Hello, this is Kubo.
This time, we are continuing our series on "What Fashion Designers Think About Sustainability."
It was quite some time ago, but I went to Bangladesh during the Golden Week holidays in May.
You may be wondering, "Why Bangladesh?", but Bangladesh is one of the countries with which people in the apparel industry have strong ties.
I haven't placed an order with them myself yet, but when I look at apparel online shopping sites, I'm increasingly seeing the words "Country of Origin: Bangladesh," and in fact, according to the WTO's "World Trade Statistics Review 2022," Bangladesh is ranked second in the world as a single country after China.
However, it is not as simple as saying, "The apparel industry is growing and Bangladesh is a great country," and an incident occurred that we must never forget.
Things you should not forget about Bangladesh, an apparel exporting country
Back in the 2010s, the general consensus in society was that "mass production, mass consumption, and as cheaply as possible!" was more important than "sustainability," and the further down the supply chain (everything involved from the procurement of raw materials to the delivery to the consumer), the more frequent the problems and negative effects became.
Even in Bangladeshi garment factories that received orders as suppliers to well-known major apparel companies and global trading companies, poor working conditions and unsafe locations had become the norm. In 2013, the Rana Plaza tragedy occurred, when a group of garment factory buildings collapsed, killing more than 1,000 workers.
This incident has led to various efforts to protect local working conditions and rights, but when a problem occurs, the greatest damage is still done to the weakest points.
Just a few years ago, the coronavirus pandemic triggered exactly this situation.
As people around the world refrained from going out and imposed lockdowns, demand for clothing plummeted, and this impact hit garment factories in Bangladesh in the form of order cancellations and postponements.
Local factories had to suspend operations and many export orders were canceled, amounting to a staggering $304 million!
As a result, the lives of workers, especially women, and local industries suffered enormous damage, and I hear that the country's strength has declined, making it difficult for factories to operate stably even now, and the difficult situation continues.
(Reference: "Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association announces guidelines for reopening factories (Bangladesh)" JETRO)
Upcycling project [PHOENIX LAB. PROJECT]
The situation in Bangladesh is still difficult, but why did I end up going there? It was because I decided to take part in an upcycling project launched by the sustainable outlet mall Smacell to employ Bangladeshi workers and rescue discarded items that have nowhere to go.
In this project, I was tasked with creating upcycled designs for several canceled items as a "designer who provides designs that breathe new life into canceled items and increase the value of those items."
By the way, the project name is [PHOENIX LAB. PROJECT] , and I named it with the hope that clothes that are about to be thrown away will be revived like a phoenix.
However, the order did not say, "Make this clothing look nice," but rather, "Which clothes could be upcycled?" and so we started to select them, which is why we visited Bangladesh to see the actual items in person.
Since most of the clothing sold in Bangladesh is cotton, we selected canceled items that were in good shape, durable, and in good condition, and could be upcycled. We also visited a local sewing factory and met the artisans there.
Bangladesh and Embroidery
Many of the people who work in sewing factories and embroider in Bangladesh are women, and they work mainly in the off-season after the rice crop, the country's main agricultural product.
This has been the case for a long time, and there are a certain number of people who have continued to make crafts using traditional embroidery techniques. When I saw the actual fabrics for sale, I was impressed by the high level of skill involved.
For this reason, from the very beginning of considering the design, I thought, "I want to create something that no one else has done before, but that also has a Bangladeshi flavor. It's up to the designer to show off their skills in choosing and combining designs that will increase the value and encourage people to wear them again." and I expanded on this idea.
This time, I have proposed 30 designs for the [PHOENIX LAB. PROJECT], and I think that all of them will make people marvel at how they were all embroidered by hand.
Why we believe that designs that incorporate subtle fluctuations and irregularities create a sense of character and create attachment
The clothes are full of craftsmanship, embroidered stitch by stitch by local artisans, and are not as precise as machine embroidery, but rather have the slight variations and unevenness that come with being made by hand. This time, I had the clothes tailored in a way that "adds to the character and gives a sense of warmth."
