The Dual Strategy for Textile and Fashion Production Using Clothing Waste

Abstract

This study aims to utilize a dual physical and digital strategy for the completion of a process that achieves two goals: the treatment of large amounts of clothing waste and the development of materials and products. This study expands the author’s previous research on the feasibility of using clothing waste as a textile material and the development of weaving methods. The processes of material analysis, design, material development, and product production for clothing waste were connected by the dual strategy. The project was conducted by three groups of designers for ten months and evaluated by ten experts. A total of eighteen digital products were developed, including three physical products and one digital twin. Digital and physical models were dressed and subjected to objective and in-depth evaluations by experts. The experts determined that the match rate between the physical products and digital twins was over 90% and that each process step was conducted appropriately. The process was also deemed applicable for 50% of the industrial sector and 80% of the education sector. Therefore, this study connected the quantitative disposal of garment waste to the qualitative design and production of new material, introducing a new process strategy to maintain sustainability in the fashion industry.