Author: Gabriel Chi

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Good Design Exercise/ Presentation: Gabriel Chi

For our assignment for finding a “good” design, I decided to paint something that adheres to the traditional principles of composition. For photography, painting and any medium of art that requires some level of composition, the rule of thirds is one of the fundamental components to beginning composition. The rule essentially requires the composer to split the canvas into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. Where these lines intersect and lay on the canvas are guidelines to where your eye will naturally fall on, making it more visually digestible. Additionally, I started incorporating watercolor into this painting due to its expressive and colorful nature, that I feel represents aesthetically pleasing or “good” design. 

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Group Presentation Documentation: The Next Black

Link to The Next Black:

For our group presentation, we watched a documentary featuring the sustainable future of fashion through different organizations, companies and people. Specifically for my analysis, I focused on BioCouture and its founder: Suzanne Lee. Both BioCouture and Lee have been leading the way in a completely new form of sustainable fashion, actually growing and biologically creating garments from scratch. Using the method of growing Kombucha, Lee brews fabrics from only a simple ingredients, such as the bacteria culture, green tea and sugar. Through this process of growing and drying the bacteria after growth, creates a unique and sustainable fabric that can be easily created and disposed of. 

I was really shocked by this completely new method of sustainability, as I have never heard of anyone “growing” their own clothing. Having some experience growing my own Kombucha in science class, I would have never imagined the possible applicability of it to the realm of fashion and clothing. Innovators such as Lee show the unique and diverse avenues of which designers can begin to create their clothing. Instead of the “thinking out of the box” during the design phase, we can also apply the same thinking in different phases, just like Lee has with the growing of her own fabric. 

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Week 4: Designing for the Circular Economy: Cradle to Cradle Design Perkins and Gullingsrud | Gabriel Chi

In “Designing for the Circular Economy: Cradle to Cradle Design”,  Annie Gullingsrud and Lewis Perkins approach the unsustainable industry of fashion, tackling the issues through their “Cradle to Cradle” approach. Although I understood how unsustainable the fashion industry was, after reading this paper, I realised how many changes are actually necessary to change our unsustainable ways. A quote I found extremely thought provoking was, “Is it possible for sustainable fashion to be beautiful and good for the planet?” (294) .  I personally believe that there is a general stigma against sustainable fashion, especially that it will never be “as good”  as we normally produce. However, this is not the case. When watching the documentary “The Next Black” I was introduced to a plethora of different sustainable forms of fashion, all with their unique charm and aesthetic beauty. For example, the kombucha/ scobi based dresses and garments are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also are an innovative new way to create garments. I believe by pushing messages of sustainable fashion’s aesthetic beauty and benefits to the environment in parallel, will be the underlying force that pushes the general public towards a more sustainable industry and lifestyle. 

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Week 4: Response to “Building a Sustainable Company” | Gabriel Chi

After reading Eileen Fisher and Eileen Fisher INC.’s story, I was incredibly impressed by the ambitious nature of their goals and work towards sustainability. Eileen Fisher’s plan for moving towards 100% sustainability in 2020 is not only innovative, but sets a huge example towards other fashion companies within the industry. As stated by Fisher, “I believe as a business we can be a voice for change; that business can be more than about just making a profit and putting more stuff out there. We can use business to change the world, literally. We can be a force to develop and grow people, make better products, have an impact on sustainability.” 

We constantly see environmental conservation groups advocating for sustainability and to manage our personal waste, however, taking an approach from the perspective of a fashion industry is especially effective. Clothing and apparel is something that every person in the world, to some degree, takes part in. By slowly moving towards a completely sustainable model, other B Corporation companies can take cues from Eileen Fisher INC, and together, they will could possibly make an effective step towards a completely sustainable industry.