cheap designer clothing that is sustainable

The old jacket is a chic bag
As fashion designers want to design sustainable
Friederike von Wedel-Parlow talks to Ulrike Timm
Every four weeks of new material for the fashion shops: The apparel industry is extremely short-lived and far from sustainable. Friederike von Wedel-Parlow, Director of the Master Program for Sustainable Fashion will change that. She taught her students that even the design of the entire manufacturing process must be considered.
Ulrike Timm: Fashion has a very fast pace: Every quarter there are now new collections, popular fashion brands live some even believe that find customers every four weeks, with new merchandise in stores, and is bought where much as is thrown away, of course, also much . Sustainability is different.

But there are designers who think differently. They have dedicated themselves to the example of upcycling, that the redesigning of old clothes. New for old as the motto - about this trend and other sustainability strategies, we are talking about the "radio feature" now with Friederike von Wedel-Parlow, she is a professor at the International School of Art for fashion ESMOD and directs the master's program in sustainable fashion. Good morning!

Friederike von Wedel-Parlow: Good morning! I am delighted to be here!



Timm: How could it like a favorite old jacket which Upgecyceltes what are Redesigned?

Wedel-Parlow: With a jacket, an old favorite jacket, you can make a whole lot of things. One can of course pass away too easy, move on, find a model that as the life of a product that was made with much love, is even longer. You may as well out of it as one of my students do in a project where we have developed bags, a bag of it. She has combined this with an old sail cloth, and cut out the zippers, fasteners manufactured new order, and in the end you could see this bag or that bag set in at all, that it consisted of an old jacket. But the whole interior pockets and so on are used, and all the details - so you can make a lot of new things.

Timm: And your students learn so, think not of the drawing ago, purely by design but by her thoughts. You have to incorporate it with what material I use, as I produce it, where I produce das. How does because on such a background, for example, a T-shirt?

Wedel-Parlow: I have to explain, perhaps only once again about our approach: We just try to go it holistically, to convey throughout the textile chain, as you have said, what is just over the material needs to know is where get that, where does the plant and what will the produce. The design process involves, but also how do I market, how do I sell it, as used by the user can, because I like to take effect, that just happened conscious, and also what happens at the end? One can just think everything in this design process already. Hence this is a much more holistic story.

Timm: And how is that, if at Fashion Week producers who present every four weeks, what's new in the shops, with the producers, seeking to the concept of sustainability, implement it, which are always more when it come together how is the mood there?

Wedel-Parlow: Ultimately, if these are the greats who are now here at the Fashion Week, so including first place once represented, and the designer labels and so on come together happens only once a great deal. Ultimately, all must go along - or the consumer asks after, the whole big companies trying to develop concepts, see H & M is the "Conscious Collection," Esprit's doing a whole lot, Puma has really great concepts. So the really big ones have to go along as well already, because the consumer simply asks today. No one wants to buy something that was produced by children. But of course, awareness is also developed.

Timmy: They say no one wants to buy something more, which was produced by children. I see very many T-shirts for three euros, I see clothes shops where you can even buy the clothes by the pound, no one - can not be so numerous.

Seamstress in Bangladesh
Wedel-Parlow: That's right, I think if you have the awareness because that just when a T-shirt costs only five euros, it then also can not be produced in a sustainable, that the resource costs, or more simply cleaner production just simply costs more, that by him that the manufactures, and minimum wealth comes, that when you know that, you buy it either. It is perhaps even back in the garment compared to the grocery market, where it takes place inside or awareness is already there in total.

Timm: So the consumer is thinking from the inside out, eat organic and buy the clothes still too cheap?

Wedel-Parlow: Yes, there must be a whole lot to be created to raise awareness as to make clear. But once you know, I think, or even knows what other opportunities for you to buy it, to reduce to forego consumption, better quality, they are indeed look at the end is not really a lot more money. But that has not much to do with communication, the further forward.

Timm: Would you say that sustainable fashion is a trend already, or is this a fashion - at the moment is just chic to wear things longer to rework the terms of any, and this trend could then pass again just as quickly ? Just fashion.

Wedel-Parlow: I think that goes far beyond a trend. These are the beginnings, the beginning of movements, and just go along slowly because of the great by and by, many small labels can also work quite a hundred percent - no, it goes way beyond a trend.

Timm: Germany Kultur, the "radio feature," we speak with Friederike von Wedel-Parlow about that old also from A blast of rage may be, and about sustainable fashion, they tried to even inform their students intellectually, teach. If such an item of clothing produced in the draft at your institution, and considering all the ecological and economic process, then you really really market opportunities? Because they make so small collections, the students are not the same as chief designer at major labels.

Wedel-Parlow: No, they are experts in the field - I think it depends on the various concepts that how well they sell them, just hanging together in the end so that the product is easy to convince as such must and must be aesthetically appealing, and it also gets communicated properly. One of my students works for example in the leather sector and combines Austrian tradition with sneakers, then so is also a great innovation that takes place there, but it's all in the detail, combined the material with traditional craft techniques. I think something has been great opportunities.

And all of us to the effect that whatever a cooperation, industrial cooperation, so that will remain the same, not only concepts that hang in the air, but also oriented quite specifically to the needs and issues of business and industry so that we develop with new solutions can, you can really use, and then go to the steps at different levels.

Timm: We had a few days ago here in the "radio feature" ever a conversation about sustainable clothing, and it went very quickly to the many labels that eco-labeling - EU Flower, Blue Angel, what's all about sustainability to the outside to demonstrate through - and I was pretty amazed at how critically explored the interlocutor such label because they said, well, good ecology is maybe the most part, but the social perspectives as not in there, and as such these labels say little or nothing. What is your opinion?

Wedel-Parlow: Well, there are labels on two levels, some more detail about the ecological component, the other more social. There is indeed in the cotton sector, for example, fair trade, what we know from coffee as well. It is rather the social aspects, but you have to say, of course, not everything is good, which is certified, or what is not certified, not good. I was in India, and there actually on different projects, and some just rather small area, so were a hundred percent, and very clear - I have the cow shown on the field and explains how it all has to work with geo-TS certified dyers.

And other very large projects, from the Cotton Initiative, which then - is it all just great just a tad more difficult to implement as - who have not given me the feeling that this is quite the same.

Timm: Is not again the invitation to the customer, who now think probably the fact that just not as much water and consumes too much energy? Since there is already an ecological awareness, which goes beyond small beginnings, but ultimately the then still does not really matter whether the seamstress in India can live on their wages. The two areas are somehow, ecology and social concerns that come together not as yet really in sync.

Wedel-Parlow: Yes, they come together already or they just have to grow together. And it does have that awareness has to do with each other. So it goes at the environmental issues, it is also about the living conditions or the contamination of the land and the health of workers. This has to do with each other well, that will be used for organic cotton has no pesticides, nothing to do with the working conditions of workers in concrete terms. So it is not completely separated but they belong together.

And we have to think on two levels, that it is not only the selection of materials, but just before all things, the choice of means of production - which will produce what - but it is to understand really very difficult, if produced in Asia, and what kind of sub-suppliers as to the track to the last detail. As will be working on them, but it is a very large field of development.

Timm: And a few steps but nevertheless made. Friederike von Wedel-Parlow was das. She teaches students at the Academy of Fashion ESMOD, and there are sustained efforts are still very chic and producing clothing. Thank you very much for your visit to the studio!