DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT WITH JIE REN A NEW GENERATION OF SUSTAINABLE TEXTILE AND FASHION DESIGN
As a new Decade dawns, today we have the Spotlight on the next generation. As a generation tasked with an inherent responsibility to save the planet, the way products are designed has never before been so important. The legacy of the products we create has a critical impact. Sustainable design for all products regardless of sector is the new mantra for emerging designers.
As a generation that rejects mass manufacturing and “Fast Fashion” and the waste it creates, New designers emerge with a positive focus.
Focused on great design, Jie Ren and his Fashion Collections reflect a new era of manufacturing, his clothes embody the ethos and the tools for sustainable supply and by the application of old and new technologies will make a huge impact for sure!…As a new Brand within the emerging couture fashion space, his garments are not mass manufactured. Jie is a Fashion artisan, and we wish him every success with his brand.
When did you discover your creativity and why did you decide on a career in Textile Design?
Who / What inspires you?
Why did you choose to study in San Francisco?
I am into drawing since I was little, and Japanese style manga had a significant influence on me. Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki's works, made me fall in love with water-coloring deeply, and I use to buy a lot of his art books, just for a look at how his water coloring and raw materials. During junior high, I joined the animation club for clear reasons, and I was also an Art class teacher assistant until high school, I found my passion and love, drawing became my life ritual! I perhap may have ended up to be a painter or animator major in college, but my father pushed me to a whole new world - the fashion industry!
Thanks to my father: He sent me to a drawing foundation training right before college, and he told my art teacher that I used to use toilet paper making dresses for dolls ( I used to feel embarrassed to bring it up because it is such girly thing for a young boy). Maybe that was an early sign that I’d end up in the fashion industry, not just a painter.
Then I took a massive leap of faith applied to an art design school at San Francisco, also a coastal city where I dreamed of to explore my life and live in, just like the movie "Kiki's Delivery Service"! and here I started a course in fashion design for almost three years. Then I switched to knitwear and construction programs for two years ( I guess the colorful and fun twist yearns drew my attention), took a bunch of other classes, like fashion merchandiser, graphic design, printing making, art history, jewelry making, photography, for fun and enrich my knowledge. In the end, I know I need to settle down and focus on what I am really good at drawing, and I discovered textile design. I found my true nature!
My career decision was definitely quite a journey, but I learned and grew so much along the way. It is worth it.
I was fortunate and blessed during my experience, people I looked up to taught me to be a better human being, and all my surroundings consistently inspired me, my father, my teacher, my colleges, my family, the natures and even news events, because I am aware that I can learn from everything and everyone!
As a designer, looking back, I would choose Hayao Miyazaki as my initiator; he is not only an animator but also a designer simply because his works inspire people and also bring joy and light to the young generation.
Tell us about the print techniques you use?
What are your favourite fabrics, and why?
How important is sustainability to your work?
I like silkscreens the most; I think silkscreen is like a media and helps me transfer my idea into reality. I printed on papers, mixed media, and fabrics before, discharge printing is my most used ones, despite the unique smell, I love the unexpectedness discharge printing brings to the table. For my senior year fashion collaboration project, I tested the discharge technique on the Dutch wax fabrics that my designer bought Nigeria, and the almost neon looking discharged colors from the cotton itself became my design force.
Silk cotton is my favorite fabric; I like how well it absorbs the dyes and how comfortable, lightweight, and sturdy the weave is; plus the natural shine, it is just an amazing and versatility blend for a variety of garment uses.
Sustainability became my part of thinking progress; it is SO important; it is the most necessary and essential step of my design kick-off. For example, If I use silkscreen what type of dye, fabric, and environment I should use and be can reduce down the harm as much as possible for the ecosystem, when comes down washing the screen, how many screens I can maximize to shower at the same time and which type of eco-friendly emulsion stripers I should use. Every time I design something, I will remind myself to think of the earth and future generations.
Why do you think your generation will change the future of fashion?
Why do you think Design has the Power to influence the World?
I think my generation is in a peek of consideration, motivation, and action. A lot of young activism nowadays, people began to realize more and sees more clearly how wasteful and harmful the fashion industry can cause to our environment. There are many huge cooperates and fashion companies that start to act and try to reach sustainable design; for an instant, Gap came up with the upcycled puffer this year; a puffer puts 40 discarded plastic bottles to good use; so that counts as the beginning of changing.
Plus, many young designers, design graduates, and even students are aware that fashion is not just " fancy pants, "but also should be reasonable and responsible.
Fashion schools are teaching sustainability at the same time. In conclusion, even if there is a long way to go and many factors to be considered, I have a strong faith that this generation will push fashion within a brighter and greener future!
I still remembered my history of graphic design teacher told us at the end of the term:
" The Designer has the power to change the world."
Her words still motivate me and remind me why I want to be a designer because designers have the power to influence the world, make the world a better place, and solving problems.
We can be a tinker, an artist, an engineer, or a chef, in a broad perspective; those positions all rules the power of designing, and they bring people functionality, cultural ethnicity, communication, and happiness, that is how magical and powerful designer can be. That is why I am standing still to be a designer today!
