Zero Waste Design Collective

The Making Zero Waste team ( ) are heading back to Lagos! Following the powerful momentum of the 2024 workshops in Lagos and Accra, this time we are back in Lagos to deepen our impact, with an even sharper focus on the craft of zero waste pattern cutting, and on handing over the tools to those who will shape its future here.

Designed for designers, tailors, and upcyclers, the workshop dives into innovative techniques that eliminate waste at the design stage—not after. Are you ready to challenge old habits, learn practical zero waste cut and sew methods, and connect design with tradition and intention?

Participants will learn:

• Zero Waste fashion design and pattern cutting (how to cut and sew with no waste and no offcuts)
• ‘Cut and Sew’ Zero Waste methodologies
• Environmental and economic advantages of Zero Waste practice
• How Zero Waste can impact your design on a local and global scale
• Practical and hands on lessons and demonstrations
• Redefine how you think about patterns and design

Don’t miss our one-day workshop on July 1, 2025, from 10AM–5PM at Alliance Française, in Lagos, Nigeria. Limited spots available — secure your ticket for N35,000 now by registering through the link in bio on the page.

Explore the conscious design of kimono – the ultimate sustainable garment. 👘

Made of large panels of fabric, Kimono production creates minimal waste and the pattern itself is zero waste. Join ZWDC co-founder Cassandra Belanger for a discussion around sustainable fashion inspired by this design.

Cassandra and Curator Kirsty Hassard will look at both the historical context of the garment and how we can take inspiration from it in today’s fast fashion-centric marketplace.

Presented in collaboration with . The Generation of Waste exhibit was a collaborative project developed by and for COP26 and is hosted at Central Library, Dundee from 26 April to 14 June, 2024.

This talk is part of the V&A’s Kimono exhibition: Kyoto to Catwalk

From samurai style and geisha chic, to Jedi knights and rock stars, explore the fascinating story of the significance, appeal and influence of this iconic garment. Showing the kimono as a dynamic, ever-evolving icon of fashion, the exhibition traces its evolution and influence from 17th century Japan to today’s cutting-edge couture and street fashion across the world.

The beauty and importance of the kimono, meaning simply ‘the thing to wear’, is celebrated with an extraordinary collection of around 300 garments, accessories, paintings, prints, photographs and film clips from the V&A and collections around the world. This is the final chance to see these rare works together on the last stop of the exhibition’s international tour.

The Making Zero Waste project would not be possible without the dedication to storytelling, particularly around our relationships with clothing, that Morag Seaton of brings to the table. We are grateful to have Worn as a collaborator on this project.

Founded by fashion practitioners and , Worn Workshop produces creative projects about people’s relationships with their clothes. Since April 2020, Worn has been collecting and sharing the stories of our clothes, from which they produce their own programme and commissions for industry, community, heritage and education contexts. Each of Worn’s projects start with an everyday story, question or conversation that seeks to unpack the socio-cultural, environmental and personal significance of the objects we wear.

Worn challenges negative fashion cultures through new approaches by celebrating the stories of our clothes, so that more of them will become *worn*.

Check out the link in our bio to , an action of The Or Foundation that calls for accountability on production volumes and accountability for waste generated by large fashion brands. The Or calls for new clothing reduction of at least 40% over five years, balanced by the increase of reuse and remanufacture of existing materials, as well as public records of a company’s annual production volumes. Sign the petition and read more about how waste colonialism is impacting Ghana!

We love the intersectional work that is doing around fashion and environmental justice. We are so honored to be seen for the value of our zero waste design work and entrusted with sharing it within Ghana’s local and rich cultural context. We’ve been a huge fan of The Or Foundation since we started following their work in 2020. It was a dream come true getting to visit in person and see the incredibly impactful work they are doing within the local community.

We’ll be sharing more about our collaborative workshops with them soon!

It has been another compelling week of Zero Waste design and knowledge exchange in Accra with the ‘Making Zero Waste’ workshops series.

We were joined by educational leaders and brands such as and , as well as tailors from Kantamanto Market, and upcyclers from The OR Foundation’s Inkubé program. During the workshops, participants engaged with Zero Waste concepts and challenges, brought original designs and transformed them into Zero Waste patterns, explored new techniques with free form embroidery and much more.

