The Circular Redesign Challenge with TAL Apparel

As designers, there is a real opportunity to partner with manufacturers and other industry partners to design out waste within the supply chain and through to consumer use. In the Circular Redesign Challenge with TAL Apparel, we challenged our Redress Design Award Finalists to create an outfit using defective shirts, ​​inspired by an exclusive circular design collection from The R Collective x Garcia Bello.

When approaching your own project, follow the same three circular values to keep outfits in use, and loved, for longer:

DESIGN VALUE

• Strive for zero-waste design, in terms of fabric utilisation and design patterns

  Manage the cutting waste and plan solutions for it. For example, record the amount of waste in proportion of the original garments, explore possibilities to reuse them in the design, check if it can be recycled by your supplier

PRODUCTION VALUE

• Ensure materials are durable (fabric and accessories)

• Choose durable construction to make sure garment is well constructed to allow longevity and multiple lifetimes e.g. strengthen any stress points

• Consider production, commerciality and scalability (this includes the “Sewing Minute Value” (SMV))

CONSUMER VALUE

• Tell customers about the design journey and how design decisions were made in consideration of waste and circularity to engage customers and create emotional longevity

• Support customers on their garment care, including storing, washing, and stain removal, to allow for longevity and maintain the garment in its highest value