The zero-waste pantsuit by Natascha von Hirschhausen stands for easy, elegant designer fashion produced in a radically sustainable and innovative manner. Handmade locally and on-demand this zero-waste evolution provides a 99% of material efficiency in the cutting process, so that the leftovers of less than 1% are small enough to be presented in a little earring. All materials are audited along the entire value chain for high ecological and social standards - for a #WasteLessFuture.
As summarized in the speech by President Ursula von der Leyen at The New European Bauhaus – Werkstatt der Zukunft: „I am impressed by the work of Natascha von Hirschhausen for example. She is aiming towards zero-waste design. And she manages to reduce fabric waste in the design process from 20% to less than 1%.“
The zero-waste pantsuit by Natascha von Hirschhausen stands for radically sustainable fashion. Thanks to the zero-waste pattern-cutting design, the pantsuit as well as the entire fashion collection is produced with less than 1% waste. With this design evolution, the curves of the human body are represented in a zero-waste 2D pattern, which will fit the 3D body shapes. With this innovative concept about 20% of resources are saved in the cutting of the material alone compared to all conventionally produced garments.
The zero-waste pantsuit, like every garment of the collection, is made of natural, organic and fair materials in every component. All materials are audited along the entire value chain for high ecological and social standards - for a #WasteLessFuture.
The zero-waste pantsuit represents the brands uncompromising claim to set the benchmark for sustainable design. Every decision is based on the idea of finding the most sustainable solution, resulting in a truly holistic concept.
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context
The zero-waste pantsuit as well as all brand's products display the high level of responsibility felt towards the use of human and material resources. Therefore Natascha von Hirschhausen sincerely accepted the challenge of pioneering in the zero-waste pattern making aiming to safe the 20% of resources lost in conventional pattern cutting.
All garments with conventional patterns cause around 20% of material loss in the cutting process, these off-cuts are either burned or down-cycled. We aim to change this bad habit, by including our innovative zero-waste design approach in the pattern making process.
Furthermore all components of all the brand's garments are made of purely natural materials, which are audited annually along the entire value chain for ecological and social sustainability - from the main material to the care-tag and the packaging. This focus on purely organic material in every component allows complete end-of-life recycling.
There is an intent focus on waste-free solutions in fashion retail through innovative made-on-demand and pre-order systems, too.
The zero-waste pantsuit represents the brand's uncompromising claim to set the benchmark for sustainable design. Every decision is based on the idea of finding the most sustainable solution, resulting in a truly holistic concept.
As summarized in her Speech by President Ursula von der Leyen at The New European Bauhaus – Werkstatt der Zukunft: „I am impressed by the work of Natascha von Hirschhausen for example. She is aiming towards zero-waste design. And she manages to reduce fabric waste in the design process from 20% to less than 1%.“
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context
"Form follows function." and in the 21st century, we have to add "Design follows future". Design is the key to sustainability and solutions aiming at a deep impact on the change of procedures in the textile industry start with the first step in the supply chain. Pattern making is hereby the most challenging part in the creative process. This zero-waste pantsuit is a vivid example of rethinking conventional cutting optimization, because the resource efficiency of almost 100% is integrated into the design process.
Natascha von Hirschhausen stretches the improvement to a solution that works for single items as well as bulk production.
The zero-waste pantsuit stands out from all of our other designs because it has been the state of the art in pattern making: translating a traditional garment into its modern zero-waste version.
The main focus remains on the final result to be enjoyed by the customer, worn with pleasure hopefully for a long time. That is why we create sophisticated, minimalistic garments with size-fluent tailoring and a unique design.
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context
The resource balance sheet of the zero-waste pantsuit illustrates the clear advantages of our innovation: We need 3.80 m2 of cotton for one zero-waste pantsuit. On the contrary a conventional suit consumes about 5.18 m2 of material. Hence we thus save about 26% or 1.29 m2 of the material for each of our zero-waste pantsuit. The waste originating from conventional cutting corresponds to about 0.31 kg of cotton material per cut. Meaning, at least 0.31 kg less cotton must be grown for each of our zero-waste pantsuit. Accordingly zero-waste cutting saves 2.3 m2 of cotton cultivation area per zero-waste pantsuit. Implying further, 3410 liters less water are used per zero-waste pantsuit. Since cotton is not farmed in Europe but global climate knows no borders a more efficient utilization of all resources might help solving global issues.
In order to inspire more zero-waste design overall, we educate people in workshops creating places for open communication and exchange. To make our products affordable for all we give some of our patterns open-source, so people can either spend money or time - to start communication and redefine the idea of fashion as a product.
Please highlight how this approach can be exemplary
We are planning to expand the zero-waste approach and create a mass-produced zero-waste collection with an internationally renown fashion group. Especially in mass production for the market segments of medium to low price categories, the zero-waste approach has an extremely high potential, as the levers are correspondingly larger and more resources can be saved. In this way, it is also possible to reach more people with the topic of zero-waste products.
