VIABILITY

VIABILTY

EXPLORING SUSTAINABLE FASHION IN PHOENIX

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:

Having spent three years immersed in Arizona State’s fashion program, now standing on the precipice of the fashion industry, I find myself wondering where exactly my place is in the machine I’ve come to regard it as. It’s an interesting feeling to love something while also, in equal measure, fearing it, and I’ve found myself feeling this way about the fashion industry more and more over the past few years. Like my peers and the faculty who I’ve spent the past three years in the company and under the instruction of, fashion has been a driving force and primary form of self-expression in my life for as long as I can remember. However, the more I’ve learned about the truths of the industry, the more the shine has started to wear away, revealing something much more complex than I could’ve ever imagined when I chose to pursue fashion as a career years ago. The industry has been directly responsible for atrocious human rights violations and devastating environmental disaster, all in the pursuit of something that, by design, can never be reached. We, as The Industry, have created a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. So long as there is always a new trend, a new ideal, something better and shinier and more interesting, the machine will continue to churn. When I was beginning to consider what I wanted the focus of this zine to be, I knew that I had to follow the gut feeling I’d been having for months at that point; a feeling that it would not only be irresponsible, but neglectful to not address the wrongdoings of the industry I still love and admire so much. Out of this feeling, Viability was born. Viability is “the ability to live, grow, and develop.” “The ability to function adequately.” “The ability to succeed or be sustained.” These definitions all encapsulate the way I feel when I think about what I most want for fashion. To live, grow, and develop while sustaining itself, those of us within it, and the world as a whole. An exploration and celebration of sustainability in Phoenix’s fashion community, the creation and development of Viability has given me an outlet for my fears and frustrations as I prepare to enter the industry. As the magnitude of the issues created by the fashion industry continued to loom around me, Viability gave me a refuge. Experiencing firsthand the creativity and passion of the artists, designers, and innovators featured in this issue gives me hope for Phoenix’s fashion industry, the global fashion industry, and each of us as individuals as we navigate the path before us.

INTERSECTION

Phoenix isn’t necessarily the first city that comes to mind for most people when it comes to fashion. But for Cole Seefus, multi-media artist, photographer, and creative mind behind local salvaged clothing brand (sidewalk) chawk, Phoenix is brimming with opportunity to foster artistic community while exploring the way art, fashion, and sustain-

ability interact.

“As someone who has long appreciated clothing and art, I’ve always been drawn to their intersection in fashion,” said Seefus. This intersection has clearly served as a foundation for (sidewalk) chawk.

At (sidewalk) chawk, Seefus screen-prints his work onto salvaged garments, which he then sells online, at

pop-ups, and at local markets. This kind of slow, small batch design and production model is often seen as a kind of hinderance to brand growth. But for Seefus and (sidewalk) chawk, they’re an opportunity, not only to create sustainably, but for Seefus to honor and follow his artistic sensibilities.

“Our generation has become acutely aware of

the devastation wrought by overproduction,” said Seefus. “I’ve made it a point to create slowly, with purpose, and use that time to produce in a way that creates the least environmental harm. In a way, I also feel like this approach fits my interests as an artist. The graphics I print I derive from my photography, written work, and illustrations,

Image courtesy of Cole Seefus.

Phoenix multi-disciplinary artist Cole Seefus, the mind behind local salvaged and screen-printed clothing brand (sidewalk) chawk, explains his apprach to slow and sustainable design.

which are haphazard and usually improvisational in subject,” continued Seefus. “The organic nature of the graphics I make fit the organic nature of the graphics I print onto.”

This business model, while far more sustainable and creatively fulfilling than many larger-scale traditional models, isn’t without its challenges. Using salvaged garments and creating one-of-a-kinds makes

a huge difference in (sidewalk) chawk’s environmental impact and saves clothes from ending up in landfills, but using these garments requires Seefus to make different considerations in every facet of the brand, from sourcing to production to product photography.

