Cape Town Fashion Council (CTFC) 2021 Young Designer Finalist

The Brief: DOES YOUR DESIGN HAVE A CONSCIENCE?

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My design concept deals with air pollution - According to Business Insider, the fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. It is directly or indirectly responsible for 10% of humanity's carbon emissions.

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In my design, the grey colour (Ultimate Grey Pantone) and pleats represent the people who are polluting the air. From the waist down the pleats are opening into the illuminating yellow full circle skirt with a natural print that represents hope for our planet. The yellow colour symbolises the sun which is a star in the centre of the Solar System radiating energy which is responsible for life on earth.

Textile dyeing is the world's second-largest polluter of water, since the water leftover from the dyeing process is often dumped into ditches, streams, or rivers.

Therefore I used a sustainable dye technique called "Sun Dye" which is a concentrated photo-sensitive dye which reacts with sunlight to produce photo impressions of placed objects on fabric.

The colour process took place outside in the sun. The yellow and grey colour pigments were diluted with water and brushed onto the fabric. Small flowers were pinned onto the fabric whilst it was still wet. Once the sun dried the fabric, the flowers were removed. The areas where the flowers casted a shadow, didn’t activate the colour and stayed the natural colour of the fabric.