Creative Design: Graduate

Regenerative Garment Design Within a Colorado Fibershed

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Abstract

This project prototyped a regenerative (i.e. environmentally beneficial) size-adjustable wrap dress using Corriedale sheep and Huacaya alpaca wool grown locally in Colorado. Guided by the Indigenous mindset of maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship with the Earth, the garment was designed to minimize harm and maximize benefit to the environment using the Fibershed approach. This is a circular ‘soil-to-soil’ approach to creating local regenerative fiber systems and was specifically applied by using CLO3D, a computer-aided design (CAD) software, and zero-waste design methodology. Using a CLO3D-generated pattern, locally-sourced yarn was woven to exact garment specifications on a four-shaft floor loom by hand. By communicating this process through design scholarship, this project addresses the need for regenerative creative scholarship within the apparel industry and exemplifies design for a Fibershed – a local and regenerative apparel system.

Keywords: Sustainability, Fibershed, Circular Economy

How to Cite:

Miller, K. V., Diddi, S. & Morris, K. D., (2022) “Regenerative Garment Design Within a Colorado Fibershed”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 79(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.15984