The 2021 inaugural season for Wear We Are Going showcased four designers and their innovative concepts, culminating in our first Eco-Fashion Showcase broadcast on October 3rd, 2021. You can continue to watch the event recording and learn more about our 2021 finalists below.
Looking for the 2022 seasonal information? Return to our homempage:
2021 Showcase Event
2021 Finalists
Design Concept
This concept is inspired by nature’s beauty and resiliency. The design goes against fast fashion by focusing on circular fashion, and by using sustainable materials to produce high-quality garments that will last through years of wear and washing. The end goal of the garment is to be 100% biodegradable. By using high-quality sustainable materials, the garment is ensured to withstand the test of time. Focusing on nature’s power and beauty, I chose a 100% linen fabric that I will hand dye with organically grown beets to achieve a striking and powerful color, reminding us of the resources the earth provides us. The garment is designed to age with you (everyone’s body changes shape and size as we age), with a slightly oversized top and a double wrap skirt that will expand with the body as it changes. The garments are staple pieces, and they can be mixed and matched with other clothes to give the consumer more options and use. To create a garment that promotes circular fashion, it needs to be biodegradable. The garment will be made from linen fabric with cotton thread (there are no buttons or zippers). The topstitching on the garment makes it more durable, while giving it texture and intriguing details. The beets are locally sourced by a women-led small business. They are grown organically and will be used to hand dye the garment. The garment set is garment dyed to produce a unique color, resulting in less water needed in the dying process.
Materials
Organically grown beets, 100% linen fabric, cotton thread, water for dying process, stainless steel pot (for dying the fabric).
About the Artist
Hi, I’m Morgan. I’m a senior at the University of Texas studying for a Bachelors in Textiles and Apparel through the College of Natural Sciences. I’m a fabric, design, dog, and outdoors lover. I work as a TA for computer aided design apparel at UT. This summer I’m working for a small apparel business as an intern! I have a love for sustainable design, and I’m constantly looking to learn more.
Follow the artist on Instagram: @morgandavissss
Design Concept
The vision of this garment is to create a flower in the city, the embodiment of the resilience to be yourself surrounded by uniformity. The garment is in pattern and motion inspired by the nature of the ocean, and in color and silhouette inspired by the nature of the land. I drew inspiration from the firewheel flower and hollow stem Joe-Pye weed because these are plants native to New York. The garment hopes to show that one can remain true to themselves while adapting to their surroundings.
The grey pattern on the bottom of the shorts is derived from sound waves of marine life, and shows that adaptation (the grey of NYC) is an enhancement to your being, not a hindrance. Further inspiration of the city is the practicality of the outfit. It is a part of the piece that does not take away from it, but simply allows it to exist in the environment it was catered towards. Due to the upwards volume of the sleeves and detachable cape, the wearer can walk in a crowd, ride the subway, and perform other everyday activities with ease. The garment will juxtapose the architecture of New York City while maintaining the heart of its people and the designer.
In being sustainable, all textiles used to create the garment will be acquired from FABSCRAP. FABSCRAP, a local 501(c)3 charitable organization based in Brooklyn, collects textile waste and reuses/recycles it. The garment will be constructed out of cotton or sheepskin. The cape will be made out of silk, and then naturally dyed (depending on availability of already-colored material).
Materials
All fabrics will be acquired from FABSCRAP, which sells donated textiles and scraps for the purpose of sustainability. For the core of the outfit, I will need cotton or sheepskin for the top/pants, and the cape will need cotton fabric, with silk or chiffon to make the strips that overlay it. This outfit was designed with the idea that undyed cotton and silk fabrics would be used, with dyes from Maiwa. The fastenings of the cape to the outfit will be nickel-plated brass sew-on snaps, the neck-piece will be buttoned, and the back of the shirt will be zippered.
About the Artist
My name is Alexandra Alesii Debler. I am from New York City, and I’m an undergraduate at the Rhode Island School of Design. I’m an apparel student and designer, and I love all aspects of art including body painting, illustration, character design, and music. My practice as a designer is centered around sustainability and authenticity. Being a feminist and a part of the LGBTQ+ community, I strive to infuse my identity and experiences into the clothing I create. My goal is to inspire confidence, comfort, and a sense of fun for the wearer.
