Meet GFF Talent, Cerys Jones, a fashion design with textiles at the University of Huddersfield. Her final year project, Imitation Jungle, is a womenswear collection inspired by streetwear, houseplants, urban jungles and the natural environment. Having experienced the reality of the fashion industry in her placement year with a fast fashion brand, Cerys’ focus is on creating biodegradable, conscious clothing. Read more below!
What is the most valuable thing you have learnt at university?
University has taught me such a vast amount of knowledge which has encouraged me to take every opportunity and think about things with a more open mind, it has really opened my eyes to the present and future fashion industry. I have learnt so much about sustainability and natural biodegradable fabric alternatives, especially within the past year and it is something that I feel very strongly about, trying to incorporate this knowledge into my work and practise wherever possible as I want to raise awareness and make a difference where sustainability is concerned.
What was the starting point of inspiration for your final project?
The collection narrative started off being based around urbanization and how our current younger generation has responded by “bringing the outside in” to create their own unique “urban Jungles” through the use of tropical houseplant styling, that evokes a sense of calm, compensating for diminishing landscapes. The original inspiration for the project diverged from botanical imagery and urban Manchester architecture to form modern street style attire. The aim was to create conceptual garments that would be environmentally responsible, leaving little or no impact once they reach the end of their lifecycle, this was a great starting point for my project which opened up many other areas of research to help develop my ideas. I wanted consideration for the planet to be at the centre of this womenswear A/W 21/22 collection.
With fast fashion and the use of synthetics having a negative impact within the industry, I wanted to create awareness of sustainable fabric alternatives which are becoming more widely available to reduce the consequences fashion has on our planet. Recent developments in woven, knitted and bonded textiles showed new innovative natural plant-based resources which can be used as environmentally friendly substitutes that will biodegrade if they ever enter landfill, something I knew I had to incorporate within my collection. Correct fabric, component and fastening choice was, and still is a crucial element within my work and it is essential that it takes a sustainable path to ensure the impact it has on the environment is minimal. Through spending a year on placement working for a large influential fast fashion company I gained a wider awareness of how the fashion industry can be dramatically improved and how influential the design process is when accommodating sustainable practice in terms of fabric choice, waste and quality. This is something that became extremely important to me and provided the direction for my graduate collection.
What form will your final project take?
Imitation Jungle will take on the form of 6 designed outfits, with two final outfits being constructed which will act as a visual environmental campaign through my textile prints and embroidered slogans. My womenswear collection is inspired by streetwear attire designed for A/W 21/22. Outfit one consists of an oversized trench coat, belted at the waist that features handcrafted structured sleeves, made up of recycled leather pieces to form delicate tiered 3D sleeves that creates a unique and original feature to the garment. This piece will also feature my textile visuals taking the form of print and embroidery which will portray the campaign elements within my work. The back storm flap will feature a large-scale print with a drawing of a distressed young female, designed to create a maximum impact that is open to interpretation, the front will feature an embroidered slogan “Eco not Ego”.
The lining for this garment will also take on the same aesthetic but with a range of many large-scale faceprints with different expressions. The background of this print will also feature in various other places within the collection. Paired with this outfit is a split front jumpsuit which is ruched around the opening to create fullness which is fastened around the ankle to create a dramatic street-style silhouette. Over this is a cropped sweater with large sleeves with a cold shoulder ruched detail that has a statement slogan embroidered onto the front. Outfit two features a wide-leg pair of trousers also created from recycled leather pieces to form a delicate tired 3D leg panel on either side, with my print featuring on the inside of the leg. This is paired with a cropped sweater with large ruched open sleeves that fasten around the wrist, with a large hood and cut out ruched detail on the front. A large-scale slogan will feature on the back to coincide with the first outfit. All ruched details will be created with a self-fabric cord and finished with cord clips and toggles. All fabrics used are environmentally friendly and biodegradable, including bases such as hemp, bamboo and organic cotton, these will be self-dyed using eco reactive low impact dyes.
What materials have you used and how did you source them?
Correct fabric, component and fastening choice is a crucial element within my work and it is essential that it takes a sustainable path to ensure the effects it has on the environment are minimal. This collection aims to embrace sustainability by showcasing biodegradable fabric alternatives to synthetics with the incorporation of recycled materials, with emphasis on its UK made label. The main fabric choices include pure organic hemp, bamboo, organic cotton (dyed using eco dyes) and recycled leather, which aims to support the circular fashion model, giving the collection its unique selling point. This aims to reduce the ecological consequences fashion has on the planet as a whole, with the hope to encourage this on a larger widespread scale. It’s the idea that the collection will be manufactured to be long lasting, hardwearing and durable through the use of high-quality natural sustainable resources that aim to increase the collections wearable functionality and lifecycle.
The main fabric for the collection has been sourced from a small independent UK based farm in Somerset, which specialises in ethical, sustainable and ecological practice with the environment being their main focus. All of their specialist fabrics are made from resources such as hemp, bamboo and organic cotton with their main fibre being hemp, which is all 100% natural, vegan, organic and biodegradable. Hemp is a great fabric alternative because the fibres are porous, so they allow your skin to breathe, whilst also being softer, stronger and more durable than cotton. All components such as zips and buckles will be sourced from either old second-hand garments or from deadstock. During the toiling process, I tried to use as many old garments and interiors as possible to reduce the amount of calico that was used, this included things like my dad’s old joggers and sweatshirts along with a pair of old curtains! I had a lot of fun transforming these into my own styles and it’s definitely something I will continue to do in the future to give products a second life, avoiding landfill. “I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use.” Mother Teresa.
