Jessica Kendall: T.E.D - Strategies for sustainable design

Kate Goldsworthy - Evening dress

T.E.D or Textiles Environment Design is a research group who believe that through changing decisions designers make at the design stage we can come closer to producing products which have a closed loop system i.e. create no waste.

A recent lecture from Kay Politowics gave me great insight into the work T.E.D is doing to make textile design more sustainable and how perhaps I could incorporate some of these concepts into my own designs.

Up-cycling was one of the topics discussed which was highly interesting. Kay was a walking example of the successes of this technique as she was modelling a beautiful shirt which was originally from a charity shop but had been printed on to make a beautiful design which inevitably was worth more.

T.E.D have put together 10 strategies to think about throughout the design process, many contemporary designers have used some if not all of these strategies in the design process. I feel the use of these strategies in some cases has not only produced sustainable designs but designs which are highly innovative and thoughtful.

Worn again-Virgin hot air balloon coat

Worn again a design company who specialises in up-cycling define it as: “Upcycling (unlike recycling) is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value, leading to a higher material and energy benefits.”

Their designs take materials which are no longer of use and produce something which is both desirable and functional.

Other designers using T.E.D's Ten: