dry ice

As I've mentioned here a number of times before, freezers aren't only good for storing vodka. They can also be used to delay the need for laundering jeans, and a whole lot of other garments. I had a chuckle this morning; TreeHugger has finally caught on to this, too. Or rather, a Brazilian denim brand, Tristar, is using it as a marketing gimmick. People, amazingly this works on jeans of any brand; if you haven't tried it yet, do. As some of my earlier posts note, eventually you do reach a point of saturation (depending on how often you wear the jeans and how many wobbly friends have spilled a drink on you) where laundering becomes a social necessity. Nevertheless, I've been freezing jeans for well over two years and it works. Give it a go. A word of warning: in certain climates, say like in New York, it's worth taking the jeans out of the freezer at least half an hour before you plan to put them on. Makes the morning much more pleasant.

rank in three parts

I know I said I'd wait till next weekend with washing the jeans. I buckled. One pair came out of the freezer only on Friday and yet today smelled like the Devil's afterbirth, left in a warm room for a month. Mind you, only if you stuck your nose close to it, but still. So in they went, with a whole lot of other dark stuff, minimal detergent and softener (half doses of whatever the instructions ask for) and cold water, of course. They are now drying on hangers around the place. I did take photos and will post later. But what now as far as washing goes? Next laundry date for the jeans: October 20. Gross, isn't it? But let it be known that I haven't got any weird skin infections from the waist down in the past six months and frankly, that's good enough for me.

Reading the Sunday newspapers (a bad habit that has to go), I was glad to see Melissa Hoyer of the Sunday Telegraph pointing out ten or so successful Australian women fashion designers. In response to Nicholas Huxley's ill-advised comments earlier (in the same publication!), of course, which in a way was odd, given the glowing column miles the Fashion Design Studio usually gets in the Terror. The Sun Herald didn't go there at all.

Also in ST was a story about 4 Inch Heels Only, an anonymous blog from within the small, blow-dried and tandoori-hued Sydney fashion magazine community. Apparently some of the larger publishers are hell-bent on uncovering the blogger's identity - but not as hell-bent on putting out a decent fashion magazine, I presume. I haven't bought Oz Vogue since the nineties when it was full of articles I'd read in US Vogue months earlier. Mind you, I haven't bought US Vogue since the nineties, either. A chopstick in the ear is a much quicker way to self-lobotomy than flicking through all those ads. Anyway, the fuss MagHag has caused reminds me of a party years ago, where my friends and I were one table away from the Cosmo girls. One friend, a popular designer at the time, knew them all, and whispered to me at one point: "Just look at them all, single alcoholics with coke habits, and they are the ones writing those tragic articles about how to get a man." Of course it was a gross exaggeration on my friend's part; not all of them were writers, I'm sure. (And should anyone get upset by what I just wrote, let me assure you this took place when pod shoes were in: no current staff implied.)
(Photo by David LaChapelle. The one at top, inexplicably from Webster's Online Dictionary.)

But back to real writing.

more fabrics! and two milestones

The fabrics from KimoYES arrived on Friday and I'm very pleased and excited: they're simply divine. What's even better, Jill from KimoYES emailed me with as much background to each one as she could. I'm not alone in thinking that designers and manufacturers have a power to encourage a stronger consumer engagement with a garment, which in turn might get consumers to want to hang on to their garments for longer, caring for them better, maintaining and repairing them (or having them repaired). My talk on Thursday, based on the paper I presented at Dressing Rooms, was about designing garments for repair and alteration, arguing that decisions by the fashion designer and patternmaker can facilitate and enable future transformative practices (repair and alteration) in a garment. I also think we can help steer consumers towards less environmentally damaging laundering practices. I used my Viktor & Rolf jacket as an example. The care label says: "Do not wash in water, do not dry clean." And I haven't for the two years I've had it. Instead, my dry cleaner sponges (with what, I don't know) the cuffs and neck which tend to get dirty quickly, given the light colour of the jacket and the fact I rarely wear collared, long-sleeved shirts. Presumably the washing instructions stem from the high metal content of the fabric (19%, with 81% cotton). I love, too, that pressing the jacket is pointless. I just pull it back into shape when I put it away. The thought that has gone into the buttoning and buttonholes is nice, too: the top hole is a regular keyhole, the middle is set into the waist seam and the bottom one is fake.


































But back to the vintage kimono fabrics. Below are my photos with Jill's comments. Wherever I end up using them, the garment will come with all of this information, too. A bit like the Dutch project Made-By, where you can enter the garment code on the website and get its entire production history. What a fantastic idea; let's hope for lots of companies signing up. As for Jill's fabrics, they come from old, damaged kimono; she salvages what she can for sale as well as her quilting work. She also mentioned an artist who often gets the bits that are too damaged for sale; he happily uses them. The condition of the fabrics is excellent, despite their age.

