waste not

There has always been one thing that really bothers me about the fashion industry - the waste.  Starting with sampling, we make patterns, cut that pattern in muslin, sew it together, make adjustments, make a new pattern and sew it into a sample.  Of all of that, only the final pattern and sample are not going to get thrown out.  Move onto production - when pieces are cut out they are put on a marker.  A marker is each pattern piece of each size spread out across the fabric to utilize as much fabric as possible.  But there is still always waste, and always leftover fabric.  Much of this goes into the trash.  Next is shipping out production - pieces are tagged, wrapped in tissue, and poly-bags to be as protected as possible while they travel to shops.  The shops then unpack each item, throwing out the poly bags and the tissue paper.


There is a green movement in fashion, trying to cut waste, but no matter what, it will always be a waste-heavy industry.  To minimize my own waste as a designer, I've begun taking scraps and turning them into wearable pieces instead of letting it go to the trash.  I plan to expand this effort, but for now, I'm making jewelry out of leather scraps that are too small to use for anything else.  Adding a little bit of whimsy to my designs, customers can now buy hand cut leather skull and unicorn earrings - this is only the beginning.  While I continue on with Linden, there will be many limited or one of a kind hand made items that I will use predominantly leftovers to produce.

my niche?

I've designed 3 seasons now.  Each season I've learned more about the business, more about how to relate to my (or any) pattern maker, more about the types of fabrics I want to use, and more about what I do best. While I really do like this last collection, I think I got a little lost trying to fill several categories and be marketable in all of them.  The pieces do go together and work together, but somewhere along the line I lost my original intention, and now its time to regroup.

The interesting thing I learned post trade show is something I'd suspected after my second collection - my leggings have the potential to be my design niche in the fashion world.  I'm actually really amused by this because a few years back when leggings began to make their way back into mainstream fashion, I absolutely resisted.  I resisted skinny jeans too though, and I think it had to do with adjusting my mind set toward a new silhouette.  But now, here I am, hoping to finalize larger orders on leggings.  It's definitely made me start to rethink the direction I take the line in, or at least it gives me something to design around for the next couple of season.  Basically, expect less silk, more cotton, leather, and lace.

On a somewhat related note - Keri Hilson was the host of the official Grammy's after party this year, where she was wearing the original Linden moto leggings (pulled by her stylist from Gather, 630 S Main St Los Angeles CA 90014 - www.gatherla.com).  Here's the best photo I could find via google, but I'm working on getting a better one.