WEAR THE CITY. Better Materials Better Products Better World
www.fashion.arts.ac.uk Design: www.bunker-london.com
PERFECT 10.
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INTRO.
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When we first met with the Nike Sustainable Business and Innovation team in December 2011, it quickly became clear that many of the values and ideals that London College of Fashion promotes through our curriculum, research and beyond were closely aligned with their forward thinking business ethos. We all saw an opportunity to bring together two seemingly very different institutions towards achieving one shared goal and our role in the Mobilize Makers project emerged. Collaborating on such an urgent and compelling initiative has been a seminal learning experience for us and provides a blue print for London College of Fashion’s role in challenging and redefining the way our industry operates
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Frances Corner Pro Vice Chancellor - University of the Arts London A product is the manifestation of a series of relationships and when individual distinctions dynamically connect, we create the otherwise unimaginable. Within this book lies stories of an incredible set of relationships borne out of mutual respect, trust, curiosity and tenacity, focused on better design inspired through new knowledge. This project changes things, for all of us involved and for all makers whose design possibilities are made greater through the NMSI app. Crossing boundaries of place, generation, culture and profession, we have navigated across new territories to look for places where we can design and make the futures that we dream of, rather than trying to make what we’ve got less bad. This book holds one of eight stories of this extensive exploration, where you will find how the raw talent of students, wisdom of designers, vision of tutors, genius of technicians and agility of communicators has excelled through the absolute belief that Nike places in the possibilities for a Better World
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Dilys Williams Director - Centre for Sustainable Fashion
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Perfect Ten.
OUR CHALLENGE. The Brief from Nike asked us to work collaboratively to design, develop and make a small collection or series of outfits, inspired by an athlete or a team of athletes participating in the 2014/2016 winter/summer Olympics. Athletes have many seminal moments during their Olympic journey and we were asked to think metaphorically and literally about the moments of ‘arrival’. Our designs were expected to reference specific events, such as the opening ceremony or the medal stand and we were asked to develop finished prototypes for one or more of these scenarios.
The one non-negotiable was that we had to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability through the design decisions and material selection we made along the journey. We were given access to the working prototype of a digital app, developed by Nike to help us select the best materials to suit our aesthetic, performance and of course sustainability needs. With the app loaded up and the brief in hand the challenge was to explore a collaborative design process drawing insights from the culture of sport and filtering every decision through the lens of sustainability
“ The one non-negotiable was that we had to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability”
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Our Challenge.
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PERFECT TEN.
OUR CHALLENGE.
OUR CONCEPT. Our planet needs us to change and to become accountable for our actions and interactions; as a team and as individual designers we tried to work with flexibility, creativity and agility, seeing every challenge as an opportunity to innovate, not as a barrier to creativity.
equipment, or even designated space. The free runners discipline has evolved with their surroundings, living in relation to not in spite of the world they occupy, they blend in to stand out; they wear the city
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Our ethos along with our overall design concept was inspired by the emerging discipline of Parkour more commonly known as free running. The world of the free runner captured our imaginations; for them every obstacle is a celebration, a chance to demonstrate their skill; they navigate the contours of the city, scaling walls, leaping gaps, balancing on rails; they perform without formal training, money,
Alasdair LeightonCrawford
Emma Ranger
Helen Barr
Penny Tu
“ The world of the free runner captured our imaginations; for them every obstacle is a celebration, a chance to demonstrate their skill�
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WEAR Perfect THE CITY. Ten.
ALASDAIR LEIGHTONCRAWFORD. I’m a sportswear designer in my final year at London College of Fashion; I also have a degree in geography and I’m a former team GB rower; I competed professionally from 2005 to 2009, when a back injury forced me to retire
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ALASDAIR LEIGHTON-CRAWFORD.
Before I realized that sportswear was my passion I trained as a tailor on Saville Row and as a result I have a really genuine appreciation of the garment making process. My diverse background as a sportsman, a geographer and a designer/maker combine to drive my meticulous approach to sustainability
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“ My diverse background as a sportsman, a geographer and a maker combine to drive my meticulous approach to sustainability”
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Perfect Ten. WEAR THE CITY.
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EMMA RANGER. I’m a menswear designer from London and I graduated from London College of Fashion in 2012. My work often references the utility and function of sportswear but using unusual eye-catching shapes and unexpected fabrics. My aim is to bridge the divide between street wear and high-end menswear challenging definitions of style
EMMA RANGER.
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I think what interests me the most about design is that it can offer an opportunity to amplify the voices that go unheard and to express ideas that get overlooked. In fashion sustainability often seems to be the unheard and overlooked voice, so it’s an exciting challenge to work with Nike to make that voice heard
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“ In fashion sustainability often seems to be the unheard and overlooked voice”
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WEAR Perfect THE CITY. Ten.
HELEN BARR.
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HELEN BARR. I’m a Creative Direction student in my second year at London College of Fashion; I’m interested in developing interactive digital and physical experiences that bring fashion design to life
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I wanted to be part of this project because I believe that sustainable fashion needs to be embedded in youth culture and the collaboration between London College of Fashion and Nike is an exciting springboard to begin a revolution in this area
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“ I believe that sustainable fashion needs to be embedded in youth culture”
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Perfect Ten. WEAR THE CITY.
PENNY TU.
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“ How can we bring hard data together with raw creativity to create a credible and desirable concept and product?”
