Tesis Zero Desperdicio Diseño de Moda
Tesis Zero Desperdicio Diseño de Moda
Tesis Zero Desperdicio Diseño de Moda
FASHION DESIGN:
a study at the intersection of
Timo Rissanen
Doctor of Philosophy – Design
2013
I certify that the work in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a
degree nor has it been submitted as part of requirements for a degree except
as fully acknowledged within the text.
I also certify that the thesis has been written by me. Any help that I have
received in my research work and the preparation of the thesis itself has been
acknowledged. In addition, I certify that all information sources and litera-
ture used are indicated in the thesis.
iii
Acknowledgments
My husband George: thank you for the unwavering support, the understanding amongst a sea of non-
sense, the non-sense, and the untold patience.
I am eternally grateful for the astute supervision I received from Dr Cameron Tonkinwise (2005-7),
Dr Sally McLaughlin (2007-12), Alison Gwilt (2005) and Dr Vicki Karaminas (2007-12). Thank you.
My family: Mum, Dad, Hilkka, Emo-mummo and Börje: you’ve all offered your unconditional support
and encouragement. Kiitos! To my sister Heli and brothers Juha and Sami: thank you for always welcom-
ing me. Kiitos!
Dr Zoë Sadokierski: Thank you for the naked mole rat and for being extraordinary. Thank you for stand-
ing by me all the way.
Val Horridge and Maureen Lazarus: thank you for your invaluable feedback on various sections of the
thesis.
At UTS I thank Alana Clifton-Cunningham, Eric Hagen, Cecilia Heffer, Milena Ratkovic and Kate
Sweetapple. I thank Professor Kees Dorst and Professor Desley Luscombe for their support of this
project, and the University Graduate School for making things work. My special thanks go to Professor
Peter McNeil, Ann Hobson and Jemima MacDonald.
Karen Giard: Thank you for everything you have taught me about fashion.
I owe my sanity to my friends Jackie, Nelson, Anthony, Kate, Tom, Fleur, Kim, Greg, Stephen, Justin,
Cristoffer, Evette, Mari, Pat, Salla, Kalle, Taru, and Sini. Thank you also folks of room 675: Anita, Dianne,
Helen, Cris, Todd and Emily.
At Parsons, I thank Gregory Climer, Yvonne Watson, Simon Collins, Joel Towers, Hazel Clark, Fiona
Dieffenbacher, Francesca Sammaritano, Pascale Gatzen, Otto von Busch, Christina Moon, John Quinn,
Josephine Tirado, Sara Kozlowski, Jonathan Kyle Farmer, Shelley Fox, and Heike Jenss. I also thank my
research assistants Harmony Pilobello and Adrienne Perlstein.
Kate Fletcher and Lynda Grose: thank you for sharing your experiences and expertise with the world so
generously. Thank you Zandra Rhodes and Yeohlee Teng for being pioneering. Thank you Julian Roberts
and Holly McQuillan for the continued inspiration. Thank you Kathleen Fasanella and Sandra Ericson
for all the support. All zero-waste designers around the world: thank you. To my students past and
present: thank you for everything that I have learned from you.
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: Marker showing fabric waste created during cutting, by Gemini CAD.
Figure 1.2: Waste management hierarchy, adapted from White, Franke & Hindle (1999: 20)
Figure 1.3: Reuse: fabric off-cuts cannot be used in the same way that cookie dough off-cuts can.
Marker by Gemini CAD.
Figure 1.5: Pages from “Are Clothes Modern?” by Rudofsky (1947), highlighting waste
Figure 2.1: Fashion creation methods from a fabric waste creation perspective
Figure 2.2: The “Perfect t-shirt” by Better Thinking, manufactured through fully fashioned knitting
Figure 2.3: Dress created through seamless knitting by Wolford, 2000 (Black, 2002: 128)
Figure 2.4: Manel Torres spraying Fabrican fibre on model, photograph by Gene Kiegel
Figure 2.5: Jacket by August using DPOL technology; fully-fashioned woven sleeve by George Plionis
for Usvsu (2003)
Figure 2.13: Garments created from triangles by Yoshiki Hishinuma (Hishinuma, 1986)
Figure 2.15: Envelope top by Halston, 1977 (Gross & Rottman, 1999: 118)
Figure 2.18: Blouses from Denmark and Finland (circa 1923), demonstrating similarity in cut
Figure 2.19: Cut of shirt from 1837 (Shep & Cariou 1999), square-cut shirt from 1930 (Burnham
1973), square-cut shirt from 1775-1790 (Baumgarten et al 1999)
Figure 2.20: The cut of Thayaht’ tuta, Thayaht wearing the tuta, sketches for men’s one- and two-piece
tuta and women’s tuta dress.
