Xianzi Yang

My theme is inspired by my grandmother. My grandmother was a tailor in early years. She always patched torn garments immediately. the situation of fashion waste is very serious due to the rapid development of fast fashion. Therefore, I focus on the fabric waste issue during the process of making the garment. The cloth, which is mostly made of polyester (plastic) and takes 200 years to decompose, is abandoned on the floor after the cloth has been made into dresses, this is the main reason why I wanted to pick up all these fragments of fabric. It can be fully utilized by changing size or pattern when cut the fabric in order to reduce the waste level to the largest extent.

For my project, all the work focus on recycling. Similarly, the current wasteful linear textile system can be offset by improving the utilization of fabrics. I started from Boro which comes from Japan, and I explores its history and development. The project then goes on to patchwork in other countries as well as the related artworks. Feeds by my background in traditional Chinese painting, I use the techniques on sample establishment. Together, these three elements constitute the objectives of my research. I tend to extract structural features and details from the patchwork and do some draping to test the silhouette.

The project won a satisfactory outcome. The main reason is that the fabric design does not only blend my own characteristics, but also the innovative environmental protection concept. My collection is for the young audiences who are eager to take part in sustainable fashion. The age group should be the 20s and 30s with strong interesting of traditional Chinese Culture. I want to remind young designers through this project to pond over about recycling when producing their own collections. If people can value and use what they have, the neglected things may realize a value beyond themselves.