“There’s little to no consistency in sizing, the feel of the garments, or even sometimes the material of them.

Image courtesy of Cole Seefus.

a kid, some chalk, a sidewalk.

They’re also often expensive if you’re sourcing vintage garments specifically or if you have any particular types or brands you want to work with,” explained Seefus. “Another challenge in relation to this is selling… when everything you print is a unique piece of clothing, you not only have to photograph every item, you also have to accurately indicate how it will fit to someone casually shopping online. Needless to say, I have far better success selling at pop-ups and markets.”

As sustainability and shopping both locally and secondhand have garnered more interest both within the fashion industry and amongst casual consumers, it has given brands like (sidewalk) chawk a new demographic, but has also required Seefus to approach sourcing in new ways. However,

Seefus has learned how to navigate these challenges and rely on his community.

“I’m fortunate that I started sourcing before there was a ‘gold rush’ for vintage blank clothing. So I can afford to be patient,” Seefus said. “I also have a good amount of friends who pass off good blanks when they find them. It’s a community effort.”

Not only has (sidewalk) chawk found a place within the intersection of fashion and art, but Seefus has, too. He’s found a home outside of the traditional fashion scene and recognizes the wealth of sustainable talent in unsuspecting places.

“A lot of the talent exists outside of the more ‘established’ channels like Phoenix Fashion Week,” said Seefus. “I’ve found a home in the art and vintage communities in Phoenix… in those

communities, sustainability is both a choice of conscience and of pragmatism.”

Seefus has plans to continue to grow (sidewalk) chawk but doesn’t feel pressure to rush. He’s comfortable taking careful, deliberate steps while keeping sustainability and artistic integrity at the brand’s heart.

“I take it day by day,” said Seefus. “I have ambitions of seeing (sidewalk) chawk on a national or international scale, but I also make a point to keep the focus on the art rather than the distribution. Salvaged, vintage garments will always be a part of the brand. As (sidewalk) chawk grows, however, I’ll likely also shift more

into using clothes made from recycled cotton and slight defect garments that would otherwise be disposed of by manufacturers.”

Seefus is excited about the future of fashion in Phoenix and feels optimistic that sustainability will continue to be a driving force.

“I believe sustainability and resourcefulness will continue to play central roles in the Phoenix creative spaces,” Seefus asserted.

As long as (sidewalk) chawk and its local counterparts continue their trajectories, it’s safe to say that Seefus is right.

“Our generation has become acutely aware of

Image courtesy of Cole Seefus.

Image courtsey of Cole Seefus.

Where to find Cole and (sidewalk) chawk:

(sidewalk) chawk: @sidewalk_chawk on Instagram, www.sidewalkchawk.com

Cole Seefus: @cseefus on Instagram

Image courtesy of Cole Seefus.

Seefus and (sidewalk) chawk at a pop-up in downtown Phoenix’s

Greater

Good (Image courtesy of Cole Seefus.)

RE AL

NEW

On April 15, fashion and sustainability lovers alike gathered in Tempe Marketplace to watch FABRIC’s annual reFABRICate Fashion Show and kick off Eco-Fashion Week. The show is a unique merging of fashion and sustainability that provides up-and-coming local designers with the opportunity to showcase their work. Designers not only got to see their hard work go down the runway – they also got the chance to compete for the RunzWithScissors Award, named in honor of local designer Astrid Olafson’s brand. Olafson was a contributor to both FABRIC and Eco-Fashion Week who passed away in 2020. The RunzWithScissors Award recognizes new talent as well as honoring Olafson’s memory and her contributions to local sustainable fashion.

This year, the theme of the show was

At FABRIC’s annual reFABRICate Fashion Show, upcycling got the glamourous runway treatment.

denim in all its iterations. Models strutted down the runway to classic anthems like Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s American Girl and The Rolling Stone’s Miss You, reminiscent of American denim’s heyday. Each and every design was created using donated denim clothing, which designers collected from FABRIC and then used to design something entirely new.

