Trek Jacket
This project surrounded the design and production of a lightweight hiking jacket. The primary goal was to create a piece from upcycled materials to extend a product’s life cycle.
Category: soft goods, apparel design, outdoor products
Client: personal project
Sustainability Trends
The basis for this project came from looking at sustainability-driven consumer behavior and innovation. This trend research forecasted growth in the upcycling movement, which became the project focus.
Biomaterials
Many designers are experimenting with eco-friendly biofabrics. This material innovation allows for more organic production, textural materiality, and enhanced capabilities.
Veganism
The growing trend of veganism has been moving from dietary choice to lifestyle. Consumers are turning to plant-based products to bypass certain negative environmental impacts.
Upcycling!
Designers are turning from traditional means of production to reuse existing products, rather than sourcing new materials. Eco-conscious buyers appreciate the ethos of upcycled goods.
Meet Alex
Alex is a hiking enthusiast and lover of the great outdoors. She spends her days exploring the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and her nights blogging about these experiences. Since she loves nature, she is passionate about protecting the environment and living sustainably. However, her experience with eco-friendly, upcycled products in the past is that they have a patchwork feel and offer little in terms of function.
She’s looking for a hiking jacket for her travels that brings together her value of sustainability, need for functionality, and desire for style.
The Pitch
The pitch? Making a hiking jacket out of a tent. No pun intended.
This two-person dome tent, originally headed for a landfill, was given a second life as it became a unique medium for the Trek Jacket. The ultra-light ripstop nylon of the hood added waterproof functionality, while the color blocked sections and stitching offered aesthetic details for the jacket design.
Inspiration
The style for the jacket was inspired by outdoor gear, technical details, and streetwear brands.
Ideation
Many features, both functional and aesthetic, were explored through the creation of Illustrator flats. Ways to incorporate color blocking were explored. The third concept was chose for its minimal, modern design.
Prototyping
A fabric prototype was created to understand the jacket’s construction, dimensions, and mechanisms. After tracing the shape of an existing hoodie, these outlines were used to cut and assemble new pieces, according to the chosen design. This was created from a donated skirt, so even the prototype was upcycled!
Materials & Patternmaking
The tent supplied three types of fabric for the jacket. The tent’s zippers couldn’t be shortened, so new ones were sourced, along with eyelets and snaps.
Pattern pieces were altered to fit the design, taking into account the intended size’s measurements and half inch seam allowance. Notch cuts were added for ease of lining up patterns.
Fabrication
Cutting out colored material blocks from tent fly
Cutting out the twenty five pattern pieces
Ironing tent pieces into usable material
Completing separate components
Creating pattern pieces and tracing onto tent
Constructing jacket by sewing all pieces together
Features
Quarter zip windbreaker front
Color blocked rain hood
Covered zipper to kangaroo-style pocket
Meet the Trek Jacket.
Sustainably made.
