Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys

288 Pages·2014·9.93 MB·English

by  Kate Fletcher

Sustainable Fashion and Textiles

Second Edition

Over the last two decades, Kate Fletcher’s original thinking and progressive
outlook have infused fashion and textiles with ideas and practice of design
for sustainability, and come to defi ne them. Her pioneering work, rooted
both in nature’s principles and the cultural and creative forces of fashion and
design, ranges from developing ‘slow fashion’ concepts to exploring ‘post
growth fashion’ and understanding the ‘craft of use’. Kate works with corpo-
rations, educational institutions and organizations to foster change towards
sustainability. She has a PhD from Chelsea College of Art and Design and is
Reader in Sustainable Fashion at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London
College of Fashion.
Now in its second edition, Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design
Journeys is recognized as the defi ning text in the fi eld and brings together
design thinking, information about lifecycle sustainability impacts of fashion
and textiles, social innovation and systems change. This edition features new
and updated content which refl ects on and critiques the latest improvements
in the fi eld and examines potential future developments, positioning the
book deep within sustainability change.

Kate Fletcher is Reader in Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion
and director of design for sustainability consultancy Slow Fashion.

Sustainable Fashion and Textiles

Design Journeys

Second Edition

Kate Fletcher

Routledge
Taylor & Francis Croup

LONDON AND NEW YORK

from Routledge

First edition published 2008
by Earthscan

This edition published 2014
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2014 Kate Fletcher

The right of Kate Fletcher to be identifi ed as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or uti-
lized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to
infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Fletcher, Kate, 1971- author.
Sustainable fashion and textiles : design journeys / Kate Fletcher. -- Second
edition.
p. cm.
Originally published: London ; Sterling, VA : Earthscan, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Fashion design. 2. Textile design. 3. Sustainable design. I. Title.
TT507.F583 2014
746.9’2--dc23
2013022135

ISBN: 978-0-415-64455-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-64456-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-85793-0 (ebk)

Typeset in Avenir by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire

For Mark, Jude and Cole

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Contents

List of Figures, Tables and Images
IX
Acknowledgements
XIII
Preface to the Second Edition
XV

Introduction
1

Part 1: Sustainable Fashion and Textile Products
5

Chapter 1
Material Diversity
7

Chapter 2
Ethically Made
51

Chapter 3
Use Matters
91

Chapter 4
Reuse, Recycling and Resource Exchange
113

Part 2: Sustainable Fashion and Textile Systems
137

Chapter 5
Fashion, Needs and Consumption
139

Chapter 6
Local and Light
163

Chapter 7
Speed
189

Chapter 8
User Maker
221

Conclusions
239

Image Credits
249
Index
254

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List of Figures, Tables and Images

Figures

1.1
Energy and water consumption in the production of selected
fi bre types
21

1.2
Environmental impact of textile consumption in Europe on three
indicators
22

2.1
Map of key processes, inputs and outputs in the textile
production chain
57

2.2
Negative feedback loop
75

2.3
Positive feedback loop
76

3.1
Lifecycle impacts for a women’s polyester blouse
94

3.2
Types of sustainable design innovation
96

6.1
Changing the scale at which we view an issue or activity impacts
upon how they are perceived
164

7.1
Layers of activity in a resilient human civilization
192

7.2
Energy requirements per wearing of a polyester blouse for a
range of use scenarios
202

Tables

1.1
World fi bre production in 2010
10

1.2
Textile fi bre types
12

1.3
Environmental cost of each stage in the lifecycle of a cotton T-shirt 23

1.4
Toxicity profi le of a conventionally grown cotton T-shirt
27

1.5
Average natural fi bre production per hectare
34

2.1
Types of pollution associated with dyeing a range of fi bres
62

2.2
Summary of developments in dye chemistry
64

3.1
A rough guide to relative impact of textile products throughout life 93

5.1
Fundamental human needs
145

7.1
Characteristics of ecosystems in different stages of evolution
205

X

List of Figures, Tables and Images

Images

Eco jeans in 100 per cent organic cotton with sustainable product
components and production processes by Levi’s
28

