Fashion & Sustainability: Design for Change
by Kate Fletcher and Lynda Grose
Publisher: Laurence King Publishers
9.4 x 6.7 x 0.9 inches; 192 pages
ISBN 978-1856697545
$29.95
Within the last decade, there has been a keen push to recycle, reuse, conserve, sustain and preserve, more than ever before. The enthusiasm for conserving energy and materials has become commercial with the concept of being “green”; the color itself is an emblem of the movement. The ways of exercising these ideas, such as participating in procedures like recycling or simple habits like turning off unused lights, have been in effect for years and become a regular part of the everyday life.
However, there is another realm in which there can be a better push to sustain materials and practice thoughtful conservation: the fashion industry. A new book, published by Laurence King Publishing called Fashion & Sustainability: Design for Change, goes in-depth into the various processes in which the fashion industry functions and its relationship to the bigger systems of material sourcing, production and distribution. Handsomely designed with a textural cover made of recycled materials, authors Kate Fletcher and Lynda Grose divide the book into three main sections, proposing that while there are surface-level ways to combat harming the environment such as low-chemical dyeing or using biodegradable fibers, the system of the industry must go beyond that and transform the way in which designers and manufacturers alike think of making the product. The authors propose a few possibilities that the industry can be transformed, by processes such as creating modular garments or clothing that is purposely wrinkled or don’t need to be washed. Avoiding being preachy, the authors ultimately leave it up to the designer as innovator to take the agency to try to redesign the industry as a whole. It’s certainly not going to be something that will occur overnight, but it usually starts with some sort of awareness first.
One of the authors, Lynda Grose, will speaking in at Parsons Festival event this Friday May 4th, taking part in the seminar called “Coloring Fashion: A Seminar on Natural and Synthetic Dye in Textiles Today.” The seminar is a full-day event at the Kellen Auditorium on 66 Fifth Avenue.
–Janet Kim
