Making Sustainability Fashionable Julie Zenobi - Facilitator of Design Education New Design High School, Manhattan
One of the biggest problems facing our generation right now is the negative environmental impact our lifestyles are having on the planet. Teenagers are intrigued with the glamour of the fashion world, but are unaware of the extreme pollution the textile industry inflicts on the environment. As a high school textile and fashion design instructor, a major goal of mine is to create awareness about sustainability for the next generation of designers and consumers, so they can create a healthier environment for their communities.
I’ve spent much time and research on pushing 21st century thinking skills and innovation within design practices -- but perhaps it is not about looking forward, as much as it is about looking to our past. This key question has led to my desire to explore indigenous craft and culture. For centuries, communities of artisans have lived in harmony with the environment while producing beautiful products. What lessons can we learn from them about preserving craft and culture, that can be applied to our art, design and business practices?
The Zapotec people are part of a culture going back at least 2,500 years, concentrated in the Oaxaca State of Mexico. I designed my Fund for Teachers fellowship to explore and practice indigenous crafts with a master Zaptotec weaver as a model for sustainable design while engaging in local culture and language to create awareness about sustainability among the next generation of designers and consumers so they can create a healthier environment for their communities.
Weaving and living with the Zapotec family of the Teotilán del Valle, Oaxaca, was an incredible experience to say the least. The environmentally sustainable design practices I saw throughout Mexico are now incorporated into my curriculum and personal design work. I was even able to bring in as a guest speaker the weaving artisan, Samuel Batista Lazo, from the Zapotec family I worked with in Oaxaca. It was SO special!
We do our dye unit during the months of May and June when the weather allows us to utilize our outside roof top space (it's messy), but we are in the heart of our sustainable and up-cycled fashion show that is in conjunction with not only Earth Day, but also Fashion Revolution. This project focuses more on the innovation of sustainability in fashion and to bring awareness to the many issues plaguing the industry--and the learning from my FFT project funnels directly into this. Learning about the sustainable ethos of indigenous Zapotec weaving, dye, and craft culture inspired many of the students current fashion show pieces. Here are some examples:
Emely is in 11th grade and is creating a weaving technique out of old fashion magazines to become a wearable textile for a dress.
Stephanie, also in 11th grade, was inspired by the designer who weaves recycled plastic bags to create products for the company Anudando. The owner and designer is named Raquel Rivas and I met with her while in Mexico City during my FFT fellowship. In the photo above, Stephanie is creating a woven textile from all the "Bodega Bags," or plastic bags the kids accumulate from the bodega (corner stores) when they get their lunch. Projects will be finished at the end of the month.
Above are some of our beginning samples of natural dying. Trying to figure out how to make it work with a big class and with our resources (or lack there of). The other picture is of students experimenting with recycling paper.
My sustainable design curriculum is meant to penetrate into the students’ everyday life and community. A culture of caring for the environment, practicing sustainability, and respecting local traditions is a theme that I hope carries over from our classroom into the community.
In addition to being a 2016 FFT Fellow, Julie was also a 2015 Fulbright Fellow, and chose to research bio-materials and sustainable design in the United Kingdom. With a 2013 National Artist Teacher Fellowship, she learned traditional hand block printing in Jaipur, India.
