Team: Natalie Procter, Paris Guildford, Helena Steinmann, Maggie Meiklejohn, Emily Bulkley and Sarah Joubert (myself).

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Know your clothes was a project that engaged primary school children with the issues of clothing consumerism and waste. This task was done in a child friendly manner through a series of workshops. 

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We partnered with Otari school to begin the workshop series that educated the kids on the problem and then taught them a few skills to up-cycle their old clothes, helping to reduce the clothing waste stream. We found it encouraging to see how engaged the kids were with this issue and how much they enjoyed learning practical skills on the sewing machine. 

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The Know Your Clothes team included graphic, fashion and spatial designers which gave us a wide skill set to utalize to achieve our goals for the programme. We designed a zero-waste bag from an old shirt that we taught the school kids, which they said they loved because it was "cool". 

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We were able to reveal some real world issues to the kids to help them understand the effects of their decisions as they grow independent and start of buy their own clothes. The practical skills have equipped them to make alternations and fixes on clothes as they are worn.