lupine publishers|Design & Development of Ornate Upcycled Fashion Ensembles
Design & Development of Ornate Upcycled Fashion Ensembles
Abstract
The accessory and home textile industry are as promising and lucrative as apparel industry as far as employment,
entrepreneurship and innovative product development is concerned. Although industry is vital means of livelihood for workforce
and mode of exploration and experimentation for novice designers, the unorganized supply chain with emphasis on fast and
affordable fashion by consumers has led to several detrimental impacts on environment and social well-being. The mass production
of accessories and home textiles not only overburden the entire supply chain, but the wellbeing of workforce is completely neglected.
It thus becomes imperative to incorporate the sustainable principles in accessory and home textile manufacturing. While designers,
manufacturers and retailers are playing their part by adopting sustainable practices, the consumers should also be conscious and
deliberately prefer a sustainable brand. The present paper discusses design and development of upcycled accessories and home
decors rendering an ornate, traditional appeal by employing several surface ornamentation techniques namely marbling, acrylic
pouring and attachment of sundries. The design collection was rated by volunteer millennials to rate the developed ensembles in
terms of aesthetics, functionality and economic viability.
Keywords: Upcycling; Surface Ornamentation; Design; Home textiles; Accessories
Introduction
Accessory and home textiles are crucial segments of textile
and fashion industry. Accessories can be classified based on the
raw materials utilized in their construction, functionality, styles
and techniques to embellish them. A range of fashion accessories
namely handbags, jewelry, footwear, hats and hair accessories are
preferred by fashion conscious consumers. Likewise, home textiles
are utilized for interior design and comprises of bedspreads, table
runners, pillows, cushion covers and wall decors. A variety of textile
and non-textile materials are utilized for home textiles and fashion
accessories. Some of the materials involved in production of end
products are unsustainable and lead to deleterious environmental
impacts [1]. The need of the hour is thus switching over to
sustainable and eco-friendly raw materials and surface embellished
techniques. Accordingly, many high-end accessory and home textile
brands are transforming their designing and production processes
emphasizing of sustainable principles of recycling, reuse and
upcycling. Furthermore, the eco-friendly embellishment techniques
like hand painting, marbling, acrylic pouring, and attachment of
sundries accessories are employed to render ornate, traditional
appeal to home textiles and fashion accessories (Figure 1).
Materials & Methods
Discarded cotton cushion covers, torn and discarded bed
sheets, amputated trims and notions were collected domestically
for design and development of upcycled home textiles. A phulkari
stole, discarded tote bag, bag with damaged fasteners and
amputated hair accessories were collected domestically to be
converted into embellished fashion accessories. The torn portions
of selected fabrics were removed, and edge neatened. The surface
ornamentation techniques namely block and screen printing,
marbling, hand painting and attachment of sundries were deployed
to embellish the end products. The developed home textiles and
accessories were subjectively evaluated by respondents who
were asked to rate the developed end products based on their
functionality, aesthetic appeal and economic consideration.
Results & Discussion
An assortment of upcycled home textile namely bedspreads,
cushion covers, and wall decors were designed and developed
utilizing the discarded, worn out and torn home textiles. Two
surface ornamentation techniques namely block printing and
screen printing were utilized to embellish the bed sheets. Cushion
covers were embellished by marbling technique that involved color
mixing and merging on textile substrate. A myriad of sustainable
accessory styles was designed and developed by stitching left over
fabrics, stoles and refurbishing the discarded bags. Three bag styles
namely potli, fold over pouch and tote were developed by upcycling
and recycling techniques [2-4]. The potli was embellished by foil
printing and attachment of tassels and mirrors while a worn out,
discarded phulkari stole was converted into fold over pouch with
fastener attached on top. A tote bag was embellished with hand
painted motif on outer covering with left over fabric converted to
grasping elements of the bag. A sequined amputated hair accessory
was converted into dangling earrings. The developed end products
were exhibited with an indent for visitors to rate the upcycled and
embellished hand curated end articles in terms of their styles,
aesthetic appeal, functionality, design concept and economic
considerations (Figure 2). The respondents expressed their liking
for developed end articles and preferred buying the bag styles
particularly tote and fold over pouch.
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