How can the latest design and technology help to create wear without waste? And what can we all do to reduce the impact of throwaway fashion?
Little black dress 
Trick of the light 
Hot look 
Keep trim 
Made to measure 
Knit to Fit 
BioCouture 
Sugar rush 
Stinging style Knit to Fit
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Lasting love
This knit brings new meaning to ‘made to measure’. It was created on an automated knitting machine that uses personal measurements taken in a 3D body scanner. Its designer, Sandy Black from the London College of Fashion, thinks that the method has real potential to reduce waste:
‘The current high-street trend for ultra-cheap clothes that people wear a few times and then throw away is extremely wasteful. One way to change this culture is to make bespoke clothing that people love and wear for longer an everyday reality, rather than an expensive luxury. This new technology could help do just that.’
A customer’s 3D body scan.
Vital statistics
Knit to Fit sounds simple, but what’s really involved? Step inside the scanner, strip down to your underwear and relax while powerful cameras get the measure of your every dimension in just six seconds. A computer builds up a highly accurate 3D version of your body that appears on screen in a matter of minutes.
Sandy then takes measurements from the ‘virtual’ you to create drawings for the next step in the process…
The Knit to Fit jumper emerges from the knitting machine.
Knit-o-matic
The final stage is to feed the design and key dimensions from these drawings into a computer-controlled knitting machine. The finished garment emerges in one piece, just like out of a printer. It’s virtually ready to wear, seam free, and made to your exact style choice from colour to neckline. And because it’s knitted in one piece there are no wasteful offcuts.
It’s currently a long process, but Sandy and her team are working towards a direct, automated production process from body scan to finished knit.
High-street clothes only guess our size.
One size fits who?
Producing on-demand, customised clothes could also reduce waste in the clothing supply chain. Currently, clothes are made for everyone, but aren’t a perfect fit for most people. And since manufactures estimate the sizes and styles that are right for their customers, the result can be piles of unsold clothes going to landfill or being burned.
Avatars of Cornell students try on virtual clothes.
Does my avatar look big in this?
Sandy has a vision for the future:
‘I want to combine the efficiency of mass production with the delightful feeling of having clothes made especially to your body shape and tastes. These clothes aim to bring the best of both worlds together as “mass customisation”.’
Scientists across the pond are also beginning to use body-scanning technology to reduce waste. A team at Cornell University are experimenting with a system that will allow you to try on clothes ‘virtually’ during an online shopping spree, cutting down on unwanted e-purchases. Customers will be able to view and rotate their own 3D image to select the style and size that fits best before making their purchase.
Body scanning will help to personalise fashion all the way through from manufacturing to the shopping experience. In future we could get exactly the clothes we want, and this will create less waste.