Ava Gourlay

Make It Last

Sustainability Narrative

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I began by researching sustainability and, from this, picking out key words and phrases that I wanted to investigate further. These included recycling, upcycling, circular fashion and consumerism. From this research, I gathered images of landfill sites and general waste which inspired my use of materials massively. I looked into designers and brands that used these terms within their work and this helped me understand how I could apply this to my own work. A notable designer to me was Patrick McDowell, who uses reclaimed fabrics, organic yarns and ethically produced materials. His collection, ‘Catholic Fairytails’, stood out to me through his use of reconstructed garments from his first collection, waste products from Burberry and A.W Hainsworth and wadding crafted from plastic bottles. I also looked at up and coming designer Borbala Ferencz, who upcycles plastic waste and second-hand clothes to give them a new personality.

 

I started to use research from landfill sites and general waste for collage, I layered up these images to see what interesting shapes they formed. The resulting fashion collages weren’t to the standard of design that I desired so I decided to disregard these design ideas. From there, I knew I wanted to use waste, such as plastic bags and plastic bottles, to influence my materials only. This would involve upcycling them for a good use and this will also lead into circular fashion as it avoids wasting any products. In addition to this, when the garment is done with, it can be recycled or repaired to be used again.

 

Consumerism is of significant interest to me as I find the concept very debateable within contemporary fashion design. The first thing that influenced me about consumer culture were 90s movies such as ‘Clueless’ and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. These movies show characters that I would class as typical over-consumers. From here, I looked into 90s teen fashion and what styles and silhouettes could influence my work. The big styles in the 90s included A-line mini dresses and skirts, crop tops and flared trousers. I found this was quite restricting for silhouette research, so I also started to look at 90s furniture, architecture and sweets.

 

The 90s inflatable chair was a massive influence on me as it is made from a thin plastic, similar to plastic bags, and provides interesting 3D shapes. There is a huge contrast between the inflated and deflated shape. I started my development by taking pictures of inflatable pool rings while they were inflated and deflated while also on and off the body. I also looked at the features and fastenings on them of which I would use in my own garment. I then worked on drawings from the shapes that the rings created when stacked up, on and off the body, to inspire my garment design.

 

I extended my research into 90s items which also had bubble like shapes, looking at both soft and hard structures. This was also seen in sweets such as flump marshmallows, lollypops and bubble-gum. I thought that the twist design in the flumps was noteworthy and could be a big design feature within my work. This was also a compatible shape to be inflated. 90s furniture consisted of padded and inflatable chairs, which both gave out similar blown out shapes and also lava lamps which interested me as the bubble shapes in the centre varied. Architecture such as the Heydar Aliyev Centre, built in 1992 by ZHA, has a smooth sloping structure which almost looks soft to the touch, making it fit into my research. From my research into these designs, I started to sketch out how the shapes and silhouettes could influence my own garment design. I thought about shapes that could be inflated and deflated to enhance the garment. 

 

This research into 90s items containing bubble like shapes influenced me to look into other designers who had inflated their garments. Moncler & Craig Green's stunning SS19 Collection was of particular interest to me. Although they never inflated their garments with air, the collection shows a variety of silhouettes that almost look as if they are inflated. They exploit overblown proportions in shapes that can be compared to the inflatable 90s chairs. I also looked at Nike as they have a jacket that inflates, it uses a hand pump with intricate arrangement of air channels in its silhouette to inflate the jacket and provide warmth. This helped put my garment into a fashion context.