Former fashion designer Jess Redgrave began to feel a growing disillusionment with the clothing industry due to the damaging practices she witnessed. This led her to quit and sign up to study alternatives to the unsustainable realities of modern clothing production. Having found several exciting avenues into the potential of sunflowers, Jess is working on ideas that could shape the future of what we wear and what we sew with. In this conversation, she lays it all out for us, including answering a question you never knew to ask: how do you get your hands on enzymes?!
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Find out about Jess Redgrave and her Climafibre work on her website.
I first found out about Jess and her explorations at this year’s Future Fabrics Expo in London.
Listen to my experience of the expo in Episode #50: The Future of Fabrics.
Jess’s investigations into sunflowers formed part of her work for her MA in Material Futures at Central Saint Martins, where you can also find more information on the investigations undertaken by her classmates.
To test the product she’d been working on, Jess made a summer rain mac from fabric coated in a sunflower oil by-product. See image below:
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#104: How to Successfully Shop for Second-Hand Sewing Machines
#103: Swimming in A Sea of Scraps with Meg Grandstaff
#102: Sustainability in Food Production with Helen Metcalfe
#101: How to Prioritise Sewing with Jenny Drew
#100: 100 Lessons from CYT
#99: Sewing Confessions with Julia and Naomi
#98: Zero Waste Patterns Book with Birgitta Helmersson
#97: Introduction to Garment Fabrics
#96: Pattern Fitting Q&A with Kate Roberts
#95: Refining Fit with Kate Roberts
#94: Garmology Podcast – Design for Repairability with Rosanna Watson
#93: Sewing for Social Empowerment with Poornima at Kundakala
#92: Self Coaching for Sewing Success with Kim Witten
#91: Self Knowledge for Sewing Success with Kim Witten
#90: Introduction to Pattern Hacking
#89: Threads of Sustainability with Bridget O’Flaherty
#88: Natural Dyeing Q&A with Amy Taylor
#87: Sew Sustainable Fair 2023
#86: Garment Alterations with Naomi Fata
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