As part of an initiative to bring sustainable style choices to the forefront, Goodwill of Delaware presented its first annual ReThink Fashion Show in New Castle this August. The event, hosted by the reigning Miss Earth USA, Beatrice Millan-Windorski, celebrated sustainable style choices like thrifting and making new garments from recycled materials.
“The fashion industry contributes more greenhouse gas emissions than the countries of France, Germany, and the UK combined,” Millan-Windroski said in her opening remarks. “By choosing to buy secondhand rather than new, you are helping push the industry to a more circular and sustainable future.”
The fashion show was split into two segments: curated selections from local designers and original pieces crafted by students in University of Delaware’s Fashion and Apparel Studies program.
The participating stylists were Tia Couture, Akin Bethea, and Sienna Nelson. See photos of the looks they styled—entirely from garments found at Goodwill—here.
@delawaretodaymagazine The @GoodwillDe ReThink sustainability fashion show was EVERYTHING! @University of Delaware fashion students showed up and showed out with these designs! #sustainablefashion #delaware #udel #fashion
Upcycled Style: Crafting New Looks From Pre-Loved Materials
Making sustainable fashion choices doesn’t always mean wearing a dress that was already worn. Student designers from University of Delaware took on the challenge of creating original pieces using textiles and existing garments from Goodwill stores.
“We took a team trip to Goodwill and got all of our materials in one day,” senior Zac Pilla recalls. Pilla crafted a runway-ready dress by fusing two existing dress shirts together.
“I just started getting into womenswear,” he explains. “Last semester was the first dress I made, so I just started using those gears in my brain.” The Fashion and Apparel Studies student draws inspiration from 1920s silhouettes and modern styles from designer brands like Balenciaga.
“Sustainability is always in the back of my mind,” he says. ” I haven’t always been as head-on with it as some of my peers, but I’m always conscious of my consumption.” The Goodwill ReThink Fashion Show challenged Pilla to craft the most sustainable piece he’s made to date.
Follow Zac Pilla at @by.zacus.
Fashion & Function: Art Worn on—and off—the Runway
Casey Tyler has an extremely sustainability-focused approach to fashion and design that’s centered around wearable garments.
“I’m all for wearability,” the University of Delaware “super-senior” explains of their fashion ethos. “I don’t love wearable art. I know there’s a point to it, but in an industry that’s so filled with pollution, I think wearability is so important.”
That doesn’t mean the designs lack a creative touch, though. Drawing inspiration from the New York street style scene, Tyler focuses on pieces that are experimental and show personality.
“As someone who identifies as nonbinary, I live outside the social construct of gender,” they explain. Tyler’s lived experience shines through in the garments they create. “My designs are genderless and fun.”
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For the ReThink Fashion Show, Tyler’s piece was a culmination of each of these design concepts. Using an old quilt, they crafted a teddy-bear inspired look with a hooded jacket (complete with teddy bear ears), and chunky rounded boots reminiscent of teddy bear feet.
“I’d honestly wear it to class,” Tyler says of the look’s wearability off the runway. It’s equal parts cozy and fashion-forward and shows plenty of personality. Pulling inspiration from the game Animal Crossing, the look stands out while still falling into the category of casual streetwear.
Along with an artistic flair, Tyler brings sustainability to the forefront of everything they create.
“For the majority of patterns, I go to Goodwill to find fabric to draft my patterns on,” Tyler notes, adding that it’s commonplace to purchase muslin fabric on which to draft patterns. Tyler prefers to create first drafts on a secondhand sheet to keep it out of the landfill.
“I’ve also started using natural dye, and my senior project is centered around turmeric dye,” Tyler says.
Tyler will present their senior project as part of Philly Fashion Week at a free show on September 19. Find information about the event online.
Follow Casey Tyler at @kaseycoi.
Fashion as a Solution
University of Delaware graduate student Michelle Yatvitskiy also focuses on sustainability in her fashion design projects. After completing her master’s, Yatvitskiy has continued working in a university lab throughout the summer to focus on sustainable textile design.
At the ReThink Fashion Show, Yatvitskiy’s textiles were displayed as garments on mannequins throughout the room. Using shredded garments from Goodwill stores, Yatvitskiy created a new textile with a confetti effect that resulted in a rainbow of bright color. On the runway, a dress made of about 30 neckties woven together wowed attendees.
“I would call myself a textile designer more than a fashion designer,” explains Yatvitskiy. “The textiles come first, and that dictates what the final product will look like.”
For her necktie dress, Yatvitskiy wove neckties together, keeping the integrity of the pieces and only cutting a tie when absolutely necessary. When the dress is taken off, the ties woven together hold the shape of the bodice.
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“I joke that it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever made,” Yatvitskiy says. Despite spending countless hours shredding and “felting” together scrap fabric, the woven necktie dress was quite the feat. “The entire dress feels like it weighs probably like 10 pounds.”
Sustainable fashion often involves reusing and upcycling existing garments. Yet for Yatvitskiy, it starts at the textile level.
“We all know the fashion industry is unsustainable. That’s how I got into textile,” she explains. “I’ve always used some kind of textile waste to create my designs. I’ve been working on the Goodwill project for four years now.”
As she continues her work in the lab on sustainable practices, Yatvitskiy hopes to pursue her PhD and continue education in the textile field.
“As corny as this sounds, [I] just want to make a difference,” she says. “I’ve always assumed that would be the sustainability realm. But I’ve done research and gotten more into functional textiles, [or] designing textiles as solutions to problems.”
This research has led Yatvitskiy to some interesting projects, including textiles focused on solutions for mobility disabilities and even materials for NASA. While the world is just coming around to the problems in the industry, textile researchers like Yatvitskiy are hard at work looking for new ways to use it as a solution.
Follow Michelle Yatvitskiy at @may.flower.designs.
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