Danish fashion brand Son of a Tailor has just launched a pullover that is 100 percent 3D-printed. The initiative is an attempt to stop one of fashion’s biggest climate issues: Waste.
The fashion industry accounts for more CO2 emissions than the airline and shipping industry combined. Waste is a major part of that as more than 1/5 of the material used for making clothes is traditionally thrown out during production. When printing clothing, however, you only need to fill the 3D-printer with the material that will be used for the actual piece of clothing – and not an ounce more. In other words, no material is wasted whatsoever.
“Fashion is one of the world’s biggest climate sinners, but as an industry, we keep looking the other way. Most brands think a couple of eco-collections is enough to make them climate positive. It’s embarrassing and irresponsible. By removing waste from the production process, we are proving that it is indeed possible to change fashion’s bad habits. We hope we can inspire other brands to do the same,” says Jess Fleischer, CEO and founder of Son of a Tailor.
Reached Kickstarter goal in 39 minutes
The 3D-printed pullover, which is made of merino wool, was launched October 21 through a campaign at popular crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. In just 39 minutes, Son of a Tailor reached their goal of 15,000 USD, making the campaign one of the most successful active campaigns on Kickstarter in all of Europe.
Swedish professor Jonas Larsson from The Swedish School of Textiles, who has supported Son of a Tailor’s project, is not surprised by the success. He believes consumers are ready for new, sustainable alternatives in fashion that makes an actual difference.
“With this product, Son of a Tailor is highlighting the potential of new technological opportunities in apparel manufacturing and supply chain that can significantly reduce waste in the fashion industry, while providing a better product for the end customer,” says Jonas Larsson.
A life cycle without waste
Waste in fashion doesn’t just occur during the production process. A lot of clothing is wasted as a result of brands making way more clothing than they can sell. At the same time, we as consumers have a tendency to buy clothes that we only use a couple of times – or in some cases never use at all.
Therefore, Son of a Tailor tailor-makes all of its clothing through an online algorithm. That means that not a single piece of clothing is set in production before it has been ordered. That way, the five year old company completely avoids over production. And because the clothing is tailor-made, consumers are less likely to throw it away before using it. Now, they combine the tailor-making process with 3D-printing, thus removing waste from the actual production as well. All in all this means that Son of a Tailor has almost removed waste completely from their clothing’s life cycle.
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