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:
#21: The Joy of Reclaimed Fabric with Sarah aka Sew Love NZ
#20: What thread should I buy?
#19: Quilting and Considered Consuming with Shelly Sommer
#18: Rag Rugging with Elspeth Jackson
#17: What are zero waste sewing patterns?
#16: Patternmaking in Public Places with Louisa Owen Sonstroem
#15: Hand Stitching Clothes with Louisa Owen Sonstroem
#14: Quick and Cheap Handmade Gift Projects
#13: Natural Dyeing with Amy Taylor
#12: Sew Over 50 with Judith Staley
#11: Sewing Vs. Kids
#10: Clothing Systems with Guy – the Light Touch
#9: Overlockers & Coverstitch Machines with Julia Hincks
#8: Is Sewing Sustainable?
#7: Experimental Sewing with Riccardo Guido
#6: Life, Sewing and Sustainability with Amy Dyce
#5: Craft & Thrift with Amy Dyce
#4: My 5 Favourite Scrap Projects
#3: African Textiles Today with Jacqueline Shaw
#2: How to Sew Sustainably with Wendy Ward
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