My dad was at a plastics trade show last month for PR work in Florida where there was an exhibit all about sustainable fashion. Of course, my Dad was on it, scopin’ it out for me (gotta love him).
SCAD Atlanta fashion students were assigned a project to create garments using only post-consumer plastic products. In partnership with SPI The Plastics Industry Trade, the goal was to raise awareness for reusing plastics and to create a more positive opinion of plastic. Keeping the fashion industry in mind they also wanted to raise awareness of how important it is for for the fashion industry to recycle and reduce waste.
Fibers apparently take mad long to degrade! Man-made fibers can even take up to hundreds of years until they are fully degraded.
So yeah, we do a lot of donating clothes and thriftin,’ but what else can we do??
“The problem is that public awareness of the possibilities of recycling plastics is very limited.” -SCAD Collaborative Learning Center
TRUTH. Think about it! I haven’t even thought about it. We are limiting ourselves, when we could be taking full advantage of the plastic we use.
SCAD students used plastic materials to create fashionable garments with fabrics made of at least 25% of post-consumer plastic. They gathered materials locally and online, from stores such as Goodwill and Ebay.
Did you know a lot of fabric stores nowadays carry fabrics containing post-consumer plastics??? How sweet is that?
Students even used plastic stuff they found around their house and held a drive to collect other people’s plastic objects. The drives really got the community involved, showing how easy it is for everyone to get involve and make a difference together.
These looks are definitely not your stereotypical plain brown sustainable fashions you usually think of.
Inspiration: "Tree of Life"
Made of plastic sheet protectors, plastic melting beads (perler beads) and yoga mats.
“Representing life through the repurposing of plastic is a way to connect the importance of putting life back into life.” -SCAD Collaborative Learning Center
“The Batting Dress”
Inspiration: overall mission of project
Made of recycled batting (delicate & soft), lightly heated at bottom of dress. Top is a recycled tablecloth donated to the class.
Inspiration: change the perception of plastic being man-made, hard/rigid and inexpensive by creating a soft, fluffy, luxurious and expensive sustainable look.
Made of white vinyl provided by SPI and plastic mesh sourced from the designer’s garage.