“Tonight’s event is celebrating not only designers, but students and community members who have

all picked up donated jeans, that were going to otherwise end up in the landfill. They’ve repurposed them into really unique garments,” said Angela Johnson, FABRIC co-founder and the presenter of the evening. “You’re going to see jeans created into new jeans, jeans created into ballgowns, into bags, hats… the creativity is out of control, and the skill is out of control.”

For some, this was their first experience with designing and showcasing their work on a platform like this. Others have been

for a couple of years now,” Marshall said.

“I go to stores like Goodwill or search through donation piles, and I use that material to create my designs.

Most of the time it’s upcycled curtains, upcycled bedsheets, that kind of thing. It’s a lot cheaper than designing with materials from regular fabric stores. It’s better for the earth, it’s cheaper, and it’s one of the best ways you can design.”

those items as a way to accessorize your new design.”

designing for years and are well-versed in the experience of participating in a show like this.

For Elena Marshall, a freshman in Arizona State’s fashion program and the founder and mind behind brand Lena Mars, this was her first time participating in a show like this, but certainly not her first time upcycling in her designs. As a young designer, she recognizes not only the environmental benefit of creating using upcycled materials, but the financial benefit, too.

“I’ve been doing this

Local seamstress and designer Marcia Hamilton of MarHam Dezigns has been designing with upcycled materials for about two years of her more than ten-year fashion design career. Hamilton makes sure to note the practical challenges of using upcycled materials that are not otherwise faced when designing with brand-new fabric. She also, however, notes the special opportunities upcycling presents,. “You have to open everything up to have a blank slate,” said Hamilton. “It’s a little bit more challenging… you have seams, you have zips, you have buttons. But it’s unique in this way, too, because you can reuse even

Deuandra Brown, a local Phoenix actress, film producer, recording artist, model, and author, has found yet another creative outlet in designing for her brand DETARON Couture. For Brown, the reFABRICate show was her first time creating using upcycled materials. She praised the experience for providing an opportunity to approach design in a light-hearted, exploratory way.

“It was so much fun! You can really just be creative… cut it all up, add rhinestones, your logo, and just have fun with it,” said Brown. After the final model walked the runway, judges met to tally points awarded based on quality, use of materials, and creativity. One judge was Jacquie Simpson, an international retail executive who has worked as a senior executive with luxury brands such as Hudson Bay, Marks and Spencer, and London Fog. Simpson expressed her excitement about not just the event of the night, but all the work FABRIC is doing to

make Phoenix a true sustainable fashion hub.

“I’ve been privileged to be introduced to Angela Johnson and Sherri Barry, and what they’re both doing is really putting Phoenix on the map,” said Simpson.” “I’ve worked internationally in both retail and in manufacturing, and you find small hubs where this little current starts and people get on board with creating innovative things… instead of buying something new, they reuse something that exists… they twist and turn it in an interesting way. That’s really what I find so exciting about being in Phoenix right now. This ground swell

is growing.”

After careful deliberation, the RunzWithScissors Award was awarded to Frisbie, a Phoenix designer who created a full denim look, including a denim bunny hat and a beautifully crafted bag modeled after a dilapidated house, titled “Never Home” from the collection

“The Baggage You’ve Carried,” which alone took more than 100 hours to create.

Undergoing the process of designing an upcycled piece truly from start to finish - from collecting the donated jeans to watching their designs walk down the runway in front of an audience – was no small feat,

“

the talent is out of control.

and the designers had their own advice to offer anyone who might be interested in exploring upcycling.

“Just go for it! Do it!” exclaimed Brown. “There are so many clothes out there that people are just not using, so you might as well rip them up and have some fun!”

“Just jump right in. Bring your own creativity, your own uniqueness,” advises Hamilton. “Because there’s really enough

room for everybody. You’re contributing to our planet, you’re saving our environment, you’re making your mark… so I would say jump in!”

