As we mentioned in our post about zero waste, the acceleration of the textile and fashion industry has led us to create overconsumption systems generating millions of tons of textile waste every year.

In response to this, several solutions related to this arise, one of them is the zero-waste design.

We will briefly remind you what zero waste is and we will tell you a little more about 5 designers who use this line of work to create incredible garments.

About Zero Waste Fashion

Zero waste is a movement or philosophy of life focused on the almost total or total reduction of waste.

Within fashion there is zero waste pattern making, which proposes new pattern making systems and tailoring processes with the aim of almost or eliminating textile waste during the garment manufacturing process. The concept of using the full width of the textile is not a new phenomenon. It has long been used in the manufacture of Japanese kimonos and Indian saris. However, it became less popular after the industrialization of fashion and the rise of mass-produced fast fashion.

Today, there are many different approaches to zero waste design, including draping, weaving, or making clever patterns. We share with you some examples with designers who are experts in the matter. Remember that it is not the approach that is important, but rather meeting the objectives of this philosophy.

Here are 5 designers who use zero waste:

Hellen Van Rees

Hellen Van Rees was born in the Netherlands, but currently lives in London. This graduate of an MA in Fashion Womenswear at Central St Martins University of Arts obtains leftover threads from factories and then weaves the threads together to shape the garment. In this way she manages to create no seams, cuts, or leftovers. Her designs involve manual processes, and her results are very clean. Hellen always seeks to respect the environment through her designs.

Daniel Silverstein

Daniel is an American designer graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York (FIT).

After having worked for several firms and even having a small studio in New York, he discovered the possibility of creating garments from remnants and leftover textiles with a zero-waste approach.

Daniel saw that by incorporating zero waste design into his collections, he could create clothes in a sustainable way, creating new textiles from scraps and remnants and using them to create new garments. The leftovers left over from the making of each piece are reused and incorporated back into the process so that the main objective is met: to eliminate manufacturing waste.

Ada Zanditon

A fashion designer born and based in London. She graduated from the London College of Fashion. She appeared regularly in London Fashion Week from 2009 to 2013.

Her work focuses on making designs from organic and natural fabrics mainly dyed with AZO-free dyes, which means they contain no carcinogenic chemicals.

Within her explorations Ada integrates zero waste pattern making creating garments free of waste during its manufacture and looking for the maximum use of textiles.

Yeohlee Teng

This Malaysian designer based in New York, creates one-piece garments integrating zero waste systems.

Yeohlee is a pioneer in zero waste design with a strong philosophy in the efficient use of textiles and waste minimization mainly using zero waste pattern making.

Yeohlee’s designs have earned her a permanent place in the Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the late Richard Martin, called her «one of the most ingenious garment makers today.»

Holly McQuillan

Co-author of the book «Zero Waste fashion Design» with Timo Rissanen, also a zero-waste fashion researcher and designer. She is also one of the pioneers of this technique today.

She is currently focused on design and research as well as the creation of new systems under this philosophy.

One site you might want to check out is makeuse.nz. A collaborative Zero Waste design project.

A characteristic of Holly is the application of technologies and software for the optimization of waste and processes for non-waste purposes.

Today there are many designers who apply these searches as part or center of their work, among them we can find Joe O’Neill, Elena Ryleeva, Timo rissanen, Alex Law, among others.

At Creamodite we continue to work to join innovative proposals that allow us to continue moving towards a more sustainable industry.

If you want to be part of this initiative you can contact us at info@workef.com

Or become a member here