(Copyright for the first image, as part of Tabitha’s collection is here.)

For the CUNY Graduate students, we had the pleasure of meeting Zerowaste womenswear designer Tabitha from Tabii Just. She helped us all to use “scraps”, or fabric that has been discarded from other designers, to develop our own outfits that including scarves, dresses, and accessories. It was a pleasure to learn about Tabitha’s inspiration and approach to having no fabric wasted to make her beautiful designs.

What Tabitha explained to us is that excess fabric comes from designers getting fabric that is one color off, or they have too much of a certain fabric, so vendors sell the excess. She was intrigued about how much fabric ends up in landfills once it becomes excess and wanted to do something about it. She was inspired by the idea of using rectangle shapes when producing her clothing.

She emphasized that these “scraps” are not actually scraps, because when they are sewn together, it becomes one bigger and complete piece. An important fact to remember with Zerowaste is that 14.3 million tons of textile waste is generated each year. With Zerowaste, those textiles can be used instead of ending up in landfills.

She focuses on being local, USA made, and e-commerce. E-commerce has three elements: it’s direct to the consumer, prices are lower, and there is more control of the market. A bonus is that her clothing is timeless. That means that she can produce off the Fashion calendar and make clothing that is wearable for all seasons. She believes in function and beauty.

Below are photos from the workshop, so everyone can see how the workshop went.

To learn more about Tabii Just, she has a website and a Facebook:

http://tabiijust.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TabiiJust/