INTERVIEW WITH SOFIA CATALINA FIORENTINO SARRATE

Interview with

Sofia Catalina Fiorentino Sarrate

By: Sandra Jäger

Sofia Fiorentino recently graduated from the MA program at the Design School Kolding. Her final collection, entitled ANTHROPOWASTE, was exhibited at Museum Kolding in September 2020, alongside the other graduates of the design school. Sofia’s sustainable collection was made in collaboration with the Danish brand Henrik Vibskov, resulting in an offer to work for the brand. Along with the photo essay, in which she describes her collection, we had the pleasure to meet up with her to talk about fashion and sustainability, her creative process, her experience working with an established brand, and her thoughts on re-using materials and new practices of creating fashion items.

Sandra Jäger (SJ): How did you come up with the idea for your collection?

Sofia Fiorentino (SF): I have worked in the garment design- and manufacturing industry for a few years before starting my master. My last period of working in the industry was more specifically in the vintage industry, where I was a manager at a factory in Vancouver, and saw the bags of scraps we had to throw out on a daily basis. These fabric scraps were going straight to the landfill. There was no sorting and no recycling. That to me seemed absurd, as I could see the value in this so-called “waste.” We were just lacking the systems to be able to re-loop it. I wanted to explore this through my research.

SJ: What was your process?

SF: The first phase was a lot of background research, ultimately visiting sorting sites for used textiles in Denmark and learning about their sorting systems and about the textiles. I then proceeded to experiment with the used garments and different techniques to turn what’s no longer wanted or has no market value into a raw material, a sort of “yarn.” I did this by laser-cutting a pattern that can be easily woven together by hand, composing a “new” material from old.

SJ: What were the values and reasons for doing this project?

SF: Circularity has been at the forefront of my research for this project. I believe that if we design the right systems and techniques, we could minimize textile waste. Of course, textile waste should not exist to begin with, but in these times of transitioning to designing out waste, I want to encourage people to view waste as an opportunity rather than just a by-product. I aim to help people make this shift through workshops and by showcasing it is possible through the garments I designed and made in-house.

SJ: Do you think other designers should have a similar process as the one you developed for Vibskov?

SF: I hope so! But I am excited to see other designers experimenting with waste-led processes and also aiming at designing waste out. It is a great moment to be talking about this, but we have to make sure that it is not just a moment or a trend - it needs to be a mindset shift.

SJ: At which scale do you think this is possible? Only for small brands or bigger fast-fashion retailers?

SF: It is, of course, much more complicated to scale these types of projects up, so it has to start at a small, local level. I think that if enough small labels or designers embrace these kinds of up-cycling/recycling/ waste-led designs, then corporations will be turning their heads around. If we look at the modern history of fashion, it was disruptive designers such as for example Martin Margiela who brought the conversations forward that aimed at questioning and deconstructing the systems in place. This is what bigger retailers are getting their hands on now, and if we play our cards right, we could really change things.

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ANTROPOWASTE

Photo by Sofia Fiorentino

SJ: Do you think it could be upscaled?

SF: With the appropriate systems in place, absolutely!

SJ: How was it for you as a designer to collaborate with a brand?

SF: It was fantastic, a dream, really. I have looked up to the Vibskov brand since before starting my masters, so it was quite intimidating at first to be able to work directly with them. They are a truly lovely team and were open to the ideas I brought to the table from day one. I think most brands have a thing or two to learn from Henrik’s teamwork. Of course, the most obvious restrictions were related to the pandemic, as I started my collaboration right before the lockdowns and had to continue throughout. I used the time in quarantine for experimenting with different types of looms and weaving techniques, so I could create my garments with Henrik’s sampling by-product when I finally made it back to Copenhagen. I have to say that the opportunities largely outweighed the limitations.

SJ: How do you think consumers will respond to this collection of re-used fabrics?

SF: I think nowadays people are excited about it more than ever. The level of awareness in things like our impact on the environment, our individual footprint, consumer habits and so on, has grown in the last couple of years. When I tell customers that the pieces they are wearing are made from manufacturing by-product and that they are up-cycled using materials that would otherwise go to an incinerator, and techniques that come from ancient craft history, they appreciate the pieces on a much deeper level. But the goal is not to have to say this to the wearer - the goal is that they simply love the pieces. I design pieces that are seasonless and speak a language of self-expression that I hope inspires potential consumers.

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FASHION PERFORMATIVITY

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LOUISIANA ART EXHIBITION: ARTHUR JAFA’S MULTI-MEDIA CRITIQUE OF RACIAL INJUSTICE 1 - Louisana.dk. (2021). Arthur jaffa. Retrieved 21. Nov 2021 from Louisana: https://bit.ly/3DImFbY |

REVIEW OF NETFLIX’S SEX EDUCATION

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