Every single year in the US 85% of all textiles are thrown away which equals about 14 million tons. 95 percent of that textile waste is in fact recyclable. Due to trend cycles and the fashion culture of constantly needing the newest clothing item, fast fashion is moving at a rapid, scary pace. We have enough clothing on the planet right now to clothe the next 6 generations and that is always increasing. It takes 200+ years for any clothing item thrown away to decompose and when it begins this process the chemicals in dyes and fabrics seep into the water supply. The materials for this project came from old fabrics that were unsalvageable and could not be donated. This 0 waste jacket consisted of hand cutting the scrap fabric into small pieces, sandwiching it between organza and cotton, quilting it, and finally sewing the pieces together. It is important that we begin to change the way we see our clothes and we are responsible with our purchases, donations, and companies we are supporting.
In my time at Iowa State University this jacket has received first place in Apparel Design in the Art in Isolation art show in the Memorial Union in 2021, been on display at Sustainapalooza in 2022, received first place in Sustainability in The Iowa State 2022 Fashion Show, and was on display April to December 2022 in Morrill Hall. It has also driven my "Be An Outfit Repeater" campaign that I created for my graduate Graphic Design courses.
