Old Textiles, New Looks by Chien-Yu Chen

Fast-fashion and throwaway fashion has a long-term effect on the environment. People throw away huge amounts of clothing that have worn only a few times. Most retired clothes end up in landfill sites, causing environmental problems that influence climate change. This issue has led to sustainable design. A great deal of brands are beginning to show awareness of green concepts, green garments and brought out new products with this in mind onto the market. Likewise more purchasers have started to become concerned about issues such as: Can their clothes be recycled?  Will the products have a negative effect on Earth?  Indeed, how to make our environment better has been questioned by everyone.

The aim of my work is to take the environment into account by creating a series interior collection to show how old textile could be and through the process explore what sorts of textile have upcycling value. My work is based on sustainable design through the reuse and recycling of waste materials to extend their lifespan, and to reduce the use of hazardous substances and toxic pollutant emissions during the process of production as the pursuit of a better quality of life should not affect the rights of future generations. Old textiles are given new life by being printed with new patterns, being re-dyed, stitched and patched with different textures of old fabric to create eco-friendly and innovative pieces. Eco-friendly design is not just beautiful, but rather a whole new outlook on life, healtch and fashion. 

Even though old clothing is no longer fashionable, most of them are high quality and durable. A great number of old items can be reused and remade into new clothing or interior fabric. There are countless possibilities through redesign. Moreover, through studio practice I have explored what kinds of textiles have upcycling value, which I expect in the future will contribute to textile design, providing designers with information on materials which have reuse value and assisting them in considering these elements when they design in the future. 

E-mail: Cheinyu0513@gmail.com