PENNY TU. I’m a photographer and filmmaker originally from Taiwan and I graduated from London College of Fashion in 2012. I’m interested in how to express balance and control in my work alongside freethinking creativity and to me this resonates with the challenge of embedding and communicating sustainability in fashion. How can we bring hard data together with raw creativity to create a credible and desirable concept and product?
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WEAR THE CITY.
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Our Inspiration.
OUR INSPIRATION. We were lucky enough to have an amazing mentor Alina Moat, who helped us to understand and explore the interaction between design and sustainability. Alina has expertise in both fashion design and interactive design and she constantly questioned our approach. She helped us to push boundaries and overcome and celebrate our differences as our concept developed. We found inspiration in adversity, often our approaches to design and communication seemed diametrically opposed but we quickly came to realize that this was our greatest strength. One half of the team operated from an instinctive understanding of street style and urban influences, the other from a desire for careful research, considered product development and meticulous construction. We soon realized that the combination of these two approaches had the potential to create clothes that communicated the
culture of parkour, whilst meeting the exacting performance demands of the sport. In many ways it was the philosophy of Parkour that helped us to overcome our differences as designers; we were inspired by the adaptability and individual flare that goes hand in hand with a noncompetitive community spirit. We wanted to embody irreverence and risk taking alongside a deep respect for the natural world
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“ We wanted to embody irreverence and risk taking alongside a deep respect for the natural world�
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WEAR THE CITY.
OUR INSIGHT.
Our InSIGHT.
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We talked to members of the Storm Crew about where they train and why and we were surprised to find that they often perform outside the confines of the city, using trees, bushes, and rocks as their canvas. Parkour transcends boundaries, it celebrates the freedom to move between and blend with multiple environments and we tried to reflect this in the design of the garments; our aim was to create shapes and patterns with an urban influence along with colours that provide camouflage in the natural world
We didn’t chose a single athlete as our muse, we were more interested in responding to the needs of the collective than the individual and with this in mind we decided to get in touch with the London based Storm Freerunning Crew.
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We interviewed a number of members of the Storm Crew and spent some time watching them perform at various locations. Several things became immediately apparent; most importantly the clothes that we designed needed to be as flexible and adaptable as the free runners themselves. Free runners, leap, role, flip and slide, our garments would undergo a great deal of wear and tear, so they needed to be durable. Free runners always perform outside and so the clothing needed to protect them from the elements, whilst responding to constant changes in body temperature due to the highoctane nature of the sport. Everything we made needed to allow for freedom of movement and impact absorption.
“ The clothes that we designed needed to be as flexible and adaptable as the free runners themselves”
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WEAR THE CITY.
OUR MATERIALS. Alasdair focused on the outer layer using breathable, water proof woven fabrics, derived from man made fibres; these offered protection, durability and function. Emma worked with jersey made from natural fibres, bringing the freedom and loose fit that suits the movements of Parkour. All the designs combined plain black and camouflage print panels
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Our approach to materials selection was very much driven by the desire to combine a man made high performance aesthetic with something very natural and free; we felt it was this combination that embodied the essence of Parkour. We worked with the Mattr app to identify the most sustainable choices in both synthetic and natural fabrics.
“ We worked with the Mattr app to identify the most sustainable choices in both synthetic and natural fabrics�
Our Materials.
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Organic Cotton. The tracksuit pants needed a strong sturdy fleece back jersey for the upper section and we found a number of great options in organic cotton that gave us a much better sustainability score without compromising on performance
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Tencel Jersey. We wanted the printed vest and the printed lower half of the legs on the pants to be light, loose and flexible but with a luxurious handle. The fabric also needed to hold the dynamic colour of the print; usually we would have used a viscose but we discovered that Tencel offered the same qualities but scored better on the app
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Pertex Quantum GL. We needed the performance and lightness of Nylon for the outer shell of our jacket and we identified Pertex as a supplier who has made substantial steps towards improving their environmental impact, whilst developing innovative new nylon fibres
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Primaloft Eco. This is some of the most advanced and compact insulation on the market and is made from recycled plastic bottles, offering us performance in every context
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WEAR THE CITY.
OUR INNOVATION.
Our Innovation.
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The jacket is ultra lightweight but also offers warmth and protection with freedom of movement and responsiveness to body heat. It is close fitting for heat retention but also contains concealed zips in the sides and arms to allow the free runner to wear it open. When the zips are open and the freerunner performs a trick, the jacket creates the impression of a bird in flight
The need for flexibility in every garment defined our design process and much of our innovation was driven by the challenge of creating a look that could deliver aesthetic relevance and adaptability.
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With the base layer our aim was simple; to bring a greater level of fashion ability and a unique identity to conventional sportswear garments, in this case tracksuit pants and a vest. The upper section of the tracksuit pants would take the most wear, so we
selected a heavy-duty jersey for this area and restricted the lightweight luxury printed fabric to the vest and the lower leg. We included two large re-enforced zip pockets in the pants, as free runners often need to carry everything with them
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“ The need for flexibility in every garment defined our design process�
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WEAR THE CITY.
OUR PRODUCT. We wanted the final look to embody freedom and focus a uniform without uniformity. We aimed to create an outfit that every free runner could wear but that could be worn in many different ways and worlds
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Our Product.
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WEAR THE CITY.
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