@byefrisbie on Instagram

RunzWithScissors Award Winner: Frisbie

IMMERSIVE INNOVATION

Anyone who’s spent any time attempting to create a more sustainable wardrobe knows how daunting of a task it can be. Deciphering the language and terminology is intimidating without plenty of industry background knowledge, and hours can be dedicated solely to combing through either thrift stores or websites, many of which promise sustainable fashion, but fall short of actually delivering in the ways that truly count. Arizona State University senior Berkly-Anne Reilly found herself in this predicament more times than she can count, and when it came time to decide on a focus for her senior fashion capstone, she knew that making sustainable fashion more accessible would be at the heart. Reilly’s path to finding where her passion lies in the industry has been a unique one. She’s been interested in sustainability since high school when she learned about the true ethical and environmental impact of the fashion industry

and started relying on shopping secondhand to develop her style. She began her academic career as an environmental engineering major at Northern Arizona University and changed her major to environmental sciences, then sustainability, before eventually finding her place at Arizona State as a fashion major. This is a switch that may not seem connected to her background in sustainability to some, but Reilly recognized that ASU’s fashion program’s unique focus on sustainability made it the perfect place to explore the overlap of her passions.

“This program has taught me so much and has just really given me the platform to share my voice on fashion sustainability issues and to develop my perspective, not just through the fashion sustainability class with Jessica Kosak, but even in other classes… everyone is keeping sustainability in mind. The way that sustainability is integrated is so

amazing, and they’re still only going up from here,” Reilly said. After spending several years fully immersed in the conversations and innovations surrounding sustainability in fashion, Reilly was ready to conclude her time at ASU with a meaningful and exciting capstone. The culmination of Reilly’s capstone is impressive; using ChatGPT, an AI natural language processing tool, and Figma, a wireframing tool used for web and app design, she has created a visual proposal for an all-encompassing sustainable fashion app.; Fashion Cycle. Fashion Cycle would serve as

a community forum, a digital shopping space with a focus on small and local businesses, and a kind of toolbox of sustainability resources, providing users with both online and in-person brands that meet the sustainability criteria they’ve set for themselves. But the journey to this capstone focus was not always straightforward. Reilly’s approach to eventually settling on her final capstone project was a complex one; sustainability in fashion is a significant issue to tackle, and she knew that she could take her project in countless directions. She

started over a year ago with an interest in the garment recycling and end-of-life-processes and started looking into creating and scaling up garment recycling facilities. However, she eventually realized that while these kinds of facilities already exist, the problem is not only that fact that so few people know about them, but that most people know little to nothing about sustainability in fashion in general. Narrowing down her ideas on how to solve this continued to present a challenge. “Deciding how I was actually, physically going to represent all of my ideas… I was lost for so

Arizona State Univeristy fashion program senior Berkly-Anne Reilly’s capstone taps into the sustainability buzz with a long-term solution.

long, my head was so clouded with ideas and trying to keep up with them. As was going along, I learned the main issue is that there is not a lot of awareness or accessibility. So, I then turned my ideas toward creating a forum where people can learn. I started having more and more questions about ways to engage with your communities and determined that the best way to produce my concept was with an app… once that ‘aha’ moment hit, I was just like, ‘Why didn’t I think of this sooner?’,” said Reilly.

Reilly’s use of AI in the development of her app is particularly notable in the wider conversation of technology’s place in sustainability innovation.

Reilly makes sure to note that ChatGPT was an extremely helpful tool in building her app, especially as someone who didn’t have prior coding or web design experience.

“I asked it a question:

‘How do I build an app?’ It gave me a step-by-step list of what to do. As you go, you get to continue to refine your questioning. You can narrow it down more and more. It’s such a time saver,” said Reilly. As much as Reilly praised how much time Chat GPT saved her throughout the process or creating the app, she also made a point to note that the AI was not a replacement. It’s clear that Reilly, like many sus-

tainability professionals in the industry, understands that AI will not be a magical, one-stop solution for the problems the industry has created.

