Creative exploration: zero-waste fashion design practices with traditional Korean clothing

ABSTRACT The fashion industry is one of the sectors most responsible for environmental pollution and waste generation. Zero-waste design either minimises or prevents waste generation by efficient use of resources for sustainable growth with environmental responsibility. This paper reviews traditional clothing, focusing on pants, go (袴), from the Joseon Dynasty, an era that emphasised ‘oneness with nature’. It analyses their zero-waste design aspects and formative features and, in order to examine their eco-friendliness and aesthetic value applies these to three fashion designs. Sapok pants, pungcha pants and dan-sokgot were selected as design motifs because of their unique structures, creative construction methods and zero-waste aspects. Results demonstrate that the zero-waste patternmaking and composition methods significantly lowered the fabric waste rate, by 0.6–6%. In addition, new design silhouettes are presented by applying unique structural principles and recombining traditional patterns, and these offer highly effective and creative alternate zero-waste fashion design methods.