At Melbourne Fashion Week, design students have the opportunity
to showcase their latest creations.
It's really exciting to be an emerging designer at a period of time
when a lot of people are talking about sustainable fashion.
And there's a lot of momentum that's sort of being built up around it.
The fashion here is different.
Nothing on this runway is new.
So it's a lot more sustainable if things can be reused even for a short period of time.
Every scrap of fabric has been scrounged, up-cycled and repurposed by the Kangan Institute
students.
Yeah, I think, for me upcycling is an easy way to start because we're starting with what's already
on the planet
and what's already polluting the planet, rather than buying fabrics and creating more waste.
So for the jacket, I was just playing around with the beading and like not sure what colour to use.
I found some crocheted lace, but I don't know if I want to use that.
Or if I should use some of the swatch headers. What do you think I've also got this.
This is beautiful. Yeap.
So when we're doing upcycling and when making sustainable fashion or even zero waste,
you have to throw the traditional processes out the window with this type of work,
okay? Because you're working with what you've got. Yeah.
When I first started this course, I think I was very overwhelmed with all of the problems with the
industry
and the sustainability aspect of it.
And immediately I thought, you know what, I don't want to be a designer,
I do not want to contribute to this.
I don't want to make more clothing. I just thought, it's out of control.
I don't want to get involved.
But the fashion students here are encouraged to think outside the box.
When we go to the warehouse that can be really overwhelming.
A really good way to get around it is to just look at the colours you like first off all
and see that you like the fabric.
Sure. Oh, wow, how massive is this place?
Yeah, insane.
And after seeing all of these clothes that the Red Cross, actually visualizing, it made me realise,
I can make anything I want from things that are already existing.
And I thought that's a solution to a problem.
And I thought this can be mine.
And I really like that. Yeah, let's put that aside.
People don't really think about repairing their clothes anymore.
It's all about well, it's cheaper for me to just buy something brand new.
So I'm just going to do that. So I think it's important to add something as simple as a little
repair kit
to your garment.
Or you know, having some sort of instruction manual to help the consumer look after their
garment.
In the next 10 years that we make more progress in Australia, on what is often referred to as the
circular economy.
So it's number of challenges, but probably the main one is sorting the product.
Because of the volumes that we have, it has to be done in an automated way.
And the machinery that is required to do that is incredibly expensive.
We haven't got to a point yet where it's commercially viable in Australia.
So the northern hemisphere has been very innovative in establishing technology
which may be able to process recycled textiles.
The challenge with donating clothes that may not be able to go through the secondhand market
is we might not know what fiber composition they are, or perhaps there's multiple blends of fibers
in one peice.
And given that labor can be quite expensive here.
Think about how many man hours and how many things people have to process and look at the labels and
look at the tags. It's crazy.
Whereas in Europe, they've come up with optical measures that can send a light through the fabric
and bounce back what the composition is made of,
and that's a computer system filled out with all the information, of course.
Sustainability doesn't have to be expensive.
If you don't have the money, you can be sustainable in your own way by upcycling yourself,
you know, it's something that anybody can do.