(Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/274367802275696575/)
A little while ago, a guest speaker came to my school (Toronto Film School) to talk about eco fashion. Her name is Kate Black, and she wrote the book Magnifeco (photo above).
The presentation was an eye-opener, and was also very interesting. I decided to take the topic to another level, and use my blog as a platform to share the awareness of social responsibility and the environment.
Clothing of all sorts is sent to land fills all over the place instead of being donated, repurposed, or reused into something new. Eco fashion is the trend of taking old clothing, and turning it into something new, and wearable again.
I reached out to a design student who had seen the same presentation, and I was able to talk to her about the importance of sustainable fashion. She recently constructed a vest from an old dress she had, so here is her creation below.
Fashion Design student, Robyn Jennings, deconstructed an old dress and took the pieces of it to make a vest with gold braided trim, and a twisted detail in the back. This vest is a beautiful resemblance of eco fashion! It fits the idea of reusing old garment materials, and making them new again.
"Growing up, I wasn’t aware that a lot of things we do are harmful to the environment and as I became aware it is shocking and eye-opening. I am constantly thinking about what my children, grandchildren and all the generations after me are going to have to deal with because of all the awful things we have done, and are still doing to the environment. I want the world to be a wonderful place and not suffer from all the global warming effects, new diseases and so much more. Fashion is the only thing I have ever known, and loved, it’s what I know how to do. Eco fashion is just a part of trying to make the wold a better place, it is what I will be doing to help the world." - Robyn Jennings, Fashion Design Student
I had the chance to ask Robyn some questions about eco fashion, and what it means to her. See her responses below.
Mikayla:
As a designer, is this something you want to incorporate into your own work? Why?
Robyn:
It is most definitely something I want to incorporate into my work. Eco fashion brings a lot more possibilities to fashion, you aren’t stuck with only using fabric, you can use just about anything to make clothing. Designers can be so much more unique, which is a good thing, it can set you apart and make you less boring.
Mikayla:
Do you have any ideas for how you could change the industry with eco fashion?
Robyn:
What I would like to do is create my different lines for the year and then take back what people have bought and use it to create different lines for the next year.
Mikayla:
Do you believe that eco fashion is a way of the future?
Robyn:
Eco fashion is definitely a way of the future. Right now more and more people are becoming aware of how we’re harming the environment and they are going eco friendly. Soon a lot of people will stop buying from brands that are harmful to the environment and only buy brands that are eco friendly. If a brand doesn’t want to go out of business they will change their ways and the majority of brands will become eco friendly.
Mikayla:
Tell about your process of up-cycling garments of your own. What do you do to them to make them new?
Robyn:
I have been up cycling garments for a long time, it started because I was young, I didn’t have the money to buy new things and my parents wouldn’t buy new things for me. I took clothing that didn’t fit, or that I didn’t wear anymore and I would cut them and sew them to make something completely different. I made a jacket from and old pair of jeans, I made new shirts from old shirts, I made a vest from a dress - and a lot more. Now I am in the beginning stages of making a dress from used + cleaned paper cups, and old newspapers and flyers.
If you are interested in the topic of eco fashion, check out Kate Black's book, Magnifeco, here.
Thanks for reading!