Especially customer groups who are very interested in sustainable textile products but have limited financial resources and cannot afford mid- to high priced fashion. We are looking forward to the new challenge of being able to present a sustainably produced and waste-free collection to the mass market. Our vision is for all textile companies to be waste-free, or at least waste minimized, and to monitor all components of their clothing for high environmental and social standards along the entire value chain.
The zero-waste pantsuit specifically reduces CO2-emissions by over 60%, saves over 97% of fresh water and reduces the land use by more than 87%. These numbers are calculated by an independent impact measuring company and show, that the zero-waste and holistic sustainability approach have an enormous impact in comparison to conventional fashion production.
In the bigger picture the strong leverage of our zero-waste cutting technology becomes even clearer: Let's assume that a large fashion company would switch the production of its cotton products to zero-waste cutting. With a production volume of about 1.6 billion garments and a cotton content of 35%, this means a saving of 180,000 tons of cotton, 130,000 ha of arable land and 2 Billion m3 of water.
All garments produce about 20% of offcuts during the production process. Therefore about 20 million t of waste originate from the cutting of the garments alone. With our innovative zero-waste cutting technique we reduce this waste to less than 1% saving up to one fifth of resources per cut. Unlike minimising the symptoms like many recycling projects do, we tackle the core of the waste problem with our zero-waste designs.
Please also explain the benefits that derived from their involvement.
To create a zero-waste pantsuit the goal was to define a new standard for a common garment worn by many. The traditionally male uniform like pantsuit is now available in a gender-fluid version, that through its skin friendly material and sustainable manufacturing can be enjoyed by any customer throughout the whole day every day.
In this way it suits the necessities of contemporary work life of many office and creative workers. Their needs stood exemplary for just any needs of modern day office work environment: to fit into organizations and at the same time stand out for ones work results, to feel comfortable and simultaneously be dressed appropriately, to express ones personality through clothing.
The waste problem is a global problem. Worldwide the off-cuts of fashion production are left where the production takes place - most of the time in the global south. These off-cuts cause catastrophic pollution and health issues. By providing the zero-waste solution, we safe 20% of our resources, over 80% of land use, over 60% of CO2-emissions and over 97% over water depletion - mainly where the raw material cotton is being produced, meaning Kirgistan and Uganda.
By manufacturing zero-waste pantsuit locally and on-demand Natascha von Hirschhausen found a solution for her decision of being 100% responsible for all the brand's outcome and aiming at a solution not only for her local staff but furthermore for any staff involved in producing textiles.
For as we know today, the price for a carefree consumption of cheap and fast fashion is payed by workers in other parts of the globe with catastrophic human and environmental aftereffects. Due to the reduction of the bulk production to actually one on one numbers in sales, the zero-waste approach is represented in the consequently prevention of any overproduction. The consistent zero-waste attempt prohibits once and for all the need to destroy perfectly new fine garments only because they had not been sold fast enough, by people that could not even afford these clothes with the little earnings they make working for global fast fashion brands.
We share one world and take responsibility to make it a place worth living for everybody by zero-waste design, which is produced locally cross-seasonal and on-demand.
We are happy to present the zero-waste pantsuit as new standard to a very traditional garment. To detect the innovative character a closer look to its details is needed: the progressive pattern making allows a reduction of waste to 1% of the needed overall material saving around 20% in comparison to conventional pattern cutting.
In Europe Natascha von Hirschhausen is pioneering in zero-waste design and expands this idea successfully to the entire fashion collection - inspiring to open a discussion about the waste problem.
Conventional pattern making has a strong reference to eras when garments had been manufactured individually and uniquely. Starting with industrializing textile production and assembling clothes in bulk productions traditional pattern making causes a waste in material of about 20% that leads to masses of junk and therefore loss of valuable resources.
The zero-waste approach in pattern making demands a revision of conventional patterns. This challenge is for everyone within this profession: from highly skilled pattern makers to students in training it is be possible to take the zero-waste approach into account while transferring and creating patterns for types of garments. Even the smallest reduction will globally help in the long run.
Please provide clear documentation, communication of methodology and principles in this context.
Natascha von Hirschhausen is ready to share the results of her research and creative process by publishing patterns as open source. In this way the professional community can participate in her work so far and continue the movement. Through a vivid technical exchange zero-waste pattern making can be developed further and lead to new solutions for well known and numerously demanded common garments and be therefore a solution for any conventional fashion brand as well.
The zero-waste approach has been taught in our workshops and in tutorials at various universities to a great number of curious and open minded professionals and learners. The interactive exchange did therefore improve the efforts taken towards a sustainable and longlasting change in today's pattern making processes throughout the whole textile industry.
UPLOAD:
- independent impact measurement report of the lifecycle assessment for our collection
- all certifications (GOTS, IVN Best and Fair for Life) for every component of our collection
@Nataschavon Hirschhausen, 2021
Content licensed to the European Union.