It is because there is a kind of "wavering" or "distortion" that can only come from handwork that customers will be able to find "something" that makes them think "this is great!" among the products hanging in the store, and customers who purchase online will be able to find something that makes them think "this is what I love about it."
It is because of this "something" that we feel that we want to cherish and continue to wear our clothes for a long time. If you're interested, please take a look at our products.
Even if we can't save everything, there are things we can do as fashion designers.
By the way, this 30-inch model from [PHOENIX LAB. PROJECT] is probably something that if you asked anywhere in Japan, they would probably say, "This is a bit difficult..."
Some items require full embroidery, and even if not, there is a considerable amount of embroidery, and when it comes to mass-producing items that are done by hand and meet a certain standard, I think it would be impossible, even though I know many sewing factories and craftsmen who can embroider.
We were able to complete such a difficult job in Bangladesh thanks to the skills of the local craftsmen and the Sumacell staff who managed them.
The work of the Bangladeshi artisans is truly amazing, but one of the things I learned this time was that there are embroidery patterns that they are good at and others that require more ingenuity.
It seems that some of the designs were quite difficult for them, and they came up with ideas such as "Maybe we can do it like this?" and "If we do it like this, it will be easier to embroider and the finished product will be better."
If this project helps raise the level of local embroidery quality again, it will give us the opportunity to broaden our design horizons and take on new challenges, making us think, "Maybe we can do something like this next time?" It might even be interesting to try making more elaborate, "one-of-a-kind, amazing pieces" in the future.
I believe that sustainable activities must be carried out step by step, and that "saving everything" is extremely difficult, and even if it were possible, it would be a very long way off.
I also find it difficult to set a clear goal that says, "This is the end."
But there is something we can do.
This is what I began to think after I was able to take part in an upcycling initiative that breathes new life into canceled clothing that was waiting to be discarded, and increases the value of the items.
This time, we are continuing our series on "What Fashion Designers Think About Sustainability."
It was quite some time ago, but I went to Bangladesh during the Golden Week holidays in May.
You may be wondering, "Why Bangladesh?", but Bangladesh is one of the countries with which people in the apparel industry have strong ties.
I haven't placed an order with them myself yet, but when I look at apparel online shopping sites, I'm increasingly seeing the words "Country of Origin: Bangladesh," and in fact, according to the WTO's "World Trade Statistics Review 2022," Bangladesh is ranked second in the world as a single country after China.
However, it is not as simple as saying, "The apparel industry is growing and Bangladesh is a great country," and an incident occurred that we must never forget.
Things you should not forget about Bangladesh, an apparel exporting country
Back in the 2010s, the general consensus in society was that "mass production, mass consumption, and as cheaply as possible!" was more important than "sustainability," and the further down the supply chain (everything involved from the procurement of raw materials to the delivery to the consumer), the more frequent the problems and negative effects became.
Even in Bangladeshi garment factories that received orders as suppliers to well-known major apparel companies and global trading companies, poor working conditions and unsafe locations had become the norm. In 2013, the Rana Plaza tragedy occurred, when a group of garment factory buildings collapsed, killing more than 1,000 workers.
This incident has led to various efforts to protect local working conditions and rights, but when a problem occurs, the greatest damage is still done to the weakest points.
Just a few years ago, the coronavirus pandemic triggered exactly this situation.
As people around the world refrained from going out and imposed lockdowns, demand for clothing plummeted, and this impact hit garment factories in Bangladesh in the form of order cancellations and postponements.
Local factories had to suspend operations and many export orders were canceled, amounting to a staggering $304 million!
As a result, the lives of workers, especially women, and local industries suffered enormous damage, and I hear that the country's strength has declined, making it difficult for factories to operate stably even now, and the difficult situation continues.