Follow the artist on Instagram: @art_phoenix_ and @alexandra.alesii.debler
Design Concept
Our most precious resource in the universe is water. We know this, and we don’t acknowledge the beauty of this element and how everything is alive thanks to the existence of water.
A poem by R.M. Broderick resonated with me, providing the concept behind my look and what I want to express for this design; it says ”And like water there will be days where we help carve mountains and fill oceans, and there will be days where we fall without any sort of direction and hope like hell that someone catches us.”.
We are like water, we are water, and water like us has a lifecycle. This lifecycle requires endurance, resilience, and adaptation. It could flow smoothly or abruptly. We need to go with the flow and adapt to what we get into or what life throws at us. Garments also have a lifecycle that depends on the creator, the producer, and the owner to assure a balanced sustainable evolution. Our lives, water, and clothing share the same concepts in that sense.
If we contemplate moving water, we will see how it creates beautiful and delicate shapes that resemble fibers. We also know that sometimes water looks so calm on the outside but wild inside or the other way around. All of these made me think about silhouettes and the stiffness or looseness of fabric and clothing when creating my design for this contest.
Cotton is known as a thirsty crop that requires tons of water to be grown and produced. I want to show the dichotomy of water, cotton, and our lives with my look by using sustainable denim fabric (by using upcycled denim fabric or discarded denim pieces).
I have done this in the past and it is a way to use the resources we already have instead of making new fabric from raw materials again, but I would prefer to use a denim fabric that caught my interest and not a lot of people know about. The fabric I intend on using is from ISKO and it has two types of special treatments that make denim more sustainable, one is called ISKO RECALL which helps with shape retention, and less water use in the garment cycle while adding a second-skin feel, and R-TWO which enables the producers to include reused fibers that are usually discarded when making denim to craft reused and recycled denim fabrics, while maintaining the durability and quality. These two special treatments on ISKO denim fabric assure the creation of lasting impact at scale and the fabric is also available for small businesses and upcoming designers; it is hard for small businesses to get their hands on new fibers or materials, but this denim mill wants sustainable designers to make denim pieces more sustainable.
My look features two pieces, a trench coat which represents the stiffness and the strongly structured facade in our lives and the vastness of water, and a dress that represents the flowiness and movement that can be present as well in our lives and all bodies of water.
Materials
Sustainable and upcycled denim fabric.
About the Artist
Lina Mayorga is a sustainable vegan fashion designer and social media influencer who graduated from Parsons The New School of Design in Fashion Design. Born in Colombia and based in New York City, her designs have been featured in Fashion TV, NY1 News, Univision, and Not Just a Label. She gained recognition of sustainable designing in 2017 as a finalist of the Redress Design Award in Hong Kong and won ISKO ISKOOL Best Denim Talent Look Award in 2020. She has participated as a speaker for FIT and PETA discussing ‘vegan fashion’ and at Neonyt Expo in Berlin about ‘reinventing denim and the global impact of her responsible choices’.
Follow the artist on Instagram: @lina.mayorga and @fashionfabnews
Design Concept
The granny square, first created in the late 1800s, got its name from the “granny” was the one who did all the manual work of creating garments and blankets for the family. These strong, resilient women displayed their internal beauty through their creations made for family, and this easy, meditative crochet stitch has been passed down throughout generations. It is now one of the most popular stitches in the USA, with versatility to be made into anything the heart desires. The design concept is a simple, granny squares dress that reflects the beauty of color through combinations of eco-friendly, vintage, and hand-dyed cotton yarns. Beginning with found materials in my Grandma’s old, secret yarn stash (where a few hot pink and yellow squares were already started), this 2-piece, repurposed number is a mixture of old and new; past, present, and future.
This garment will be made with a reduced carbon footprint through at-home production of components, just like Grandma crocheting while rocking in her chair on the porch. The garment can be hand-washed and dried in the sun. This garment is made for the modern women, with the strength and beauty of Grandma woven into the fabric of an ageless design.
Materials
Cotton hand died yarn, crochet hook.
About the Artist
San Francisco native and crochet artist. Lover of yarn, crochet, world travel, food and family.
Follow the artist on Instagram: @nslimgoodies
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