Amy, we are so thrilled to have your collection ‘Plasticity’ in Error404 store! Tell us a little bit about yourself? 

Growing up in a fourth-generation agricultural family on the Murray River near Mildura has provided me with a strong understanding of the importance of sustainability. Our family business is reliant on a healthy environment and droughts and floods really impact on our crops. The motivation to find innovative ways to help clean up the Australian fashion industry is personal for me.

  What does this collection mean to you? 

My graduate collection entitled ‘Plasticity’ represents a great deal of hard work and a sense of pride for me. Plasticity explores our relationship with plastic - the man-made substance that was once strongly associated with progress and is now held responsible for major environmental damage. In nature, plasticity describes how organisms have the ability to adapt, changing their form and function, to fit into a harsh and challenging world. This collection reflects on the idea that while manmade development and progress is exciting, it comes at a cost and is creating overwhelming challenges, particularly in the form of climate change.  It is essential that we learn to adjust to new conditions in order to survive and the way we use plastics also needs to adapt and change as we move forwards.I wanted to use the properties of plastic to create sculptural pieces that are feminine and reflect elements of nature despite being manmade.

Working with new sustainable materials requires a lot of trial and error. Talk us through your process and challenges you faced. 

The experience of putting together my collection was an amazing one, filled with lots of highs and lows and provided a massive learning experience. Working with highly developmental materials and construction techniques meant that I spent many hours experimenting on things that didn’t really work and were thrown out but allowed me to build knowledge and get to a point where I had materials that would function in the way I needed them to in order to use them for the construction of garments. I spent a great deal of time reading and searching through things like school science projects to find recipes and ideas. At times I felt like I was taking huge risks as I had no idea if I would actually end up with a collection of garments, which was very stressful, however seeing the final pieces was really rewarding and exciting for me. 

How did you transform these materials into fashion outcomes?

I started off making small samples of bioplastic using different recipes and discarded the ones that were obviously too soft or too brittle and then started doing experiments on the pieces that seemed like they would work to see if they could be sewn, folded, stressed etc. I then made the more successful ones into larger pieces and gradually built on the ideas until I had a material that would work. I also discovered that when prepared in different ways the same recipe could create thick sculptural pieces or thin almost leather like pieces which meant there were heaps more opportunities for design ideas which was exciting.

Any tips for someone looking to get started with bioplastics? 

 You need lots and lots of patience, spend time researching and then start experimenting. Don’t throw things away because as they dry out they change and what may seem too soft might end up being perfect for what you need. 

What do you wish you had known when you started your fashion journey?

There is still so much that I don’t know that I wish I did and am learning all the time and I have realized that the best way for me to learn is to take the risk and try things even if it means some of it might end up in the bin. I wish I had known that all the experimentation was going to work out so that I could have relaxed and enjoyed the process more. Working on experimental things under time and evaluation pressure is not ideal so I look forward to doing this more in my own time now that I have graduated. 

What about the Australian fashion industry needs to change?

Being so new to the industry I am only just starting to learn and understand the challenges that are unique to the Australian fashion industry.  I have concerns that the majority of fashion consumers in Australia embrace cheap items that are mass produced with large environmental impact and then quickly disposed of and this needs to change to reduce waste and harmful and excessive production practises.  A move to slower fashion, where collections are carefully considered and produced to minimise harm would be a positive move. As a relatively small and more isolated market, Australia has the potential to be a world leader in sustainable practices in fashion. The Australian fashion industry needs to work harder to educate consumers, to shift attitudes and provide opportunities wherever possible to allow them to shop in a manner that helps achieve this goal.