Left to right, top row:
#3254 (black/white). 70s
#3518 (fine navy wool with pink) is from a woolen kimono - I'd say from the 70s
#3856 (grey and black) is an ikat meisen silk where the threads are dyed before the weaving process (hence the irregular pattern). This fabric would be from the 70s
#4167 Ikat wool. This is from a roll of kimono fabric that is old stock. 70/80s

Left to right, bottom row:
#2747 (pink with black/white/red) 50s/60s
#3282 (red/pink) 80s
#2785 (black/grey/white) - can't tell you much about this one. Suspect that there may be some hemp in this fabric. What do you think? I don't know how to test for it. [I'm not sure either; I know the smell of burning cellulosic fibre, cotton/linen/hemp/etc. but not sure how to go from there.]
#3159 (red shibori) Red rinzu silk which has been patterned using shibori. This is probably machined rather than done by hand. Typical 70s

Oh, the milestones? My younger brother turns 31 today; Happy Birthday! There is no card in the mail but once my PhD is dead and buried, I will get into that habit again, or at least try. And I checked the receipt for the jeans again: six months today. Perhaps I'll wash them next weekend.

on the flipside

Over the past few month I've talked about the two pairs of jeans that I bought in October, of 'raw' (=unwashed) denim, that one's not meant to wash for the first six months. Whilst a gimmick in many ways, I thought it was a nice, unintentional way of steering people towards more sustainable laundering practices. Perhaps, but the story has a flipside.

Peter* brought it to my attention that the kids in Sweden (apparently denim is huge over there), and probably elsewhere, aren't washing their jeans for six months to a year, just like me. They then discard them. He also mentioned an eminent fashion historian who does the same. (I am so tempted to name him, or at least burn the books I have by him.) I have no illusions of reaching any of these people through this blog but please, if you know anyone that does this, perhaps educate them about the resource-intensive processes that it takes to turn a cotton field into a pair of jeans. Sure, most probably give the jeans to charity (let's hope) but it's kind of like kerbside recycling; the stuff disappears from our view and we feel a lot better, having 'done the right thing'.

But do we ever look at the amount we are recycling? Could we do with less? Although I drink three or four bottles' worth a day, I buy roughly one bottle of water a month and keep refilling it with filtered water. But that's not the solution, either. Finally, I am about to swap to a 'permanent' metal bottle. The thought of chemicals from the plastic leaching into the water (I don't know enough here...) is somewhat off-putting. Apparently it happens over time. With the jeans, what is it about having washed them that makes them so unattractive to people? Whatever, it's depressing.

*I gave a talk as part of the postgraduate seminar series yesterday (and bombed beautifully); some other excellent comments came up, too. I'll try and post an account of it all over the weekend, but first I have an assignment due at 5pm.

Wal-Mart and cotton

From Ecotextile News, some good news about Wal-Mart supporting farmers moving from growing conventional to organic cotton. This is, of course, solving only half the problem (if that): consumers need to look at their behaviour, too. Buying less, laundering less, laundering in cold(er) water, laundering with less detergent, laundering with a less toxic detergent, tumble-drying less, and hanging onto the t-shirt longer (which becomes easier the less you wash it). When was the last time you repaired a t-shirt, or had one repaired? How many do you own? I pass no judgment on the last point; once upon a time I owned more than 100 tees, and was quite pleased with myself about it. Not that I've counted recently, but it's probably 30-40 now, but, most of those are more than two years old, many of them five years, and a few eight or more. I know one that I customised in 2001 I bought in 1998 - and I still wear it. But, maybe it's time for an audit. Watch this space.

Regarding the jeans I'm not washing, after checking I discovered that I bought them in late October, so the six month grace is coming to a close. Perhaps starting with one pair, I am going to photograph them before and after the wash, to show off what I love about unwashed denim the most (and the reason I never got into the faux-aging craze, now thankfully over): denim more than any other fabric 'absorbs' and reflects the habits and body of the wearer, whether it's the creases around the knees, or a shadow of keys on the front pocket. Those washed-and-sandblasted-to-death jeans weren't capable of that. Still on jeans (and again from Ecotextile News), a recycling program that turns old jeans into insulation. If you do take part, make sure you only donate jeans that are absolutely beyond repair. Anything else would be lip service.

