IFA Paris recently witnessed a unique recycling/upcycling phenomenon!
It was in a fashion show in association with “Chausettes Orphelines.” This non-profit uses damaged or orphan socks to create knitting products by recycling the yarn from the former.
Delphine Durieux, the Bachelor Fashion Design Program Coordinator & Fashion Design Lecturer for IFA Paris played a pivotal role in the success of this event.
I had a wonderful opportunity to meet this dynamic and energetic professor and listen to her eagerly recounting the whole experience.
Q: Congratulations on a successful show!! We heard quite rave reviews about it! Was it the first time working with the non-profit “Chausettes Orphelines”?
A: Yes. We were working with them for the first time.
Q: Do you frequently have collaborations like these?
A: Yes. We have many different collaborations all the time. We always try to find a new, young company to collaborate with. This enables us to help/support them. I chose this organization because I really admire their ethics. I believe that in fashion, it is very important to have principles, because they define what kind of a designer or creative you are. They also help you understand what responsible and ethical practices in fashion are, helping you contribute to the environmental sustainability.
Q: What was the brief for the students regarding this show?
A: The students were asked to participate and design pieces for the show in association with designers at Chausettes Orphelines. He gave them a theme and offered them a direction to work on. Armed with this information, the students then built their concepts, mood-boards, and did some sketches. The designers from the non-profit selected the ones they really liked and then the students worked in groups to create prototypes of the final garments.
Q: That was a lot of work! How many garments did our students design?
A: Our students from 1st year and second year of Bachelors in Fashion Design worked together in teams of four and created 20 garments altogether.
Q Were you involved in each step of the design process?
A: Yes. Well, I tried not to help them much with the design process. But The purpose of the project was to get the students from different experience levels work together as a team. Naturally, due to more knowledge, the second-year student helped the first years with this process.
Q: How did you find this experience?
A: I was very happy with the outcome. The designers at Chausettes Orphelines were also very happy with the fashion show. Normally, it is very difficult to manage groups.
Q: I know how difficult it is to work in groups, as a student! But keeping the difficulties aside, did the students enjoy this experience as well?
A: Yes. The students bonded with each other and they learnt more about the process of working with a specific type of fabric – knitwear.
Q: That’s great! What more collaborations are in the horizon now?
A: We are currently working on a collaboration with Neue and Fusalp. This collaboration involves designing a capsule collection for them with the theme – Futurism. This project has second years of Bachelors in Fashion Design and Bachelors in Fashion Marketing working together. I believe it will be an interesting experience for all the students to work with each other. This collection will have students working in groups to design 10 looks. For this, they participated in a three-day workshop with experts from Neue!
Know more about this workshop here!
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