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133kgs of Denim: Investigating and challenging symptomatic solutions to textile waste in Aotearoa New Zealand with an educational lens
Author: Karlie Morrow
Supervisors: Margo Barton Tania Allan-Ross Stella Lange
5 August 2025
Morrow, K. (2025). 133kgs of Denim: Investigating and challenging symptomatic solutions to textile waste in Aotearoa New Zealand with an educational lens [Master's thesis, Otago Polytechnic]. Research Bank. https://doi.org/10.34074/thes.7186
Abstract
133kgs of denim waste, collected from a local op shop to use in my design studio made me realise, whilst my upcycling initiatives of circular children’s clothing and later denim faux fur were new and innovative in my local market, I was only temporarily diverting the problem of textile waste to landfill. This did not fit my personal values. I needed to investigate the opportunities and impediments of circular fashion systems, to create something of benefit from either the perspective of the fashion designer or the fashion wearer or both. This study considers what constitutes a sustainable circular economy in a fashion sense alongside identifying the challenges in establishing a circular fashion and textile system specific to Aotearoa New Zealand. Existing sustainable fashion technologies and philosophies are analysed and explored through an Aotearoa New Zealand lens. Personal experiences of over 20 years in the fashion industry inform the exploration of systems and processes with a focus on how they have evolved during my career. Such as ‘historical’ measures that were applied by companies I worked for during the early 2000’s and how these equate to the ‘new’ sustainable practices beginning to be implemented today. They are the same, used for different motivations. One example is to save textile resource valued as capital (old), the other to save textile resource valued for environmentalism (new). This reflection educates on where we have been to enable identification of where we must go next. I believe it is now time to turn back to where the fashion industry once was, informed by and re-fashioned with modern principles and technologies. The new-old-new cycle has been explored through engagement with local textile recycling industry, resulting in delving into fibreshed principles (Burgess, R, 2019), it identifies (some) local practitioners acting sustainably, and considers Mātauranga Māori practices. (‘The body of knowledge originating from Māori ancestors, including the Māori world view and perspectives, Māori creativity and cultural practices.’ Te Aka Māori Dictionary, 2025). This project then uses this newfound knowledge to imagine how it could best be integrated into a holistic fashion eco system, that gives back to the Aotearoa New Zealand environment. Consideration of value change was a key aspect alongside Fletcher’s The Craft of Use (Fletcher, K 2016) supporting the amalgamation of the author’s observations on traditional fashion practice and valuing our garments. Further research on consumer behaviour, values and methods of behaviour change led to a resource for those that make use of textiles in the form of clothing. The aim is to educate and there by influence behaviour, inspiring a more mindful approach when selecting garments (and accessories). It encourages consideration of environmental impact through re-direction from fast fashion and over consumerism to a process of thoughtful selection and preservation of fashion purchases. The project encourages critical thinking by enabling the wearer to navigate the sustainable eco system with key points and ideas to guide them without giving constrained answers, after all, what is the answer to ‘what do we do with 133kg of Denim?'
Keywords
systems, values, education, regenerative, sustainable, circular economy, textile waste, New Zealand
Licence
A copy of the thesis is publicly available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
This licence applies except where otherwise indicated, especially for images.