Let’s REDESIGN, REPAIR & REWEAR, for sustainability
There’s a lot of “What to do” around, but nothing much on “How to do it”
Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Boston Globe, produced a great series: ”The ills of Fast Fashion” It is a great push and promotion to get people to think about sustainability for our Planet Earth. We must go much further, however, and do more with existing clothing, and involve all sectors in the fashion industry to take responsibility — and continue getting everyone pushing for results. Stohr left out two sectors that could make a difference, Education, and Design/Designers.
I speak from 70 years of experience in the fashion clothing industry: three corporations (Design, Manufacturing, Engineering), three engineering design grants from the National Science Foundation, and teaching fashion design in most fashion schools & colleges in Boston. I am also adamant about not forgetting “History Teaches”.
“The Past Teaches the Present How to Redesign the Future” by Shirley Willett
Stohr hints at Quality as a solution, and I explain that the whole fashion industry now adulates Quantity over Quality of the past, and this is a big problem down to consumers. We can have Quality with Affordability. We had it in the 1950s, 60s, 70s for the Middle Class. I know, because I did it, and know other manufacturers who did as well — in the past. So, what happened? So many sectors lost the knowledge of what Quality is and lost the desire to innovate in pattern and production. I saw young retail buyers come into fashion market showrooms in New York, starting in the 1980s, with computer printouts of what had sold in quantities and had no notion of how to judge a new creation and didn’t want to. Oh, I remember the early 70s, and seeing a great old-time buyer at Bonwit Teller in New York, and she praised the art and style of my “Evening gown in suede”, but was shocked at the low price. I could have sold it cheaper because of my innovative production. I was advised that no one would respect a suede gown if sold too cheap. There has always been a market understanding of price.
My stitchers had fun with it, called it “sew by numbers”, and could stitch the shell together in 15 minutes. I made a 60% profit on this style. If I could design production systems that could make quality, yet be affordable for buyers, and my cutters and stitchers made money on it, why can’t others design innovative good production systems for all, today? I no longer can, at 90. But I can write about what we did in the past, and help with Redesign and Repair….
What is true Quality? And why is it no longer affordable, or desirable? The root of the problem is in Design and the Designer. Luxury fashion designers today are only interested in sensationalism in design, to build their names and sell all products, such as perfume, luggage, accessories, etc. True Luxury Designs in the past ended up in museums, as quality clothing. Is quality clothing expensive? Luxury clothing is expensive, because of the enormous cost in PR and advertising to build a brand name. I never did this. Elaine Flook, “Style Not Fashion”, Medium.com, says, “The label doesn’t always mean quality, as it did in the past but lately some designer brands’ quality deteriorated as a casualty of driving the price down. Not all, but some brand names have become more of a luxury idea than a quality product.”
Fashion Design in education has dropped its true definition of Planning and has become more of a creative process of just ideas. A famous person on entrepreneurship at MIT said: “Ideas are a ‘dime a dozen’ without execution”. In Boston in the 1940s, when I started stitching in the garment industry, I learned that patternmakers were called designers. Because the pattern was the true plan or design. Today, because the design is used so loosely, they are now called Pattern Engineers. What is not realized is that every step in the cycle can be creative, or innovative. I was creative in my styling, but it was my creativity in Pattern Engineering and Production Engineering that won me a series of engineering design grants from the National Science Foundation and made Sondra Grace of MassArt call my collections (1950s to 1980s) in their museum, “Pattern Engineering” in their Fashion Design Catalog 2022.
In consideration of the pileups of clothes, before they are thrown away, let’s redesign with as much motivation as originally designing (creating, engineering, fashioning, etc.) Since the motivation has been lost, we must reteach in Fashion Design Education build the fun of redesigning, and have young fashion design consultants and stylists teach it to consumers. Even after 70 years of designing and manufacturing, at age 90, I am having fun redesigning repairing and re-wear.
Let’s start with some ideas I redesigned in the past to help motivate young fashion designers and fashion consumers. We all need to keep pushing and promoting the hows in sustainability.
Let’s Make Patchwork Fun, Aesthetic, and Functional
- Collection for Swift Textiles 1970, pieces leftover from pants stitched onto top. 2. Willett Collection, 1972, leather pieces on knit dress. 3. Willett Collection, 1975, Suede landscape skirt using suede pieces. 4. Willett Collection 1995, leather vest with suede leaves from pieces, worn by me, at MassArt in 2006
Repair “The Future Is Fixing Things….”
The neckline of my friend’s loved shirt was frayed at the edge and was ripped from the collar in 3 spots. I had fun designing this functional patch. 2. Polka dot patches to cover stains on a jacket 3. Her pants were too small, so I put a contrasting stripe to make them a little bigger. Do too much and they will get distorted. It is so easy to take in something too big, but it takes design innovation to make something bigger.
Please read Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Boston Globe. Let us all, especially those in fashion design and education, do what we can to save our planet Earth by sustainability. Thank you for reading.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/about/staff-list/staff/kimberly-atkins-stohr/
