Cutting Edge

“I was deeply concerned by the wastage of fabrics when designers did their collection,” says Liu,a graduate of Saint Martin’s College,London,who did his post-graduation in eco-friendly designing. In 2007,he got a chance to showcase his first Zero Waste line,“On the Cutting Edge”,at the London Fashion Week. Liu was in Delhi recently to present his eco-friendly designs at an eco-fashion show organised as part of World Earth Day.

Originally from Australia,Liu became concerned about wasting fabric while pursuing his fashion degree. “In western outfits,most designers cut out a design around the shape of the body. They discard the remaining material as garbage. When it comes to mass production,the amount of wasted fabric is enormous,” says Liu,adding that around 15 per cent of a fabric is wasted. Liu’s technique relies on cutting the fabric in such a manner that even corners of the material constitute part of the garment. The cutting technique ensures that the designs don’t need to be sewn separately.

Since he single-handedly designs his outfits (as labour costs 12 pounds per hour per person in the UK),Liu is still improvising on his technique. He quickly adds,“Moving to India would be so much easier because the labour costs are so low that I can take risks with my garments.”

He designs skirts,tops,and gowns with materials like organic cotton,silk,wool and metallic fabrics. He has also started designing garments without using a sewing machine,because he likes testing his limits. Liu has so far displayed three collections at the London Fashion Week,and his line “Singularity Point” that was displayed in February 2009 showed a garment that had been pieced together with a series of knots and hand tailoring. “I am perfecting designs on shirts,polo-neck tops and jeans for men using this technique,” he adds. He is also experimenting with organic fabrics and pigments during his residency at the London Printworks.