How has it evolved from your initial ideas and what have you learnt along the way?
My final collection has evolved massively from my initial ideas. From my starting point, I always knew the environment was at the forefront of this collection with the main focus being on urbanization and creating indoor jungles to compensate for this. However, as the collection progressed, I decided I wanted to put more emphasis on raising awareness for sustainability issues through the use of my hand-drawn portraits and slogans to create striking provoking prints. This was aimed to gain the full attention of the viewers, so they start to question the meaning of the collection and what it stands for. This took my research into analysing expressions in protests and the messages these people were portraying to incorporate as statement artwork within my collection.
Originally, I was only thinking about the garments in the present moment and thinking how they could be sustainably made through using environmentally friendly biodegradable fabrics. As the project developed, I started to think about the garments during and after their lifecycle, as in how can I make these garments last and what will happen to them after? After interviewing a textile scientist and researcher they explained that yes, biodegradable fabrics are important in helping sustainability, but it only solves part of the problem. He then went onto explain that circularity within fashion is one of the best processes to incorporate within fashion because you’re using what we already have. This made me realised the end of a garment’s life cycle is just as important as it’s in use lifecycle. This encourage me to think beyond the production of the collection and made me question what these garments could be used for after and could the components be used for future collections once their life cycle is over. This process of development through my final collection journey has taught me to be extremely open-minded and to just express myself and my beliefs through my work, to push concepts and ideas beyond the norm to create something original and relevant. I think this makes the project more personal.
What are the messages and themes behind your project that you want people to take away? Do explore any topics like diversity, sustainability or politics in your work?
Imitation jungle is designed with a strong environmental and sustainable ethos which acts as a focal point throughout the collection, presenting itself as an environmental campaign through the textile artwork and visuals in the form of portraiture and campaign slogans. The main emphasis is based on the slogan “Eco not Ego”. This intends to represent the voices and frustration of the younger generation in regard to current issues surrounding the planet. “The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say- we will never forgive you.”- Greta Thunberg, environmental activist. The narrative that runs throughout the collection portrays messages of frustration and anger, the portraiture is filled with emotional distress to attract attention and make an impact, inspired by the younger generation’s feelings at environmental protests.
It’s the idea that if we don’t change our habits, we are damaging the planet for future generations, something I want people to engage with and take away. It is said that we don’t inherit the planet from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. I think this really hit home, that we need to change, not just for ourselves but to protect the future of the human race, something I want people to think about. I hope people connect and resonate with the messages I am trying to portray through my work which will hopefully inspire the older and younger generations to take steps in becoming more sustainable, not just within fashion but with their everyday life. This could include small decisions like reducing plastic consumption, eating less meat or swapping reusable face pads! Small steps can create a big impact, especially in the long run which is a crucial message I want to be taken away from this project. Also, with sustainability being at the core of the collection and the emphasis on plant-based fabrics, I want this to show people that there are some amazing natural alternatives to synthetics that have incredible properties with benefits for the garment and the environment.
What’s an aspect of the fashion industry that you’re passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?
I would love to change the direction of fashion and the buying habits of consumers to raise awareness of sustainability issues we face and what we can do about it, hopefully creating a positive impact. This could be through showcasing natural fabric alternatives, buying second hand and reworking garments that promote circularity, elements that run through my final graduate collection. I think as a generation we have been taken in by fast fashion, creating a “throwaway society” that is potentially toxic for the planet. I feel this attitude shows we don’t appreciate our clothing or recognise a garments true beauty which may be due to low prices resulting in low quality, our clothes are not made to last anymore!
I would love to put the quality back into our clothing to reduce the waste aspect of the fashion industry. I think this starts with awareness, making companies adopt and implement sustainability into their collections, quite a few retailers have started to do this which is great to see and an incredible step in the right direction. I feel that things definitely need to change within the fashion industry if it wants to maintain a successful future. I think us as consumers also need to acknowledge we have to change our buying habits to be more aware of sustainable and ethical factors when purchasing our clothing.
This starts with companies educating and being honest about their clothing to further encourage people to buy sustainably. I think the main thing I would like to see in the fashion industry is for people to love their clothing again and hold value within good quality pieces that will last in our wardrobes for decades. I don’t think as an industry we’ll ever be fully sustainable, but I think with growing awareness amongst young designers and some amazing developments within sustainable fashion, especially with the use of plant-based fibres, recycled fabrics and circularity, we are on the right path to a bright sustainable future.
What is your plan once you finish your BA?
I am extremely excited to enter the fashion industry once I finish my degree. I would love to design for a small company who has a sustainability ethos at the centre of their brand where quality is more important than quantity. Eventually, I aim to open my own small label which focuses on sustainability, circularity and natural biodegradable fabrics, this is something that is very important to me. I really want to make a difference within the fashion industry whether this is through raising awareness or changing peoples buying habits by offering environmentally friendly products. If I make a positive impact, big or small, I will be happy with in my career, small changes lead to big things!