As a fashion and textile design engineer, IDE researcher Holly McQuillan wants to change the fashion industry by introducing it to the woven textile-form technique, a kind of 3D weaving which involves creating three-dimensional form by using the weaving process. Through this she wants to make the industry more sustainable by providing realistic tools. “Automated 3D weaving increases control and flexibility, and may make production more cost efficient.”
The big dream for many fashion students is to, one day, become a famous fashion designer. Creating iconic garments for everyone – or an exclusive group of “someones” – to wear. Once upon a time, Holly McQuillan, assistant professor at TU Delft, faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, was no different.
30 percent of garments produced are never sold or worn and 60 percent of garments sold end up on a landfill or is incinerated within the year.
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Holly McQuillan
But, there was a growing realisation of what the fashion industry really stands for. “Basically this industry is the poster child of everything that’s wrong in the world”, Holly says. “30 percent of garments produced are never sold or worn and 60 percent of garments sold end up on a landfill or is incinerated within the year.”
A true fashion and textile design engineer
Holly realised she could never wholeheartedly join this controversial industry, but wants to shake things up for the better. A New Zealander born and raised, she has worked around to world to continue her mission to redesign the fashion industry. During the past 20 years, Holly helped set up initiatives such as the open-source zero waste resource Make/Use, she co-authored the book ‘Zero Waste Fashion Design’ and co-curated ‘Yield: Making fashion without making waste’, the first contemporary exhibition focussing on zero waste fashion, and more. In 2021 she finished her PhD in Sweden.
(Photos: Planet City Zero Waste Weaver garments (2021). Designed by: Holly McQuillan, Karin Peterson, and Kathryn Walters. Directed by Liam Young. Costume Direction by Ane Crabtree. Photography by Driely S)
As a next step in her career Holly McQuillan took up a position at TU Delft. “I was looking for technical understanding of how things work, how materials can be designed and made, how they behave. And I wanted a real human-centred approach, which is hard to find in the fashion industry, as basically fashion companies just produce a lot of garments and scale up the ones that sell.”
I joined TU Delft as I was looking for technical understanding of how things work, how materials can be designed and made, how they behave.
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Holly McQuillan
As a true fashion and textile design engineer, Holly McQuillan found these traits at IDE, including a systemic way of working. “This may sound abstract. But I look at systems from a small particle perspective. On the one hand these pieces make materials and products that tell a story about the whole fashion system. On the other hand they help us find solutions to change it, or at least push its boundaries. That is why I often use existing weaving machines to develop the woven textile-form technology. To show the industry that change is doable. To display its potential.”
The possibilities of 3D weaving
Together with her team of PhD candidates, Holly McQuillan is developing this woven textile-form technique, a kind of 3D weaving, which involves creating three-dimensional form by using the weaving process. Traditional weaving typically produces two-dimensional fabrics, and patterns cut out from the fabric are manually sewn into 3D forms. This results in 10-25% percent fabric loss. But 3D weaving is more efficient and allows for the creation of more complex structures and forms. The process often involves weaving layers of material together to build up a three-dimensional form. In short, it is additive manufacturing for textile-based products, from clothing to footwear to furniture and architecture.
(Photos: Planet City Zero Waste Weaver garments (2021). Designed by: Holly McQuillan, Karin Peterson, and Kathryn Walters. Photography: Amanda Johansson)
Reshoring the fashion industry?
The European fashion industry is listening, Holly claims. “Fashion companies increasingly need to be transparent about their production and distribution processes. This is hard or even impossible to do as their global supply chain is complex and information is often unreliable. So reshoring production to Europe seems like the obvious solution, if not for the high labour costs. Automated 3D weaving increases control and flexibility, and may make production more cost efficient.”
We need to have a serious conversation about what kind of industries we want and what this means for workers, businesses, citizens and the environment.
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Holly McQuillan
One of the major arguments not to go ahead with reshoring is the loss of jobs in developing countries, where most of our garments are being made. But this argument is not so simple according to Holly McQuillan. “Many of these labourers work in the worst conditions, and often times they don’t even get paid. Automation and AI isn’t going away. We need to have a serious conversation about what kind of industries we want and what this means for workers, businesses, citizens and the environment.”
A future of animate materials
Holly is embedding her principles on zero waste fashion in her publications, workshops, books, lectures and exhibitions around the world. “In the future of the fashion industry, everything we materialise should be ethically produced, zero waste and regenerative. And everything that is about our desire for change – fashion – should be decoupled from new products. Imagine a world where animate materials or digital projections mean we change our get-up in the blink of an eye, when we see someone wearing the same outfit for example. This way we always wear the attire we desire. With close to zero impact on our planet.”
