Creative Design: Graduate

Reviving Fashion: Weaving Life Back into Discarded Textile Waste

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Abstract

The fashion industry generates significant textile waste, with approximately 15% of fabric discarded during the cut-and-sew process. Pre-consumer textile waste, such as irregular offcuts, poses challenges for recycling due to contaminants like spandex and plastisol. This study introduces a waste-led product development (WLPD) approach aligned with waste-led design (WLD) and cradle-to-cradle (C2C) principles, where waste is considered a raw material. The researchers utilized pre-consumer textile scraps from Lobo Mau, repurposing them through shaped and frame weaving techniques to create a cohesive, zero-waste garment ensemble. Using unravelled yarns from donated sweaters and fabric ribbons cut from offcuts, a halter top and skirt were woven with no resulting cutting waste. The halter incorporated textured wave motifs inspired by twilight seascapes, while the skirt featured fringe accents for added textural variety. This design demonstrates a scalable method to address contamination issues in textile recycling, emphasizing sustainability, aesthetics, and the extended lifecycle of materials.

Keywords: shaped weaving, waste-led product development (WLPD)

How to Cite:

Yatvitskiy, M., Abayode, D., Cobb, K., Thomas, K. & Haddad, N., (2025) “Reviving Fashion: Weaving Life Back into Discarded Textile Waste”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 81(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.18920