Zero Waste Design Thinking
Research by Holly McQuillan
Experiment 0
Deep in the Atacama Desert in Chile, colourful piles of debris litter the landscape of the driest desert in the world. Every year, over 39,000 tonnes of unsellable clothes are discarded in the desert. Unfortunately, Atacama is not unique in this regard – rather, it is one of many locations worldwide where last year’s unsold garments are disposed of. Full of toxins and synthetic dyes, the waste of clothes doesn't biodegrade—the result: an environmental disaster that has been largely overlooked.
Although global media outlets have reported on this environmental and social disaster, the fashion industry has continued to flourish, unleashing its negative impact on local economies, human lives, and our planet.
In order to find a solution, we will have to radically alter today’s capitalist system of overconsumption and create new ways of production.
Designer’s Role in Circular Economy
Focusing her research on the environmental degradation caused by the fashion industry, Holly McQuillan explores zero-waste systems through the lense of innovative design and textile form production. With extensive experience in the critical theme, Holly explored zero-waste systems thinking in innovative design and production of textile forms. Through research, publication, workshops and lectures, the New Zealand designer is constantly trying to amplify the impact of zero waste and sustainable fashion design.
As Holly describes in “A reflection on waste and the role of designers in a circular economy”, we are living in a system of overconsumption.
Not only does the fashion industry widely over-manufacture due to mismanagement, leading to a large number of clothes getting destroyed without ever even being bought; on the consumer side of things, clothes are purchased and consequently discarded thoughtlessly. Throughout the product chain of a clothing item, we consider waste an inevitable result of manufacturing. Holly points out that, "Within a year, around two-thirds of the material used to produce clothing becomes waste. Currently, only 10% of this material is recycled, with the rest ending its useful life in the incinerator or landfill."
Holly focuses specifically on how the textile industry could do better; she looks at ways at which designers can eliminate textile waste through frugal pattern cutting.
“We have work to do so that the products we design are the right kind of products, able to be recycled, and repaired, at the right time. We need to design to prevent the creation of waste in the first instance while reducing the total material needed to make them and meeting our needs. The circular economy will not save us from climate disaster unless we employ its mechanisms well and creatively. We need to utilise all the tools at our disposal to transform the ways products are made and the system they exist within so that once technology catches up with our design dreams, we are ready and waiting.”
Experiment 0
In Experiment 0, Holly McQuillan, fashion designer Karin Peterson and textile designers Riikka Talman and Kathryn Walters explore 3D weaving methods for standard jacquard looms that could make extremely versatile garments that adapt to bodies changing size over time. One of the methods they’ve looked into is the use of shrinkable yarns when making garments.
The result is a zero waste product which requires only one seam and uses a vast range of textures not generally seen in garment fabrics.
CTT x Planet City
