SAVVAS.SYSTEM embodies MEANINGFUL CLOTHING THROUGH MINIMALIST VALUES. LED BY DESIGNING AT THE HEART OF MANUFACTURE.
The fashion industry has an authenticity deficit coded in immediacy and lack of innovation - with vast amounts of over-production and waste created that is harming the planet. The UK is the fourth-largest producer of textile waste in Europe, and worldwide, over 20 billion new garments end up being wasted every year.
To tackle this, my mission has been to create a system of design and production that enables a made to order fashion business, one which involves access to well made clothing, without the long wait times of traditional pre-order and vast amounts of pre-made stock in the traditional system.
By utilising hand craft and digital manufacturing techniques, I believe I have achieved this through pattern-cutting techniques that reduce the sewing processes required to construct product, in tandem with material that is laser cut to further reduce garment processes through sealed edges and a circular patterns that allow garment closures to be screwed in and out.
My work is deep rooted in process, designing in tandem with production, and my garments truly fulfil a reductional and minimal aesthetic which handily lends itself to rethinking systems in fashion for a better, more sustainable future. The collection I am presenting is more a body and a way of working - the garments follow a higher market level aesthetic but the quantity remains small as I believe we need to slow down and produce less, even if we are shifting to smarter production and economies.
The laser-cutting techniques I have developed, began for function, and have since become part of the design language for my work. The symbolism of a circle is coded with notions of totality, original perfection and timelessness, all to create product that is loved, worn, shared. Utilising a monochrome colour palette further adds to the level of longevity I am trying to achieve with each piece I produce, as we hopefully move into a world of consuming less and appreciating the things we have more.
My future consists of continuing to expand this system through my own fashion business and by developing micro-factories that enable made to order production localised to the customers, and opening this system up to other designers and makers to enable an international made to order system for their own products by expanding the level of machinery and production techniques we use to suit other forms of future product.
I would like to give thanks to the following sponsors for their support during my masters;
Anne Tyrrell Design Award, Black Heart Foundation, Sidney Perry Foundation and the Chizel Educational Trust.
Materials generously donated by;
Loro Piana, Toray, Luxury Jersey, ELeather
Machine sponsorship;
LasercutWorks
