My senior collection, inspired by paper folding techniques, follows ideals of zero-waste and sustainability. Drawing from origami, which starts from a square and is not cut to achieve its beautiful and complex shapes, I began to fold and drape fabric to create the shapes of garments. Gradually, this evolved to include laser cutting, and dyeing techniques were used in emphasis. Choices of fabric furthered the sustainability of the collection, including hemp, organic cotton, and biodegradable synthetic leather.

 

Photography: Lindsay Appel

Makeup: Lauren Peters

Hair: Morgan Cook

Model: Kyah Willcox

This look is made from biodegradable synthetic leather, a material manufactured by Green Dot, and a blend of hemp and silk. The top is entirely zero-waste; diamond and triangular shapes were laser cut from a rectangle, leaving nothing behind, and the material is a starch-based bioplastic. The pants were designed with a folding technique also seen elsewhere in the collection, and were cut on the cross-grain, which has a softer hand than the straight grain and saved fabric; it allowed for the placement of the two white tops in the collection.

Designed from a rectangle with a T-shaped cut across the shoulders and down the back, this dress is completely zero-waste. The folds give it its shape, but the simplicity of the pattern's basic form allows for a wide variety of folding options; the idea is that this single garment could serve as multiple wardrobe pieces with the addition of strategically placed closures. The dyeing technique involved a shibori-derived triangular fold to make the gray fabric, and the soft green fabric it is sewn to emphasizes the folds in the garment and provides contrast. The garment is made of Hempcel, a hemp and Tencel blend.

Hundreds of laser-cut kite-shaped pieces of biodegradable synthetic leather were sewn together in groups of four to create the texture of this skirt. They lay edge-to-edge, with a zig-zag stitch connecting them, which contributes to the sharp edges and serves as a design detail. The triangles leftover from the laser cutting are used as a textural application elsewhere in the collection. The top is simply two rectangles sewn together, and is layered over a bandeau made from silk crepe with strips of bioplastic used as a boning structure.

The top and skirt are both made from rectangular pieces of hemp silk: the skirt is pleated in the same style as elsewhere, and nothing is cut away, while the top has the leftover triangles from the bioplastic skirt sewn to it as a flat geometric texture. The cape is made from wool felt, which was hand-dyed in varying shades of gray, then laser cut and pieced together in much the same way as the black skirt. The shades of gray emphasize the forms created, which are naturally softer than those in the skirt due to the vastly different hand of the materials.

This zero-waste jumpsuit was derived from a rectangle, folded and tapered to create the pant leg; the triangular pieces left from tapering became the top. Colorgrown organic green cotton was dip-dyed in the interest of punching up the color somewhat, and to provide contrast in the back where the pieces are folded. It can be worn with or without the bandeau.