be categorized in two: industrial waste and consumer waste. Pre-consumer textile waste is created during the manufacture of fiber, yarn, fabric and garments; on the other hand, post-consumer waste is created by consumers.
The designer worked on geometric pattern making and up-cycling to minimize pre-consumer waste. The character of geometric patterns makes it possible to design sixteen
Co-design:
an environmental friendly way to give fabrics
design for texture
color and allows fabrics to re-dye as well. Natural fibers are suitable for dyeing, especially silk.
“As wearers emotionally engage in design processes, they start to connect themselves with the product and ensure garment’s lon-
Co-design with wearers
gevity.”
Co-design is not only a design strategy but a business plan for small brands and individual
Shibori
designers to make on demands. Through
The designer brought Japanese tradition-
manipulating handcraft techniques, it is pos-
al handcraft “shibori” into life. Shibori is a
sible to reduce the energy consumption and
textile handcraft that shapes fabric into a
chemical use. Potentially, co-design is able
three-dimension form before cooking and
to slow the path of fashion and lower the en-
dyeing. The application of shibori emphasizes
vironmental impacts by passing through the
wringing, squeezing and pressing on fabric.
mass-production process.
As soon as fabric returns to its two-dimension form, it records sensitively the shape and
Owing to different strength from each pro-
pressure, leaving enduring “memories” on
ducer’s hands, the effects of shibori and nat-
textile.
ural dye are varying from person to person. From the point view of aesthetic, it will reflect
Natural dye
on the touch of garments and an unexpect-
This collection dyed with bio Assam tea, pre-
ed texture will be presented.
senting the maroon naturally. Natural dye is
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
twenty
twenty one
twenty two
twenty three
A responsible silk industry *** The mulberry silk Silk is not only a cultural heritage but also
Introducing the life-cycleimpact tools: from LCI, LCA to LCO
an expression of global trade since the oldest evidence of silk has been found in
The studies of life cycle impacts of silk
8,500-year-old tombs in China. Nowadays,
began from LCI (life cycle inventory) to
silk production locates over 60 countries
realize inputs and outputs in the life cycle
and the major producers are in Asia.
of a silk product. Then, LCA (life cycle assessment) helped us to understand a
According to International Sericulture
silk product’s impacts from environmental
Commission (ISC), the total world produc-
and economical perspectives.
tion of silk reaches around 180,000 tons a year, and the quantity of silk production
From the thesis part, due to the limited
accounts for less than 0.2% in global tex-
resource available for LCA (life cycle as-
tile fiber market.
sessment) of a silk product, the author focused on estimating the numbers of LCA
Thus we are able to know that silk is not
in silk production which based on several
the majority in the fashion industry. Nev-
studies. Then, according to the outcomes
ertheless, since silk involves in various sus-
of LCI and LCA of silk, the author aimed to
tainable issue, there is a need to under-
combine ecological and social perspec-
stand the life cycle impacts of silk.
tives in the section of LCO (life cycle optimisation) to provide a recommend action plan for a sustainable silk life cycle chain.
twenty four
The environmental impacts of a mulberry silk dress in silk production Based on the eassy “Sustainable silk production” (Karthik & Rathinamoorthy, 2017), the environmental impacts come from mulberry tree plantation and silk extraction most.
“The energy consumption in sericulture are shared between cocoon producTo assume environmental impacts of a
tion(47%) and cocoon cooking (51%).”
silk dress in the sector of silk production,
*
*
*
*
*
*
the author calculated the amounts of silk fabric used in a dress for adults was 1.8
To understand the impacts in silk produc-
yards (1.65 meters), the material wastage
tion, the author studied the data by Astu-
included. And the final product weighed
dillo et al. (2014), which showed levels of
123 grams.
environmental impacts in various processes of silk production. The high percentage
A study from Patil et al. (2009) showed 1kg
of pesticides used for mulberry trees
of cocoon can weave into 1.55 meters.
plantation cause 97% to eco-toxicity. And
Thus the author assumed a silk dress needs
the land consumption in farm practice
more than 1kg of cocoon to produce.
takes 35.6 m² to produce 1kg raw silk.
Lastly, by studying LCA of silk production, the author assumed the environmental im-
According to the data from Central Silk
pact of silk production, presenting as the
Board, it showed an acre of mulberry
following:
plantation required 300,000 liters of water for a crop. As the result, mulberry tree or bush plantation needs a large amount of water to irrigate and mostly sources from surface and ground water.
* * *
twenty five
Carbon Dioxide Emission: 9.95 kg Land Occupation: 4.55 m 2 Blue water footprint: 6,640 liters
To approach a sustainable silk production
contrast, Eri (8%), Muga (1%) and Tassah (2%) silk can fulfill their life cycles, the only concern is non-continuous filament. How-
Organic mulberry plantation
ever it can be solved by using spinning
The concern of green house gases in the
machine to produce spun yarn and also
atmosphere has arisen rapidly and the
by weaving with manual machine looms.
CO 2 emission contributes most. Organic
When silkworms can fulfill the life-cycles
silk production excludes any residues from
and producing by handloom weaver the
artificial fertilizers, pesticides or growth-en-
fabric has almost a zero energy footprint
hancing substances. Mulberry trees are
and the framework of sustainability in ethi-
the main food source for the silkworms
cal aspect is satisfied.
(Bombyx mori), which can grow in place with poor soil infertility and have the func-
Fairtrade
tion of water and soil conservation, more,
Sericulture is a labor intensive, cottage,
it against strong winds. Recently, studies
small scale sector economic activity.
from Central Sericulture Research and
Besides social monitoring systems, prac-
Training Institute in Mysore for five years
ticing co-operation and co-education in
(2007-2011) in India revealed that the ca-
fairtrade silk business are needed, which
pability of carbon footprint mitigation by
allow producers to develop their own
organic mulberry plantation.
businesses independently and support local communities for a sustainable future.
Animal labor: silkworm Most silkworms have been domesticated
*
for thousand years. Mulberry silk shares 83% of amount in the silk market in India, the major concern is the cruel silk extraction, the silkworms will be killed during production, by cooking in water or the process of cocoon drying. On the
twenty six
*
*
*
*
*
Can silk be sustainable? It’s a huge task to study the silk production because silk is more complex than other natural fibers due to it involves in mulberry planting and silkworms rearing. Sustainable silks can be defined by organic mulberry tree farming, non-violent method to obtain silk fiber, fairtrade.
Until now, no certification authorities exist to guarantee animal rights and truly cruelty-free in textile supply chains. From the author’s point of view, to build up a sustainable silk environment, it needs to implement environmental management systems and social monitoring systems.
Most, bringing transparency to the silk industry and bridging the connections between producers, designers and consumers. Meanwhile, as silk is not the major textile in the fashion system, maybe we should regard silk as a historical and cultural gift and study its amazing structures!
twenty seven
Tenderness: the texture of age Master of Arts (M.A.) Sustainability in Fashion 2017/2018 AMD Berlin
author / designer photographer models
Chiayu Hsieh Charles Su
A. Herrman, Sophia & Mia
contact chiayuhsieh.page@gmail.com website hellohchiayu.wordpress.com
Š Chiayu Hsieh - all right reserved