Fabric and Fiber Inventions: Sew, Knit, Print, and Electrify Your Own Designs to Wear, Use, and Play With by Kathy Ceceri

Author:Kathy Ceceri [Ceceri, Kathy]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781680452235
Publisher: Maker Media, Inc
Published: 2017-10-18T04:00:00+00:00

✂ Fabric and Fiber Inventors: Veronika Scott and Angela Luna

Two design students have invented new kinds of transformable coats to solve problems they saw in their community and around the world—they’ve gone on to start their own companies to make their ideas a reality.

Veronika Scott (www.empowermentplan.org/) was a student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit when she was given an assignment: create a product to fill a need in the community. She came up with the idea for the EMPWR Coat, a warm, waterproof coat that becomes a sleeping bag and can be carried like a shoulder bag when not in use. But when Scott interviewed homeless people at shelters in her area to get their feedback on her creation, she found that they wanted jobs as much as coats. So in 2012, she started a nonprofit company called The Empowerment Plan. Scott’s company hires homeless parents and trains them to work running sewing machines. The EMPWR Coat is made with fabric donated by Carhartt, a company that makes work clothes, and upcycled insulation from car-maker General Motors. So far, The Empowerment Plan has given away over 15,000 coats to people in need throughout North America.

Angela Luna (www.adiff.com/) studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design in New York, but in her senior year, she decided to do more than just make clothing that looked nice. Hearing about the problems faced by refugees traveling to Europe, she asked herself, “Where is there a design problem that we could offer a solution to?” Her solution was a series of coats that could turn into tents, sleeping bags, flotation devices, and more. After graduating from Parsons in 2016, where she won the Womenswear Designer of the Year award, she formed a company called ADIFF—its mission is to “make a difference.” Luna took her prototype coats to Greece and asked refugee families to test them out. Then in 2017, ADIFF launched a Kickstarter campaign for a reflective coat that can be seen in the dark. They raised almost $100,000. The company plans to use some of that money, plus profits from selling ADIFF coats to people who like the way they look, to donate coats to refugees in need.

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