The Fashion Revolution

WSJ

As I start to develop my design process, I found it helpful to continue to consult my readings and use those to guide me. In the next part of The Conscious Closet by Elizabeth Cline, she discusses the importance of Mending, Patching and Everyday Repairs. She talks about how she tried to work from scratch and the idea of reviving home sewing (which is exactly what I am trying to do). However, she talks specifically about how to build a mending kit. This kit is mostly about hand sewing, using scissors and pins to secure work. It was also really helpful to learn about the four basic stitches, straight stitch, whipstitch, backstitch and the ladder stitch. Another important thing I learned was about the basics of patching. A lot of my designs and ideas involve patchwork, so this was great to learn about as well.

The end of the book discusses the Fashion Revolution. There is so much happening in this long withstanding revolution, the people who create and design them, make, wear and love them. She touches upon the ethics of clothing, something I want to further touch upon and will continue to research and learn about. I recently finished reading the novel Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. Throughout the book he continuously talks about the quality of the shoes that he is making and at the end the ethical issues surrounding his factories. Nike is one of the biggest companies in the world and continues to focus on these two issues. If they are focused on quality and ethical apparel, shouldn’t we be doing the same in our own homes?