Phee Ng
CASE STUDY
Created by Redress, 2013
Phee Ng
Phee Ng, Singapore’s rising star and a finalist of the Redress Design Award 2013, combines her sensitivity about high clothing consumption and its ugly shadow of clothing waste with her design ability. The result is reconstructed clothes that talk more of the future than their past.
In this case study, Phee Ng shares her approach to reconstruction for her Redress Design Award 2013 collection.
IN CONVERSATION WITH PHEE NG
Why is sustainable design important to you? How did you get into it?
As the world spends more and more money on buying clothes, it is inevitable that clothing waste will increase as well. As such, we need to understand the concept of sustainable fashion, much like the well-known ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ campaign. Having seen the amount of clothing waste generated by people around me, I feel that these discarded clothes can be given a new lease of life through redesign. My ability to reconstruct unwanted clothes provides another option for consumers to divert unwanted clothing away from landfill. This is the one reason that got me into sustainable fashion.
What does reconstruction mean to you?
To me, reconstruction means injecting a new lease of life into something that others see as useless. A lot of materials can be reconstructed, whether they are from a traditional fashion medium or are unconventional materials from other industries. It just takes an adventurous mind to make some thoughtful designs happen.
How do you apply the reconstruction design technique in your collections?
I will deconstruct secondhand garments into smaller parts before piecing them together to create a ‘new’ outfit, or use the parts for detailing. I have even used bra padding for shoulder pads in the past, demonstrating that everything can be used for reconstruction!
Which reconstruction design are you most proud of and why?
This garment was made from a used secondhand shirt and a few pairs of different coloured jeans, which I strategically dismantled and then re-pieced together. I folded the smaller pieces of fabrics into triangles to add detailing to the garment.
What do you find most challenging about reconstruction?
My limited access to textile waste means I often have to spend a lot of time trying to match different materials and textiles for my garment’s design. Matching is especially challenging considering that every piece of reconstructed garment is different.
What do you find most rewarding about reconstruction?
Seeing those previously deemed ‘useless’ or ‘outdated’ garments becoming totally new pieces is the most rewarding part of the process.
What is your top tip for the reconstruction design technique?
Be bold and experimental.