back

I will not post a review of the IFFTI08 conference, except to say that the papers I looked forward to didn't disappoint. Yesterday the conference finished with a panel discussion on sustainability and it was a delight to hear the diversity of views from around the world, and more significantly, sense the huge hunger for more knowledge from everyone. The reminder about the development of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at the London College of Fashion (LCF) was timely; the initiative looks very promising (but I can't find a website). On the whole, I've come back invigorated, and have some very rough ideas for post-doctoral research that would involve industry, too. I did meet some old friends who are doing very well in industry, and the hunger for more knowledge is apparent there, too. I did ask a friend, a designer for one of the largest manufacturers of t-shirts and cotton underwear (all made in Australia) if the company had any plans for even small percentage of organic or other alternative cottons in their products. "We looked into it but the consumers aren't interested", was the response. I doubt this, or at least wonder what the actual percentage of non-interest was. I also wonder when this research was conducted; as Alison Gwilt pointed out on the panel, last year's Earth Hour probably played a huge role in Australia in bringing the environmental crisis to the mainstream. Further, I think the responsibilities are shared, and such a passive approach is sad. This company really could lead, given the volumes of their production. I understand that a 100% shift away from conventional cotton is not possible in an instant - simply, not enough fibre is being grown to meet the potential demand - but examples set by large-scale manufacturers like Nike, Marks & Spencer and Levi's will be followed by many, and soon.

Speaking of denim, I told a friend about the jeans (which admittedly weren't chosen for their environmental friendliness, except maybe durability - I plan to wear them for 5+ years; my oldest pair is 13 or so years old) and she's asked me to blog about them here. I'll certainly check the exact date I bought them, and will photograph them, too, as they are at the moment (in the freezer, to be exact). With four or so months of wear, some of the indigo has worn off where I keep my wallet and keys, and the creases around the crotch, knees and hem - that's my body leaving a very personal imprint on the garment. In fact, when held up from the waist, there is a strong suggestion of the body in them. Because of the freezing there is no smell, but the jeans feel 'dirty' - both have had drenchings of beer, rain and food on them (spot cleaning does the trick), not to mention the natural oils our skins produce.

At the conference I was jokingly referred to as one of the two people in Oz to have Kate Fletcher's book (Sue Thomas is the other); apparently Amazon is having problems with the paperbacks (though do correct me if you know otherwise). Again I spent the flight reading, Chapter 2 titled 'Ethically Made'. Using Donella Meadows' list of systems intervention points and examples from fashion and textiles, Fletcher sets the stage for the future in a most powerful way. I've been reading the book in a rather random fashion, and this chapter has probably had the strongest impact on me to date. As a designer and a design educator I was left feeling empowered and re-energised after reading it. This was partly from the panel discussion, too - the power of all the design educators in the room for a change for better was acknowledged.

I've much more to blog about but other things need addressing urgently. On Monday I saw the final proof for the chapter - I'm very excited.

The World of Blue Jeans, a photo essay from Time

Here. The images could, of course, be of most things we wear now.

Anyone else bought a pair of 'raw' (unwashed) jeans lately that you're not supposed to wash for the first six months? I got two pairs in October/November, from G-Star. That was after a month or two of looking for organic cotton and/or hemp alternatives, both in real shops and the net. By alternatives I mean something that I would actually want to wear, not something I would wear just because it was organic cotton and/or hemp (because I wouldn't - I've yet to find a hemp pair that I would love for five years, a criterion for any new garment I buy).

Now, for someone that always abhorred the artificial aging and distressing that dominated denim for so many years, the tide has finally turned in the past two years and there are jeans worth buying again (even if some prices remain in the rude and stupid categories). Denim - at least reasonably good-quality denim, with no nasty stretch in it - will respond to wear better than any other fabric, I think. Knobbly knees, wallet, keys; it all eventually comes through like the Shroud of Turin but without the pilgrims, making your pair explicitly yours. No such luck with the generic 'worn' jeans of yesterday. I didn't buy jeans for four years, which resulted in a range of denim rags hanging off me towards the end of last year.

But back to the no-washing: the six months has something to do with the jeans taking to your shape or not losing their (synthetic/chemical/toxic?) coating, depending on the sales assistant you get. I think it's a bit of a gimmick, a trend, and nothing more, but one with some positive side effects. As we know, many garments make their greatest environmental impact in the hands of the consumers, through laundering and tumble-drying. (Though Fletcher provides some great insights about this in her book; some were new to me.) One friend lasted beyond the six months, despite weekly wear of the jeans, and I've now made it to 4+ months. The secret to odourless denim? The freezer. I aired and aired the jeans, religiously, but there were a few hot weeks in November and airing in the end did little. You whack the jeans in the freezer for 24 hours, however... Perfect! 24 hours seems to be enough to kill the bacteria that live off your sweat, dead skin cells, body lotion, etc. Now, this isn't without problems, of course - freezers consume considerable energy. But, I think if you have one in operation already, a pair of jeans doesn't take up much space or extra energy to freeze, though I'd love to see someone investigate this.

In the end, though, because of the sweat, dead skin cells and body lotion residue I am looking forward to washing the jeans soon. One more month, maybe two... And to take your mind off my dead skin cells, here are some images from Eco Chic, a show in Jakarta, Indonesia.