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Stillsveta Organic Wool Coat by Svetlana Fedina |
Home > Winners > Design #58956 >Interview |
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FS: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
SF: The main idea was to create a greener alternative to the leather jacket. Leather represents cruelty to animals and the industry behind it is really bad for the environment. Furthermore the leather tanning process is highly toxic, which later can affect health of the person who wears it. Educating people on this and and finding better alternatives is very important. This is why I created a biker jacket made from organic wool, and that is why the entire collection is created from sustainably sourced fabrics.
FS: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
SF: The main focus is rallying against the fashion industry’s reliance on mass-production leading to excessive waste. Nowadays there are still not that many nature-oriented brands with forward thinking aesthetic. I want to show the importance of slow fashion. I want to create designs that are appealing to young people. I want to speak their language, educating about the necessity to care for the environment and be more conscious with their purchases.
FS: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
SF: I want to promote organic and ethical fashion worldwide. I want to make it accessible and visible. I want big companies to see the importance of transitioning to more sustainable way of thinking about fashion. I want online fashion platforms and magazines that are focused on young people communicate this message.
FS: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
SF: It took me around one month to produce a collection of 14 gender neutral pieces, but the idea took me a bit longer to come up with and refine.
FS: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
SF: I think about the impact we have on the planet everyday. I try to lead a more conscious life, recycling and minimising meat consumption, trying to buy products that do not use plastic and slowly transitioning to using biological products in my daily routine. I think education is extremely important as well as being aware that every purchase you made has an effect on the planet. Using biological or sustainably sourced fabrics in my work is a conscious choice.
FS: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
SF: As a start-up company and a young designer, the question of funding my projects is always there. I am open to any opportunities for this project to continue.
FS: What made you design this particular type of work?
SF: It started from my desire to wear a cool, but sustainable jacket myself. I get stopped on the street a lot and people ask me where I bought this jacket. It is always flattering, but more important is to have the message that comes along with the jacket.
FS: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
SF: I am inspired by designer such as Vivienne Westwood, a vocal activist for sustainable fashion and a climate change. I admire her efforts to communicate the message with her current exhibition in Victoria&Albert museum. The exhibition spotlights protest group like ‘Fashion Revolution’, who campaign to spread awareness of the increasing environmental damage caused by the textile industry. In addition to what designers should be doing to make a difference, they raise examples of controversial garments like whalebone corsets that we should really stop buying.
FS: Who is the target customer for his design?
SF: The main target is young adults, with an interest in pursuing a greener lifestyle.
FS: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
SF: This design is not only ecologically produced, but also challenges the concept of gender equality. Unisex clothes are not yet accepted by society as a norm, this suggests that the sexes are not yet truly equal. The solution was to blur that line, in order to demonstrate freedom of sexual roles. I used baby blue colour of wool for both male and female jackets, challenging colour as gender perception.
FS: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
SF: Wool, like everything people produce and use, affects the environment in some way. The wool industry is dedicated to making wool's environmental qualities more understandable. At the same time the wool industry is benchmarking its own environmental performance for constant improvement and compliance to high environmental regulations. The project is called ‘Solving Wool Mysteries’, in order to de-mystify the benefits of wool and bring them to the mainstream. Wool is a planet-friendly for many reasons: • Harvesting of wool does not cause any harm or death of an animal. • Sheep are part of the natural carbon cycle, consuming the organic carbon stored in plants and converting it to wool. Fifty per cent of the weight of wool is pure organic carbon. Wool products have long lifespans, meaning they are used or worn longer than other textile fiber products; • Wool textile products tend to be washed less frequently at lower temperatures which has a lower impact on the environment; • Wool is one of the most recycled fibers. With a market share of 1,3% of all textile fibers, wool claims 5% within the recycled fibers market share identifying wool as a suitable fiber for recycling; • Finally, at the very end of its lifespan, wool biodegrades readily.
FS: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
SF: I design patterns by hand.
FS: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
SF: Each jacket comes with a unique lining design. Some of the linings are produced in socially responsible fabric printing organisation, others are recycled from old curtains.
FS: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
SF: I am not that tech-savvy, so the end pattern is produced through a computer program. I had help from patternmakers Mattie Couperus and Kristina Yanigina to made electronical copy of all designs, as well as learning some wool tailoring and skills from Svetlana Kornilova, who is professional tailor.
FS: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
SF: Wool is a fiber made from the hair of sheep. All animal fibers are made of a class of compounds known as proteins. Proteins are made out of different combinations of more than twenty essential amino acids. They are more complex than cellulose, which is made out of repeating units of glucose, and thus there are more ways in which different dye chemicals can attach to them. This particular type of wool has been dyed with non-toxic dye in small company in Spain, which specialises in different technological aspects colouring of wool.
FS: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
SF: My main research was focused on looking into different organic wool fabric producers and the technologies they use.
FS: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
SF: Luckily the realisation of my project went very smooth, with no major obstacles
FS: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
SF: I submit all my designs to the UK based platform called Not Just a Label. I got contacted via this platform.
FS: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
SF: Ultimately, following your passion involves planning. During this project I learned how to organise and structure my time in order to achieve a lot in a short space of time. I gave myself 4 weeks to finish work on 14 jackets from scratch. Staying focused but optimistic was really important to keep my progress on track. Following my heart and seeing my ideas realised into physical garments brings me great joy and satisfaction, as well as motivating me to continue the pursuit of my goals.
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A' Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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