“I’m not leaning on it to do my complete project. I’m really using it as a tool. It’s a great tool, but I definitely would not say it’s something that will do a project for you. It’s not meant to replace you. It’s meant to be a tool that will guide you in the right direction and help boost human creativity,” Reilly expressed.

Reilly doesn’t plan to let Fashion Cycle lose momentum after submitting it as her capstone. In fact, she plans to continue to develop it past the mock-up stage and into a fully functioning app and business.

“I would love to take Fashion Cycle to the next level, get it developed, and get it onto the market. I have so many ideas on how to actually make it into a proper business.

I can’t just sit here on top of this amazing idea and let it get dusty in the file cabinet that is my laptop.”

Reilly is especially passionate about the huge production of textile waste at the hands of the fashion industry, and hopes that one day, Fashion Cycle and the accompanying business will play a role in reducing this massive overproduction of waste.

“That’s what really has been motivating me the entire time, is just the

amount of textile waste. It’s my greatest ‘ick’ in the textile industry… textile mountains, the Global North dumping all of our waste onto the Global South in the form of ‘donating.’ I want to help be a part of tackling that issue, which could mean having this community forum backing up that cause,” Reilly said. As technological advancements and solutions continue to generate excitement and buzz in sustainability spheres, Reilly clearly has her finger on the pulse of not only sustainability innovation, but of consumer and community needs, too.

Reilly putting final touches on Fashion Cycle in ASU’s First on Fillmore.

REDUCING MIMIMUM THE

As Phoenix continues to grow as a fashion hub bursting with new, exciting talent, there is a major player located right in Tempe. FABRIC, a fashion incubator, is giving local designers a special place to learn not only how to develop a profitable business model for their designs, but a sustainable business model as well. Angela John-

son, co-founder of FABRIC and local sustainable designer herself, has spent more than twenty years in the fashion industry, and has devoted herself to making sustainability not only the right choice for Arizona designers, but the easy choice, too.

Johnson got her start in the same way as many young designers today, and faced many of the same

challenges, as well. After studying fashion and apparel design at FIDM in Los Angeles, she was ready to put her dreams and designs into action. However, there was a barrier in place in terms of actually producing and manufacturing the designs she was so passionate about. One that is a huge, yet little-known, contributor to the fashion industry’s massive

environmental impact: factory minimums.

“Most manufacturing is set up for big brands who overproduce in huge quantities overseas,” Johnson explained. “When you do that, you end up with excess that gets burned or put into landfills.” But where some might’ve seen these minimums as a roadblock, Johnson saw an opportunity,

one that sparked a passion for sustainability that has affected every aspect of her career to this day and eventually became one of FABRIC’s founding principles. “Sustainability has pretty much been woven into every bit of my career from the beginning,” said Johnson.

“I couldn’t afford, when I started my own brand, to be able to meet minimums at factories…

FABRIC co-founder and local designer Angela Johnson breaks down how she prioritizes sustainability and how she helps new Arizona designers do the same.

Image courtesy of Angela Johnson.

those minimums are usually thousands of pieces. I had to really understand the secret sauce on how to get small batches created. So, back in the 90s, when I started my clothing brand, I was able to make very smalls batches, like, 50 pieces. That was the beginning of my trajectory into sustainable fashion.”

Small batch production is a departure from factory minimums, in which thousands of units are produced, leading to extra units being discarded, as Johnson explained, through incineration or landfill disposal. However, producing in small batches, usually making 50 to 300 units, ensures that a brand or designer is only manufacturing what they know they need and drastically reduces the amount of waste created in the manufacturing process. After beginning her journey into small batch manufacturing in Los Angeles, Johnson eventually closed her original brand, mainly because there were next to no manufacturing resources in her new home state of Arizona. Once again, where many would

have been deterred, Johnson saw another opportunity to incorporate sustainability into the ethos of her career, and ultimately the founding ethos of FABRIC.

