ICO Award – Rethink. Recycle. Reward 2010 Fioen van Balgooi, Refinity www.refinity.eu Maria Neves, Eco Couture www.ecocouture.nl

Maternity Dress service Since September 2009 Refinity started multiple projects to research how fashion designers are able to design eco-effective. Refinity asked itself the question; what is the effect of a design choice (material, technique, colour, form, use phase and service) on the ecological, economical and social/cultural environment. With environment Refinity means: the surroundings in which things happen. The ecological environment is nature. The economic environment is trade. The social/cultural environment includes working conditions, human needs (like freedom or identity) and the surroundings in which humans live and develop. One of the projects is the Maternity Dress service, made in collaboration with Eco Couture. During designing we thought about the life cycle of this product. “When do you use clothing for a short period in your life, but is it very cherished?” Then we thought about the period when a woman is pregnant. During this period a woman is very conscious about the (harmful) environment where she gives birth to her child. This dress has more than one life within itself, just like the mother who is wearing it. After pregnancy the wearer can cut the pattern of a romper and a doll from the lower part of the dress and these can then be made. The upper part will remain a shirt for the woman. All the material can be reused, so there will be no waste. The remaining pieces next to the pattern serve as filling for the dolls head. When the garment is completely worn out the wearer can hand it in at a clothing recycling company. This company will make sure the fabric will get a new life.

Approach Refinity and Eco couture started a service by which a user can change his own garment. Hereby Refinity shows it is not needed to use new raw materials every time, but that it’s possible to let materials circulate between different production processes. Material Refinity consciously chose a material that is available in both fabric and stitching yarn. In the apparel industry a lot of t-shirts of cotton are stitched with polyester yarn, hereby the bio- and techno cycle are mixed, which makes it difficult for upcycling. By using the same material for fabric and stitching yarn it will be possible to cut up the material in one go, then respun and weave or knit it. The material for the maternity dress had to be soft. Refinity could choose between casein (milk wool), PLA (corn), Soy bean, Tencel and linen. The first three are made from food and can better stay food, because that is more needed that clothing. Just like Tencel they weren’t available as stitching yarn at that moment. The available linen felt rough and was too chunky knitted. That is why we chose organic cotton, locally from Turkey. When chosen for a biodegradable material it can be composted after use, but it’s better to extend the life of the object first. This is what we do with the maternity dress service. After the pregnancy the user can cut out the pattern of the romper and doll, then make it with the added stitching yarn. The upper side of the dress stays the same and will be a shirt for the woman. When the romper, doll and shirt are worn with age the whole package can be turned in at a clothing recycling company. This company sends it to a shredder company, which sends it to a spinner, then the material is send to a weaver or knitter. At the moment it is economically more expensive to recycle biodegradable fibres and concerning the quality it is not profitable to use this fibre. By shreddering the fibres of cotton will become smaller every time and they are not endless reusable, therefore it’s best to compost it after its third life. For closing the romper we used press-studs, which can be sewed on, in this way they can be easily separated from the fabric. It is unknown if these press-studs consist of harmful materials. Improvement options;

- Trigema cotton fabric + Müller cotton stitching yarn - Tencel fabric and stitching yarn - Buttons of PLA, wood or other biodegradable ones instead of the press-studs. - Biodegradable impregnation for stain resistance, so it can be washed less often.

Technique For the pattern of the romper we made use of laser engraving instead of silkscreen printing. Consequently no paint will be left behind on the fabric, which makes it possible to shredder the material in ones. At the moment laser engraving costs energy, but when renewable energy is used this is not the problem. Improvement options;

- It is possible to laser engrave by the meter in Germany. - Use renewable energy

Form The form of the dress had to stay interesting after cutting out the patterns. We also choose to work with two layers at breast height, which makes it possible to add pregnancy breast pads. The dolls head size is adjusted to the remaining pieces, which now completely serve as filling of the head. Colour As colour we choose to work with mixed grey. When a fabric is white or black it is easy to see spots. With using mixed grey the spots fade in the colour. The dress will be wearable for longer before it will end in the washing machine, which causes a lot of water use and contamination. Use phase This is our biggest point of interest. The maternity dress has a short use period and therefore we added new functions, which enhances the value. Thereby for us it seems smart to use a biodegradable impregnation for stain resistance. As result of this impregnation the garments will be washed less often. Another interesting collaboration can be started with C2C certified Method laundry detergent to make it possible to wash the garments in a good way. Service The dress can be bought in the shop. Attached by the dress there is a description, which says what the user can do after pregnancy and how the romper and doll need to be stitched. Along with the description buttons and stitching yarn will be delivered. It can be possible to attach a reduction voucher for Method laundry detergent on the dress, in this way it will be attractive for the wearer to use the right laundry detergent. After a couple of years when shirt, romper and doll are worn by age they can be turned in at a clothing recycling company.

Possible partners for the cycle; - Material; Trigema, Müller, LG Knoepfe, Lenzing (Tencel producer) - Technique; Hans Hagemann (laser engraving per meter), a garment producer. - Shops; Hema, Prenatal, Laladoo - Promotion; collaboration with Method laundry detergent. - Collecting; I:CO, Van Gansewinkel, Kici - Shedder; Frankenhuis and zn. - Spinning; a spinner

Improvement options;

- A description which is good readable and friendly for every environment. - Think of good ways to pack and send the dresses to the shops. - Start collaboration with the partners. - Finding a production place for sewing the garment. - Contact spinners who are able to spin shreddered fibres (options in Italy)

Photography: www.savale.nl Dress - Maternity Dress service Models: Anne and Jasmijn Bobeldijk Refinity & Eco Couture Make-up artist; Annelies van Oosterum

Photography: www.savale.nl Doll - Maternity Dress service

Refinity & Eco Couture

Photography: www.savale.nl Laser engraving - Maternity Dress service

Refinity & Eco Couture

Photography: www.savale.nl Romper - Maternity Dress service Models: Anne and Jasmijn Bobeldijk Refinity & Eco Couture Make-up artist; Annelies van Oosterum

Instructions printed on PLA foil, which covers the dress - Maternity Dress service

Refinity & Eco Couture