After the recently concluded European Union elections, the Independent National Information Centre on Waste (CNIID) launched a campaign called "zero waste France" to bring to the attention of political parties the need to reduce waste and landfill and make France a zero residual waste target by 2025. Such is the magnitude of waste being created, and understanding the gravity of this issue requires strict actions to be taken to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

A massive amount of waste contributed by apparel and garment companies worldwide ends up in landfills. In a time when sustainable and organic textiles and clothing are being produced, finding a solution to make garments without causing much waste is extremely necessary. Zero waste design is a technique to create a garment in a sustainable way. It is an arduous effort made by designers and pattern makers in a holistic approach to making garments that consider both aesthetics and functionality.

Unlike the latest technologies being introduced in the clothing industry for sustainable fashion, zero waste technique represents a complete shift in the traditional pattern-making process. Zero waste techniques have been used earlier for making garments like Kimonos, Saris, Chiton, and other folk costumes. These traditional clothes make use of the concept of utilizing the entire width of a fabric. Hence, in contrast to conventional garment manufacturing units where twenty percent of the fabric is wasted by scraps and the negative spaces created for pattern pieces, zero waste clothes are designed by using technically advanced methods of pattern making to use fabric from selvedge to selvedge.

Currently, there are various approaches and techniques of zero waste design, including draping, pattern cutting, and knitting. With the rise of slow fashion and increased demand for sustainably and ethically created clothing, many designers have ventured into the art of creating garments with minimal waste. Designers like Zandra Rhodes, Shreya and Siddhartha Upadhyaya, Holly McQuillan, Tara St James, Julian Roberts, Timo Rissanen, and Mark Liu have changed the landscape of fashion with their innovative approach to zero waste design.

Zero waste design does not adhere to the grain lines of conventional pattern making, as designing through drawing can be challenging. In some cases, such as when using the jigsaw puzzle technique, a designer is required to cut pieces and join them aesthetically, while in others, working directly on a design without a pattern or using different draping techniques is employed. Since zero waste apparel design aims to minimize waste, the design and sourcing processes are closely intertwined. A thorough understanding of textiles and design dimensions before starting work is essential.

The pattern cutting of garments in a way that creates minimal or no waste involves techniques such as jigsaw puzzle, subtraction cutting, direct panel on Loom (DPOL), Geo cut, and cut and drape. Creating a pattern for a garment design with zero waste requires using the full width of the fabric, calculating the length, and then strategically placing the different pieces to create a styled garment. This technique is often referred to as the jigsaw puzzle technique.

Subtraction cutting is another innovative technique wherein the patterns that are cut do represent the garments outward shape. In fact the negative spaces of the garment which are shaped holes cut from sheets of cloth along which the body moves represent the negative spaces instead of the positive ones. Complex geometries are used in this method for creating a zero waste design.


The Direct panel on Loom (DPOL) is a technique using a computer attached loom that helps weaving made to measure garment sections. The segmented pieces of the clothing are sewn together by hand. No fabric is wasted in the process and moreover the method is believed to decrease the usage of yarn, dyes, chemicals, and a reduced lead time of fifty percent. It also has a huge environmental benefit since it can save seventy to eighty percent of water in comparison to other garment manufacturing methods used commercially.


Experts of zero waste design believe that the cut and sew production of all kinds will diminish in the next thirty years to come. Technologies like 3D knitting and 3D printing and techniques like zero waste design will pave way for sustainable fashion in the apparel and garment industry. Many textile and apparel institutes around the world have already begun offering zero waste design as a fully operational course. However, currently this technique cannot be implemented in large manufacturing units due to added expense of training labour and changing the dynamics of a traditional pattern making set-up and fabric widths can increase expenses. There are efforts being made at the Parsons New York for large production of jeans using zero waste design.


With the importance of sustainability growing by and large across apparel manufacturers and the textile industry, the concept of zero waste design, needs to progress from individual designers to mass markets and towards commercialization to change the way textiles are being used and building positive environmental results.


References:


1.      Ecochicdesignaward.com

2.      Adelaidereview.com.au

3.      Ecouterre.com

4.      Treehugger.com

5.      Nytimes.com

6.      Motherearthnews.com

7.     Cniid.com