“I ended up making ballgowns out of recycled t-shirts. Because there were no manufacturing resources, that was the only thing I could do,” said Johnson.

“That was 2002, and eventually that led into why I created FABRIC. I met all kinds of other designers who needed to make small batches domestically, and there were no resources here to be able to do that.

I wanted to create a place that allows that, and that’s what FABRIC is. To me, that’s the biggest sustainability solution out there. It’s kind of been the foundation for everything I’ve done.”

Sustainability has become a more and more significant issue in the industry over the years, but Johnson remembers a time when this was far from the case. She recounts watching the transformation of sustainability through her own career and the role FABRIC has played in the local industry.

“When I first was in the

fashion industry, no one even talked about sustainability at all… that just wasn’t even a thing.” said Johnson. “When we opened FABRIC, the majority of the hundreds of people coming in didn’t care about sustainability. They were just trying to make a product. There was maybe ten percent of the people who cared about it being sustainable. Now, six years, seven years into FABRIC, it’s completely opposite. Probably 90% of people who come in say ‘I want my brand to be sustainable. I care about where the fabric comes from, that I can

make it on demand, that I don’t overproduce.’ It’s really like night and day.”

Angela knows how overwhelming it can be for new designers to know where to start with sustainable design and encourages them to seek out local resources; specifically, those at FABRIC.

“Come to FABRIC! This is what we created this place for,” Johnson said. “There are hundreds of people that come here every year because there’s no other place that offers this.”

Image courtesy of Angela Johnson.

remnants

BY ISABELLA BAYER

Spending three years at Arizona State’s fashion school, I’ve been surrounded by fabric for the entirety of my time there. The more I learned about the fashion industry’s extreme overproduction of textile waste, the more I started to wonder how many scraps of fabric I’ve discarded over those three years; it started to feel like these scraps were piling up in my mind. In response, I created “Remnants.” an exploration of the tension between textile waste and sustainability and the potential of fabric waste in textile art. I spent three months accumulating fabric scraps from the school’s fashion studio classes, my friends’ projects, and my own projects, and allowed myself to see these scraps as more than just leftovers from a “real” project, and rather as materials that held their own potential. I sifted through the scraps to find those that really spoke to me, and from there I reimagined what they could be. I used hand-sewing, weaving, and embroidery to create textile collages and visual representations of my own feelings surrounding the fashion industry. The choice to use these slower forms of producing by hand was deliberate. I could’ve easily used a sewing machine, but I wanted to represent slow, deliberate production in my artistic process. “Remnants” represents a reimagining of waste as opportunity; a mindset I believe is a driving force behind sustainability in fashion.

An exploration of textile waste and deliberate production through the reimaginination of fabric scraps using hand-sewing, weaving, and embroidery.

The

Built

This textile collage uses scraps from the creation of leather and denim accessories to create a visual representation of the way the fashion industry has created much of the world as we know it today; from the clothes we see on each person in the street to the increasingly impossible-to-ignore environmental turmoil.

World We’ve

Cotton and leather scraps, metal zipper, cotton thread

Chess Cotton muslin and twill scraps

This piece is woven from strips of black twill and white muslin from my own fabric scrap collection. These scraps are actually from the first garments I ever made in ASU’s fashion program; the White Shirt and Black Pants. At times, navigating one’s place in the industry as someone who both loves and fears its impact can feel like mental chess, which this piece represents.

Circularity

This piece is a created from a single fabric scrap and rudimentary embroidery. The scrap, which is circular, green, and features a colorful floral motif, immediately felt reminiscent of Earth. I hand-embroidered winding white stitches from the outside circumference to the center. The stitches become smaller and closer as they wind inward, representing the way fashion connects the world, through both creative expression and the environmental and ethical crises we are all undergoing

Satin fabric scrap and cotton thread

viability

/vye-uh-bill--eh-tee/

noun

a : the ability to live, grow, and develop

b : the ability to function adequately

c : the ability to succeed or be sustained