Application Of “Upcycling” Design Technique For Managing The Synthetic Waste Of Sarees For “Lifestyle Design’ To Achieve Sustainability.”

Abstract

Fast Fashion leads to the disposal of more than 1 million tons of textiles every year, in this context even India in not far. In fast fashion, clothing is produced for sale based on a false expectation of freshness, which in turn leads to massive waste when the clothes are not sold. As a result, unsold clothes end up in garbage dumps, contributing to a cycle of contamination. Fashion has begun to embrace upcycling textile waste as a response to fast fashion's wastefulness. Prior to the modern age, consumers purchased items that would last for 50 to 80 washes. Now, the excitement for new items or trends has surpassed quality considerations. Consequently, more products are thrown away, many of which are made from synthetic fabrics. A majority of domestic women's apparel sales in India were made up of traditional clothing, such as Sarees, which account for 70% of all textile waste produced in India. The apparel market is predicted to account for 65% by 2023 due to the cultural and sentimental value of Sarees, which will not fade away anytime soon. In response to the enormous demand for Sarees, a wide variety of them are produced on a large scale, which include cotton, pure silk, and the most commonly produced is the Art silk Saree. Basically, they can be referred to as synthetic sarees, or plastic sarees. However, the demand for the same is still greater given their cheaper prices, so production of these Sarees is on the rise, but ultimately they will end up in the waste. Saree upcycling in India is not a new concept, it has been done for ages using various techniques. There is a practice of turning synthetic sarees into rope that can be used for multiple purposes, such as pulling water from wells and making furniture, in villages of India. In this thesis, we are investigating how these ropes can be turned into multi-purpose fashion products that revive sarees.