Jamie Dawes goes vintage shopping three times a week, every week.
The 24-year-old Deep Cove resident is always on the lookout for material she can incorporate into her fashion designs. But not just any material. For her new mini collection, called A Ware, Dawes has used 100 per cent upcycled fabric to create a line of eco-conscious womenswear. The pieces feature not only repurposed thrift store finds, but also dead stock and overrun fabric, and cut-offs from garment factories around the city.
The A Ware apparel collection is Dawes' final project as a fourth-year graduating student in Kwantlen Polytechnic University's bachelor of fashion design and technology program.
"My main focus is to use only black and grey for this mini collection," she says, explaining that once she gets her hands on the fabrics, she then cuts and sews small pieces together creating a large patchwork swath of material with which to work.
"So I'm creating my own fabric with this vintage and upcycled material and then I'm creating other garments from that," she says.
On April 6 and 7, Dawes and her 35 classmates in the Wilson School of Design 2016 graduating class will each present three complete outfits on the runway at The Show: The Final Cut, a year-end student showcase.
Every year, Kwantlen's graduating fashion students are tasked with developing a clothing line for a niche market. Dawes focused on women who want an alternative to mass-produced "fast fashion." "It's for the eco-conscious woman - someone who wants to create a conversation with clothing and cares about her fashion choices," she says. "My main goal is to change our mindset about fast fashion."
A Seycove secondary grad, Dawes decided to go to fashion school because she loved to sew and design. But she didn't get interested in eco-fashion until she took a two-year break between her second and third years and went travelling.
"I came back with a new perspective and wanted to change the way people buy things," she says.
"There's no need to create more waste," she adds, noting that many people throw out clothing after just a couple year's wear. "If we can use the materials we have so readily available, then I think that's a huge bonus."
Textiles do deteriorate over time and sourcing used fabrics in good condition was one of the challenges Dawes faced in creating an entirely upcycled collection. That's why she focused on using 100 per cent cotton, linen and silk - materials that tend to withstand the test of time.
Quilting her own large pieces of fabric from smaller cuts gave her the freedom to create sophisticated shapes and silhouettes, she says, and sets her work apart from other upcycled collections on the market.
Sustainable clothing is often associated with the same earthy tones, boxy silhouettes and rough fabrics, so Dawes made it a priority to do something different.
"I wanted to create a very new, relevant and sophisticated collection that sort of changed what your mindset would be of ethical fashion," she says. "I just wanted to create something for a younger woman, such as myself, who is very fashion forward but wants to purchase items that they can be proud of and can talk about."
With A Ware, she says, "I'm just hoping to raise awareness and even inspire future designers and maybe even change the program at KPU as well to be more sustainability focused."
Dawes is currently working part-time in the colour department at North Vancouver-based Arc'teryx. After graduation, she says she'd love to one day start her own business and continue to encourage people to design smart and buy smart.
"We are the designers of tomorrow and if we're not even thinking about our environment or our planet, then no one really will."
The Show: The Final Cut, presented by Tamoda Apparel Inc., takes place April 6 at 4:30 and 7 p.m. and April 7 at 1, 3:30 and 7 p.m. at The Imperial, 319 Main St., Vancouver. Tickets are sold out. kpu.ca/2016fashionshow
