Integrating zero-waste pattern making for sustainable fashion design

Abstract: Integrating sustainable strategies within the conventional fashion design and production process rarely are explored or examined (Gwilt & Rissanen, 2011:57). This poses an opportunity for designers to adopt and cultivate new approaches to the design process where they actively participate. The aim of the study is to identify a set of first principles, underpinned by sustainability theory that is positioned within sustainable fashion praxis through design thinking approaches. The process of zerowaste pattern making is selected as a method to trial and evaluate the adoption of the first principle approach within this study. The study presents a means to facilitate the adoption of sustainable strategies within the fashion design praxis, specifically evaluating clothing construction processes and aligning sustainable strategies to invention points within the conventional design and production process. The study follows a qualitative framework and is situated within a pragmatist paradigm. The transition design framework from Irwin (2018) was adapted to the context of the study to craft a suitable research design, multiple methodologies, practice-led, practice-based and action research function as key frameworks in which the appropriate methods of data collection were deployed. The data collection methods allowed for an engaging investigative and explorative process undertaken by the researcher-practitioner to trial and evaluate adopting a first principle approach within sustainable fashion praxis. The findings presented within the study are limited to the core fashion design process. This encapsulates the first two phases of the design and production process, the trialling and evaluation of a first principle approach to fashion design provided insight into the adoption of innovative methods to assist in facilitating the first principle approach within the design and production process. Opportunities for further studies were identified through the findings, providing future avenues of investigation for evaluation of the first principle approach within the sustainable fashion design praxis.M.A. (Design