In yesterday's post we looked at the technicalities behind new sustainable systems for fashion manufacturing; let's continue that thread today, but look at how a Japanese company is working on the sustainability issue.
Inspired by "Boro", that is a style of Japanese textiles mended or patched together, Japanese brand Edwin recently released "The Traveller's Denim".
This limited collection of denim pants incorporates sections of authentic Japanese travel pennants dating back to the '60s-'80s (the Showa Era of Japan). Each pennant used features images from different prefectures and famous sites around Japan.
The triangular pennants became popular in those years and people collected them as they represented physical mementos of a special trip, but nowadays such souvenirs have lost their charm as most of us prefer to take quick digital pictures with cameras and smartphones and share them on social media as souvenirs of our trips.
In addition to the distinctive pennants, the designs are also individually enhanced with stitching applied by hand or using sewing machines in a style reminiscent of sashiko stitching, a quilting technique consisting in a running stitch used to impart warmth and strength to garments.
The main concept behind these designs is recycling textiles and upcycling them, while offering consumers a sort of souvenir, as some people may want to try and get a pair of jeans featuring a place that they may have visited in Japan. As the Coronavirus pandemic halted travelling, the collaged pennants are also intended as symbols of the freedom we have lost, but we hope to regain as soon as possible.
Edwin also worked with Reyn Spooner, the famous manufacturer of Hawaiian shirts, founded in 1961 by menswear shop manager Reynolds McCullough (known as "Reyn") and seamstress Ruth Spooner. Edwin employed rayon deadstock fabric exclusively produced for Reyn Spooner between 1994 to 2007 and reused it for a a collaborative collection of shirts.
The company also developed an educational project: 400 denim pants by Edwin which were scheduled to be discarded were recycled and employed by students of the Bunka Fashion College to create new pieces currently on display at Edwin Tokyo Harajuku. The projects will be on display till next Sunday.
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