Is Fashion Design Heading Towards The Zero Scrap Era?

Have you ever imagined not to waste a piece of cloth in the process of cutting clothes?

This is probably the most disruptive environmental protection measure in the international fashion industry.

A few days ago, New York Times reported that some top fashion design schools had begun to prepare the course, not to test students' practical ability, but to reduce thousands of tons of garbage every year. Only in the United States, 15% to 20% of the fabric was thrown away as a leftover material.

In order to achieve zero leftover material in the process of cutting, we need to start with the innovation of garment design technology.

It has been reported that a few years ago, some enthusiastic fashion designers began the experiment, and it has finally become a climate.

Next month, the Parson Design Institute in New York will take the lead in setting up a zero scrap design course. A book called "fashions for sustainable development: changing the way we make and use clothes" will be officially published in February next year. Next year's spring and autumn two season, two fashion shows will be staged in New Zealand and New York. The next year, March, Chicago will also hold an exhibition featuring zero scrap.

However, it is not easy to save cloth and make clothes look good.

One of the sponsors of the zero scrap movement, Parson, assistant professor of design school at Rissanen, told New York Times that "it means that I have to learn design from the very beginning, and the first year and a half is basically spent in trying and making mistakes."

According to his experience, the so-called zero cutting material is tailored to two ways, or first to design the clothing style, then carefully cut the necklines, sleeves, pockets and other parts, then spell them together like jigsaw puzzle, or simply do not cut a knife, directly hang the material on the model body to fold and sew.

However, the New York Times points out that these design techniques have not yet attracted the attention of large garment manufacturers.

Simon Collins, Parson of the school of design, said: "they are willing to try a little, but they can not make up their minds to practice in large scale."

This is largely related to cost, because changing the way of clipping means changing the width of cloth doors commonly used in the industry. For many manufacturers, the money saved on cloth is not enough to introduce new production lines.