NSCAD fashion puts green in style
Fashion students urged to be more eco-friendly.
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Anne Pickard does everything she can to lead her students to sustainable studio practices. (Photo: Mick Côté)
Two professors from NSCAD University's fashion department are trying to put green in style.
They're encouraging students to be more aware of the products they work with.
"I'm not trying to be preachy," said Anne Pickard, a fashion technician at NSCAD. "If the change I can make is just to get them to think about what they're making stuff with, that's a good day."
Pickard is in charge of ordering textiles and other resources for students in the program. She wants students to use organic and recycled fabrics and be conscious of their waste.
An educator's role
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Student, Liz Doré, uses upholstery materials to create her new clothing collection. (Photo: Mick Côté)
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Pickard's textile picks
Anne Pickard believes hemp is a fabric people should focus on and use a whole lot more.
"Hemp grows to great heights, it needs little water and sunlight and grows from soil," said Pickard. "Not only can it be used for clothing, it's a source of food, it can be used for building, and for bio fuel."
Industrial hemp farming became legal in Canada in 1998, but its growth has been associated with marijuana, making it very difficult for farmers to apply for legitimate farming permits.
Hemp is generally stronger than cotton and, unlike cotton, it can grow in Canada.
After hemp, Pickard's favourite textiles to work with are wool, certified organic cotton, leather and linen.
"Reclaimed materials will always be my number one choice. Recycling is so important," she said.
"We do what we can here. I don't buy any material without talking to Gary," said Pickard.
Gary Markle, assistant professor in the department, thinks that it is the educator's role to encourage and develop students' eco-friendly habits.
"I think schools need to be more and more aware of that responsibility," said Markle.
For the last year, Markle and Pickard have made changes in the department, starting off with body forms made of recyclable tape and buying bolts of certified organic fabric.
Other initiatives include a recycling program for all scrap pieces of fabrics bigger than a piece of paper. Smaller pieces are sent to Montreal, where they are broken down for stuffing and insulation.
Consumer awareness
Pickard noticed that more and more people believe that using organic or fair-trade fabric is the right thing to do. The latest push for sustainability has people purchasing products they believe are eco-friendly.
"There's fast food and there's fast fashion," said Pickard. "There's a slow cooked meal and home made clothing."
Pickard frowns on some companies' "greenwashing" advertisements.
Green washing is a term that describes deceptive practices from companies in order to make people believe their product is good for the environment.
"We don't have any labeling laws that are effective in Canada right now," said Pickard. "Fifteen or 20 per cent of that pure wool you bought could be polyester, could be shit on a stick. It could be anything."
Liz Doré, a fourth-year student in the fashion program, has been following her teachers' initiatives closely, but sometimes finds it hard to comply with the school's ideals.
"It's hard if you go to Fabricville and their cotton doesn't say it's certified," said Doré. "You have to dig a little more before finding the certified organic fabric."
Her latest collection is a sustainable project. She plans on making short shorts and blazers from recycled interior design fabrics.
Other students may have to do a little more than use certified organic fabrics to please their professors.
"It's not OK to be less bad," said Pickard. "You have to be good. That's my philosophy."
After making changes in the department's resources, Markle is planning the next step. He will be making changes to the curriculum.
"Folding these ideas within the program is a no brainer," he said.
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