Blog Archives

△Good design is unobtrusive△

28/1/2016

Simple thoughts today..

As any other product, clothing is a tool in our life, it serves a purpose. It is there to help us, to make our lives better, easier. It shouldn't disrupt anything in its surroundings and it should also leave room for the user's self-expression.

I believe that a garment should be very versatile, address as many of your needs as possible and also tell a story about your values. But it should stay humble when addressing the user and his environment, it should be able to integrate in it, rather than interfere.

The next principle will be coming up next week, make sure you catch it as they are all, of course, connected. Form Follows Feeling.

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△Good design is honest△

22/1/2016

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Maybe not perfect, but honest; be sure that your clothes are authentic. As a designer, I will not make promises that I cannot keep.

In my opinion, honesty in a product traces back to the origin of the fiber, it's journey to becoming a yarn and then a fabric and in the end a piece of clothing. But honesty regarding a product is also about what happens to it when it is no longer needed; is it going to become waste, is it going to harm the environment? This is the awareness of the life cycle of a garment and the sustainability of fabric production for the future that a designer should thoroughly take into consideration when designing a garment.

Let's be honest about the industry of fashion, as well. Here are some of the facts:
- the second most pollutive industry in the world after oil
- between the yeas 2000 - 2010 our consumption of textile increased by 47%
- a production of 1 T-shirt requires 2670 Liters of water/ 700 gallons (let us remember that many of the world’s main manufacturing countries such as India, Bangladesh, China are currently struggling from water scarcity and pollution due to the increasing demand of the apparel industry.)
- cotton production is responsible for 15% if insecticides and 25% of pesticides GLOBALLY.
- it produces 20 million tons/ year of pure waste.
...It's nasty, but we can change things.

So sum up, in my honest opinion: buy smart, buy what you really need, and then take good care of it. Stay in touch, the next principle will be coming up next week, and all 10 of them are, of course, connected. Form Follows Feeling.

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△good design is aesthetic △

14/1/2016

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When I think about aesthetics I think about long lasting style, timeless design and good craftsmanship. That is what makes a beautiful garment for me.

Times have changed and we are more interested in exploring our own personal style rather than following the trends season by season and changing all the time bits and pieces of ourselved just for the sake of being fashionable. Nowadays being fashionable means to have a clear view of who you are and what your values are, consequently what you wear.

Therefore, I say NO to the artificially limited useful life of a garment. Buy less & buy better! That's what timeless design is all about; beauty through simplicity, versatility and quality. Then again, how can a product be beautiful if it's not well-crafted?

The aesthetic quality of a piece of clothing will always go hand-in-hand with its usefulness. As I said before: functional, psychological and aesthetic benchmarks are to be considered all together.
The next principle will be coming up next week. Be sure to catch them all as they are all connected. Form Follows Feeling.

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△good design is environmentally-friendly△

7/1/2016

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The fashion industry is, by some accounts, the second most pollutive industry in the world, after oil. It is very reliant on finite natural resources, the production of textile fibers being very water, energy and land intensive. After being used, approximately 80% of these textiles turn into waste (they are incinerated or land-filled). That harms our ecosystem at a global scale.

Times are changing, and we are becoming more and more aware of the challenges that our planet is facing. This means that we can no longer do business the usual way, we must adapt in order for future generations to prosper and have a safe place to call home.

Our natural ecosystem has never produced waist and therefore I have turned to nature for inspiration. In the living world, one species' waste is another's food. Therefore, I will use Circular Design, a design that "mimics" the natural system. I will do so by:

using specially designed fabrics that are made out of 100% organic natural fibers that use no hazardous substances and very little water consumption in their production process.
designing garments that will be 100% biodegradable, which means that they will go back into the soil after you stop using them, as nutrients for other life.
creating "green value" through a closed loop supply chain management and optimized operations to lower the carbon footprint as much as possible
developing a conscious life-cycle of the product: the garments will be long lasting in both quality and style; every product will be built so that it can be worn a long time, adjusted to your needs and then recycled.

By closing the loop for textiles, I'm allowing the industry to better capture the embodied value of the textile fibers.
For me a Circular Design creates a waste free economy, where accountability and responsibility will sell the most. There would still be unwanted materials to ‘get rid of’ but they would not end up accumulating in ecosystems, they would instead be regenerated as new resources for the Earth. Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment and for the society.
Stay tuned for the next design principle as they are all, of course, connected. Form Follows Feeling.

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