White 100 per cent African cotton dress by Noir
31

Organic wool tweed by Isle of Mull Weavers
33

Bette hemp dress by Enamore
35

Woven fabric in 100 per cent peace silk by Denise Bird Woven Textiles
36

T-shirt in 100 per cent Ingeo by Moral Fervor
37

Suit in lyocell by Linda Loudermilk
39

Yarn made from 50 per cent recycled London textiles and 50 per cent
pure new wool, by EcoAnnie
42

T-shirts in 100 per cent Fairtrade mark cotton by Marks and Spencer
74

ONE T-shirt made from 100 per cent Lesotho cotton by EDUN
77

Pillows produced by Armenian craftspeople supported by Aid to Artisans 78

MADE-BY button indicating supply chain transparency
80

Purple hooded sweatshirt by American Apparel
81

Slip dress in 100 per cent silk by Dosa
83

Modular garments designed for low laundering
101

No Wash top from the 5 Ways Project
104–5

Stain dress by Lauren Montgomery Devenney
106

Windows blanket by LoooLo
115

Back2Back dress by Junky Styling
121

Reused yarn vest by Muji
123

Synchilla Snap-T fl eece by Patagonia
129

Zero waste pattern cutting concept shirt to address wastage, by
Andrew Hague
131

Upholstery fabric in wool and ramie by Climatex Lifecycle
132

Caress Dress produced as part of the 5 Ways Project
148

Organic cotton T-shirt and jeans by howies
152–3

Green contrasting stitching on organic cotton T-shirt by American
Apparel
157

Modular concept top by Ariel Bishop
158

Skull dress by Project Alabama
170–1

Jacket made from 100 per cent hemp grown in England from fi bre
grown and processed by Bioregional
175

Fly skirt in organic tweed, part of the Ardalanish Collection by Anja
Hynynen for Isle of Mull Weavers
177

List of Figures, Tables and Images

XI

Moth blanket by Joanna Notkin
178

JP Donleavy shrug, Spring/Summer 2005, 100 per cent cotton by Keep
and Share
182

Eugenia dress, Spring/Summer 2006, 100 per cent cotton by Keep and
Share
195

Blue velour pleated furnishing fabric by Sigrid Smits
199

Oversized labels and clothes rails in Itaylan Avlusu project swap ‘shop’
set up by Otto von Busch
200

One-night wonder. Design scenario from the Lifetimes project
209

Fancy pants. Design scenario from the Lifetimes project
211

Who wears the trousers? Design scenario from the Lifetimes project
213

Great coat. Design scenario from the Lifetimes project
215

Hand-stitched recycled quilt by Alabama Chanin
225

High bag pants by Wronsov a.k.a. Otto von Busch
231

Short sleeve suit, vest suit and oblique collar shirt by Wronsov a.k.a.
Otto von Busch
232

do shirt by do/KesselsKramer
234

Updatable T-shirt from the 5 Ways Project
235

The story ‘Colour Connections’ from the Shared Use category of use
practices in the Local Wisdom project
244

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Acknowledgements

Unbounded thanks to my trusted group of friends and advisors whose
wisdom, enthusiasm and indefatigable creativity continue to keep me
going, including Lynda Grose, Dilys Williams, Ann Thorpe, Otto von Busch,
Timo Rissanen and Mathilda Tham. My gratitude to Lucy Batchelor, whose
support, friendship and illustrations have made such a difference and
have been so gratefully received. Thank you to the team at the Centre for
Sustainable Fashion for being there and being home, and to the many
students I have taught over the years, from whom I have learnt so much. I am
hugely grateful to all those who supplied images for this book and who work
with innovation and passion to affect change towards sustainability in the
fashion and textile sector. I thank all those people with whom I have cut my
design-for-sustainability teeth over the years, in particular Emma Dewberry
and Phillip Goggin. I am grateful to Laura Williamson at Routledge for com-
missioning this second edition. I also thank Katelyn Toth-Fejel for her stellar
work on other projects, enabling me to direct attention here.
Most of all I thank my husband and sons – for book writing is nothing if
not a family experience – who have embraced it and my scattered presence
with amusement, magnanimity and a lot of football.

XIV

Preface

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