Let’s talk zero waste and the fashion industry

Being zero waste in the fashion industry is hard. It requires brands to rethink their production processes, to choose sustainably sourced materials and to make choices within the limits of our geographical and industry resources. It’s not mission impossible, but it sure does pose many challenges. Not only do the items need to be packaged eco-consciously, either for merchandizing, shipping or retail, but the cutting and production process itself is a huge challenge.

Let’s say you cut cookie dough to make cookies. You can always put all the remaining pieces back together and make more cookie out of the rest of the dough, until there’s no more left. That would be a completely zero-waste approach.

Now, let’s say we want to do the same thing with fabric. It’s hard to put fabric “back together” and make new items again. It’s not impossible, but extremely time consuming. And unless you sew rectangular pieces back together, you’ll probably still end up with fabric scraps at the end.

Cutting a sample for our photoshoot

Some pieces are too small to design and produce anything new. Patching all the pieces together is a really long process (which means it’s actually a way more expensive price point, because a seamstress needs to be paid for her time and work).

So, unfortunately those scrap fabric pieces are usually thrown away. Yes, a bunch of perfectly good fabric is thrown in the garbage! To me, that’s a big no-no. Still, finding ways to reuse and upcycle is quite a challenge.

But sometimes, we just need to think outside the box and use different techniques to reuse material that still has life in it. Like… making paper out of fabric. What!?

Did you know we can make paper from fabric scraps?

Yes, for some types of fibers (I’ll skip the technical jargon and details here), it is possible to transform fabric into paper. This is how I decided to create a totally different product line: paper goodies!

Minimalist design, neutral colors (of course!) and artisanal paper handcrafted in Montreal in collaboration with Atelier Retailles. So, my Tencel, organic cotton and hemp fabric from past productions are reused in a completely zero-waste circle.

Every last bit of fabric piece was reused to make useful goodies that you can use in your day-to-day life. Isn’t it awesome?!

We create plain handmade artisanal paper that you can use for any kind of creative project. With those pretty and raw-edged handmade papers, we made cute notebooks in collaboration with local businesses from Montreal. We also made greeting cards with our locally made stamps featuring cute illustrations.

If you want to learn more about this line of handmade paper products, you can read the following blog articles here (in French).

So, how do you like this idea of making paper out of fabric to save fabric scraps from landfills?