Knitting a Path to Sustainable Fashion
MA Creative Direction for Fashion Media graduate, Taylor Biccum talks about her final project centred around sustainable fashion.
Taylor Biccum became hooked on sustainability while studying for her Master’s Degree in Creative Direction at Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design in London – so much so that her final project led her to create a do-it-yourself guide for people wanting to mend and repurpose their own clothes.
Sustainable fashion in focus
Called Knitty Gritty, it’s a touch and feel publication inspired by the “Make Do, and Mend” campaign from World War II. Because clothing was only available via ration coupons, people were inspired to create their own fashions by repurposing items they already owned. Taylor had already turned her back on fast fashion and was committed to applying the principles to her own wardrobe.
“I wanted to make a contribution to the fight against overconsumption and all the environmental damage it causes,” Taylor Biccum, MA Creative Direction, Condé Nast College
“I wanted to make a contribution to the fight against overconsumption and all the environmental damage it causes,” she says, “so I created Knitty Gritty as an adjunct to an existing website called ‘Wool and the Gang,’ which sells knitting and crochet patterns, yarns and tools and the like. Make Do and Mend was about making the most of limited resources, and that’s what we have to do now to save the planet, as well as being really satisfying and great fun.”
The path to sustainable fashion
The publication leads readers through Taylor’s own quest as she takes items from her wardrobe and transforms them into something new and wholly individual. “It doesn’t take long before you realise you can make do with what you already have, and not just throw things away because they’re ‘old’ or a bit tired. By learning how to take better care of our clothes, we can build positive and long-lasting relationships with our wardrobes,” she says. “I wanted to give other people the tools, resources and knowledge to be able to do the same thing.”
Studying at Condé Nast College
She says it was the College and her course and tutors who gave her the confidence to offer her own ideas to other people. “My experience within the Creative Direction module has been amazing. I’ve loved all my tutors and the people that I’ve been surrounded by. I feel like I lost some of that creative spark during my undergraduate years, concentrating on getting the grades rather than properly experiencing what I was doing.
Being at Condé Nast College has allowed me to properly get into being my own person – discovering my personal brand if you like – and to find the things that I’m genuinely passionate about. Now I’ve become a bit of an advocate for the place. A friend of mine in the US was undecided about coming here and I told her it was a lifetime opportunity to come study in one of the main fashion capitals of the world, especially at a place associated with such an iconic brand. I looked at a number of schools, but this one was much more creatively driven, which is what really attracted me to come here. She’s taken my advice, I’m happy to say.”
Find out more about studying MA Creative Direction for Fashion Media