(Reference: "Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association announces guidelines for reopening factories (Bangladesh)" JETRO)
Upcycling project [PHOENIX LAB. PROJECT]
The situation in Bangladesh is still difficult, but why did I end up going there? It was because I decided to take part in an upcycling project launched by the sustainable outlet mall Smacell to employ Bangladeshi workers and rescue discarded items that have nowhere to go.
In this project, I was tasked with creating upcycled designs for several canceled items as a "designer who provides designs that breathe new life into canceled items and increase the value of those items."
By the way, the project name is [PHOENIX LAB. PROJECT] , and I named it with the hope that clothes that are about to be thrown away will be revived like a phoenix.
However, the order did not say, "Make this clothing look nice," but rather, "Which clothes could be upcycled?" and so we started to select them, which is why we visited Bangladesh to see the actual items in person.
Since most of the clothing sold in Bangladesh is cotton, we selected canceled items that were in good shape, durable, and in good condition, and could be upcycled. We also visited a local sewing factory and met the artisans there.
Bangladesh and Embroidery
Many of the people who work in sewing factories and embroider in Bangladesh are women, and they work mainly in the off-season after the rice crop, the country's main agricultural product.
This has been the case for a long time, and there are a certain number of people who have continued to make crafts using traditional embroidery techniques. When I saw the actual fabrics for sale, I was impressed by the high level of skill involved.
For this reason, from the very beginning of considering the design, I thought, "I want to create something that no one else has done before, but that also has a Bangladeshi flavor. It's up to the designer to show off their skills in choosing and combining designs that will increase the value and encourage people to wear them again." and I expanded on this idea.
This time, I have proposed 30 designs for the [PHOENIX LAB. PROJECT], and I think that all of them will make people marvel at how they were all embroidered by hand.
Why we believe that designs that incorporate subtle fluctuations and irregularities create a sense of character and create attachment
The clothes are full of craftsmanship, embroidered stitch by stitch by local artisans, and are not as precise as machine embroidery, but rather have the slight variations and unevenness that come with being made by hand. This time, I had the clothes tailored in a way that "adds to the character and gives a sense of warmth."
It is because there is a kind of "wavering" or "distortion" that can only come from handwork that customers will be able to find "something" that makes them think "this is great!" among the products hanging in the store, and customers who purchase online will be able to find something that makes them think "this is what I love about it."
It is because of this "something" that we feel that we want to cherish and continue to wear our clothes for a long time. If you're interested, please take a look at our products.
Even if we can't save everything, there are things we can do as fashion designers.
By the way, this 30-inch model from [PHOENIX LAB. PROJECT] is probably something that if you asked anywhere in Japan, they would probably say, "This is a bit difficult..."
Some items require full embroidery, and even if not, there is a considerable amount of embroidery, and when it comes to mass-producing items that are done by hand and meet a certain standard, I think it would be impossible, even though I know many sewing factories and craftsmen who can embroider.
We were able to complete such a difficult job in Bangladesh thanks to the skills of the local craftsmen and the Sumacell staff who managed them.
The work of the Bangladeshi artisans is truly amazing, but one of the things I learned this time was that there are embroidery patterns that they are good at and others that require more ingenuity.
It seems that some of the designs were quite difficult for them, and they came up with ideas such as "Maybe we can do it like this?" and "If we do it like this, it will be easier to embroider and the finished product will be better."
If this project helps raise the level of local embroidery quality again, it will give us the opportunity to broaden our design horizons and take on new challenges, making us think, "Maybe we can do something like this next time?" It might even be interesting to try making more elaborate, "one-of-a-kind, amazing pieces" in the future.
I believe that sustainable activities must be carried out step by step, and that "saving everything" is extremely difficult, and even if it were possible, it would be a very long way off.
I also find it difficult to set a clear goal that says, "This is the end."
But there is something we can do.
This is what I began to think after I was able to take part in an upcycling initiative that breathes new life into canceled clothing that was waiting to be discarded, and increases the value of the items.