'Natural Summer' by Savanah Gerber

Category: Apparel

Hello, My name is Savanah Gerber, I am a fashion design student that is currently pursuing an honours degree at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. For my fashion apparel entry, I will be presenting a concept titled “Natural Summer”, in which I aim to reinvent summer for the everyday consumer. The idea behind the design was to create a garment that is functional and stylish but is not so extravagant that it becomes unwearable. The design’s simplicity allows versatility so that it can be worn by all ages and styled according to their personal taste. This simplicity supports easy marketing and creates opportunities for alternative variations of the design to be considered. One of my key goals when designing the garment is to ensure that, if it were to be produced on a large scale, that it would be affordable for many buyers. Sustainable fashion is not accessible to everyone due to the high cost associated with it– which is a result from cost of natural materials, and environmentally friendly production practices as they are not yet the standard in the industry. During my research, I was particularly influenced by Karl Aspelund’s The Design Process, where he discusses the importance of working within consumer culture to promote sustainability as a far more successful choice than protesting the culture itself. This insight shifted my perspective and helped define what kind of garment I want to create. For the fabric, I have chosen a hemp and organic cotton blend which creates a light linen-like material, making it ideal for summer or spring seasons. The fabric is breathable, comfortable, and environmentally conscious. Hemp is sustainable because of its for its fast growth and low usage of water, while organic cotton uses alternate methods of farming by eliminating the use of harmful pesticides, making it a safer and more eco-friendly alternative.

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