Figure 2.22: Dress and jacket by Claire McCardell (circa 1944) featured in “Are Clothes Modern?”
Figure 2.23: Drawings by Tilke in Rudofsky (1947) and Bernardo Separates by Rudofsky (circa 1951).
Figure 2.31: Zero-waste garments by Yitzhak Abecassis (2011) and Simone Austen (2011)
Figure 3.2 Pages 12-13 from journal with transcription and codes
Figure 3.4 Table of criteria for fashion design without fabric waste as they emerged from practice in
this project.
Figure 3.8 Simplified comparison between conventional and zero-waste fashion design approaches
Figure 3.11 Julian Roberts stepping back to assess developing pattern layout
Figure 3.12 Examining hoodie body and sleeve patterns on the fabric width
Figure 3.13 Cape and pattern by Yeohlee Teng (1982), jacket and pattern by Holly McQuillan (2005)
Figure 4.2: End-of-ply losses created during cutting, typically 2cm at each end of ply (Tyler 1991: 69)
Figure 4.3: A marker for a single shirt, and a marker for two shirts.
Figure 4.4: Nested, graded back panel of a garment (Aldrich 1990: 143)
Figure 4.5: Gored skirt that eliminates the need for grading
Figure 4.6: Zandra Rhodes bodice and graded pattern, in Zandra Rhodes (2005: 34-36)
Figure 4.7: Pant 2003 marker; shaded area indicates belt loops
Figure 4.10: T-shirt 4007: two garments in original size on the fabric width, and two garments, smaller
and larger than the original.
Figure 4.11: A visual comparison between a conventional, trued dart and trouser waist darts in this study
Figure 4.12: Holly McQuillan’s design exploration process using Adobe Illustrator (McQuillan 2011a: 92)
Figure 4.14: Comparison between conventional hierarchies and a new possibility for industry organisation
Figure 5.1: Comparison of initial criteria for fashion design in this project, and proposed criteria for
fashion design in the future.
Figure 5.2: Endurance Shirt I and patterns for Endurance Shirt I and II
Figure 5.3: Zero-waste garments by Laura Poole (2010) and Simone Austen (2011)
Figure 5.4: Andria Crescioni parka in calico (2010) and denim (2011).
This thesis examines zero-waste fashion design: design activity that results in zero-waste
garments. Conventional design approaches waste approximately 15 per cent of the fabric used
in the design and make of a cut and sew garment. The responsibility for this wastage belongs
with manufacture, which is constrained by what has already been designed and pattern cut. The
economic systems that underpin fashion design and manufacture are such that there is little
economic incentive to be concerned with this wastage. An examination of the material and
social investments embodied in fabrics alongside their environmental impacts, reveals that
these investments are wasted in the wasted fabric.
The context of this study is contemporary fashion design within the ready-to-wear indus-
try: fashion design that leads to the manufacturing of multiples of one design. The contextual
review of this study examines different methods of fashion creation. Design ideation tools and
the relationship between fashion design and pattern cutting in current industry provide the
frame for design practice in this study, together with an analysis of historical and contemporary
zero-waste and less-waste garments. Findings from the contextual review frame a series of briefs
for design experiments. This study asks: What are the opportunities for creating zero-waste
garments within contemporary menswear fashion design practice using cut and sew methods?
Fashion design practice is the primary research tool in this study. Design processes and
their outcomes are documented in a journal, and the journals are transcribed and analysed.
Successful strategies for zero-waste fashion design, emerging from the data, are presented.
Pattern cutting emerges as integral to zero-waste fashion design. Zero-waste fashion design is
examined in relation to fashion manufacture, as particular manufacturing issues such as fabric
as material, and the grading of garment patterns to achieve size ranges of garments, create new
kinds of opportunities for zero-waste fashion design. This study also asks: To what extent is a
zero-waste approach feasible and desirable within contemporary fashion industry? This study
demonstrates that zero-waste fashion design generates new opportunities for fashion design to
engage with fashion manufacture that may not currently exist.
This study calls for fashion design to consider pattern cutting an integral part of the
fashion design process. Such an approach to fashion design creates new opportunities for the
fashion industry and fashion design education. Zero-waste fashion design is part of a larger
picture of beauty for everyone, that fashion is capable of being the source of.
CONTENTS
Certificate of authorship
iii
Acknowledgments
iv
Preamble
v
Abstract
ix
Appendices
Appendix A: Glossary of terms
162
Appendix B: Design briefs, outcomes of design experiments
171
Appendix C: Journal transcription, codes and categories
224
Appendix D: Fashion Incubator discussion
254
Appendix E: Reflective statements from students, January 2010;
References
285