Case Study
Browzwear x TAL: Digital zero-waste pattern
Created by
TAL
,
2022
An estimated 92 million tons of textile waste is created annually from the fashion industry1, either from overproducing, sampling, or cancelled orders. There is a real opportunity for collaboration between brands, designers, and manufacturers to recognise waste hotspots across the supply chain, as well as identify tools and techniques that can enable material recovery and waste reduction.
In this case study we
follow the finalists of the Redress Design Award 2022 during their challenge to create digital outfits through zero-waste patterning with Browzwear software and TAL end-of-rolls. This challenge highlights the value of digital apparel design technology in reducing time and distance for a global industry while minimising waste during the sampling stage.
During the Digital Zero-Waste Challenge, our Redress Design Award 2022 finalists designed and sampled garments digitally to demonstrate how zero-waste and upcycling skills can put untapped waste fabric to work.
During the challenge
In partnership with TAL Apparel and Browzwear, the challenge was held over an intensive three days. Separated into groups, designers were tasked to create a zero-waste, upcycled garment in 3D, choosing from a selection of surplus fabric generated by cancelled orders that arose particularly during Covid.
The brief was to create a timeless, everyday top for a price-conscious consumer with a growing interest in sustainability and awareness for niche brands with interesting design details. Designers were required to utilise the digitalised surplus end-of-rolls within the Browzwear VStitcher software.
- Designers could choose to use all or a selection of the fabrics, but had to utilise the entire end-of-roll(s) selected.
- Besides reducing waste by putting surplus fabric back into the production line, the finalists needed to pay attention to the time used for production measured by Standard Minute Value (SMV). The SMV is a key component used in the industry that directly impacts the production price of a garment.
- Finally, they had to consider how to implement the zero-waste technique, a drastic reduction from the 15%–25% of fabric typically wasted.2
The teams had to deliver a minimum of one garment across a range of sizes (S, M, L) within an allotted SMV of 30 minutes, producing one digital sample rendered in 3D, worn by a digital avatar, for pitching to the judges.
For some of the finalists, it was their first time using 3D software. Over the 72 hours of the challenge, the teams, spread across the world, leveraged the Browzwear VStitcher software to collaborate with each other, supporting their peers’ unique perspectives and strengths, communicating proactively, and solving problems in an intensive, time-pressing environment – not unlike the kind of teamwork needed in a real-world design team. The digital technology enabled them to try and test many design concepts and zero-waste patterns in a quick and effective way, without needing to send any fabric cuts or samples across countries.
The winning design
The judges evaluated the digital outfits based on five criteria: creativity, commerciality (target client and consumer), zero-waste pattern technique proficiency, feasibility for manufacturing (production time, fabric utilisation, final production run calculations) and quality of the 3D digital sample.
Credit: Redress
The winning team consisted of three outstanding finalists: Drina Marco, Federico Badini Confalonieri, and Nawoda Bandara. They presented a double-faced, oversized blouse with the idea of conceptual geometries, building their zero-waste pattern skills.
By designing minimally and without buttons, the team could achieve a lower SMV and increase their productivity. To ensure a perfect fit, they also added some essential seams to outline the body. The 100% cotton end-of-roll paired with 100% cotton thread enhances recyclability and washability, while the use of double-fabric achieves a sleek look and provides feelings of comfort and luxury. Finally, to incorporate all three sizes, the open neck and the length of the sleeves are adjustable and gender neutral, appealing to a diverse group of consumers.
Through this challenge, the finalists gained valuable insight into the importance of digital design. From managing textile waste to bringing concepts to life with colour, trims, and fit, digitising this process end-to-end greatly prevents and revalues textile waste, boosting creativity and circularity in fashion.
About the Contributor
Browzwear‘s digital product creation and development platform helps fashion brands and manufacturers create garments that fit first time right. It brings the power of 3D to fashion design, development, marketing, and collaboration with a comprehensive suite of easy-to-use solutions to get your creative designs to market faster than ever before.
TAL Apparel Limited is now over 75 years old, headquartered in Hong Kong with self-owned factories across Asia. Producing most of the world’s famous fashion apparel, their reputation relies on excellence in quality, consistency and innovation, but more importantly their focus on sustainability.
Footnotes
1 Global Fashion Agenda and The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (2017), Pulse of the Fashion Industry.
2 Timo Rissanen (2005), ‘From 15% to 0: Investigating the creation of fashion without the creation of fabric waste’