We were privileged to learn from the experiences of the tailors and upcyclers from Kantamanto market, witnessing their cut and make skills, and years of expertise in action. As a group, we collectively shared ideas of zero waste practice and had important conversations about the future of fashion education. Together, the workshops proved that collaboration is key to bringing about change.

We want to say a big thank you to the Or Foundation for their collaboration and support. Our participants, for their time, for sharing their stories, and trusting the process. To Nabi, Nirvana, Chloe and the rest of the team for their organisation, contributions to the project and for patiently translating the live workshop. And to Juls and Kevin for capturing the key moments so beautifully.

It has been an incredible week in Lagos with the launch of our workshop series. On Friday, our final day in Lagos was focused on making physical zero waste samples in full, half, or quarter scale, inspired by the work throughout the week. It was such a joy seeing and hearing how Zero Waste can be looked at in a local context and implemented straight away in a lot of practices.

By Friday, mindsets had shifted and there was a palpable feel of excitement around implementable solutions and creative thinking surrounding ZW patterns.

We want to say a special thanks to Daniel Adesanya for his unending enthusiasm and support of the project. Our participants, for the time and trusting the process. And to our interns, Mathilde and the rest of the team and .lagos for making sure everything ran smoothly.

was brought to life with the kind support of and



Photo credit:

In the next week, we’ll be headed to Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana to exchange knowledge about zero waste design.  With the help of our wonderful sponsors and collaborators, we’ll be sharing 4 day workshops in each location.  Reducing waste is desirable in any location, but recipients of waste colonialism have another level of waste to consider. Through these workshops, we hope to incite new practices of zero waste fashion design within the local African context by collaborating on circular solutions with local tailors, upcyclers, and designers.

In our next shares, you’ll get to know each of our team members and collaborators a little better, along with the why’s and how’s of our zero waste design journeys. Well also be sharing some lives and stories during our travels so stay tuned.

Special thanks to for making this trip possible.

We are delighted to say that after a tough tech time, our ZWDC website and emails are back online! 🎉

👉 Our new URL is www.zwdcollective.org. Here you'll find everything as it was, including our Community Directory, Zero Waste Pattern Library, Online Courses. So make sure to update your Bookmarks, or if you haven't checked it out before, now is the perfect time!

👉 Our new Team Email is [email protected]. You can also contact us via DM, or the Contact Form on our site.

We are so sorry for any inconveniences or frustrations this down-time has caused, and hope that our community are as happy as we are to have everything back up and running. 🚀

📚Let’s talk about books! 📚

We were delighted to come across A Kind Cloth’s blog post from late July, where they highlight books that have helped them on their Zero Waste Design journey!

📖 The first is Zero Waste Fashion Design, by Timo Rissanen, Holly McQuillan. Holly is a co-founder of ZWDC, and along with Timo, brought this book to life back in 2016.

Marine, of A Kind Cloth, says “This book talks about the whole design process, looking back in history across the globe how zero waste design techniques were already in place, and how these are now iconic pieces of our clothing history."

Did you know the second edition is out this coming week?!

It includes new content on integrating 3D design into a zero waste process, additional coverage of the historical context of zero waste around the world, and expands on the related technique of subtraction cutting. Plus, a fantastic new cover that features the Zero Waste Scrub Set by another ZWDC co-founder, Danielle Elsener of . What a team!



📖 The second is Zero Waste Sewing, by Elizabeth M. Haywood. We expect many of you will be big fans of Liz’s work, as we certainly are!

Marine says “This book is a great place to start if you want to get into zero waste sewing. Everything is laid out so it is as straightforward as can be. There's also sewing techniques, and tips on how to draft your own zero waste sewing patterns.”

Liz has also been releasing her book project, “A Year of Zero Waste Sewing – A year of exploration, making and musings on zero waste patterns and clothes”, as monthly zines. Check them out on Liz’s blog, linked in her bio!



📖 And the final book is Zero Waste Patterns, by Birgitta Helmersson. Marine says “when I heard Birgitta was going to publish a book, I knew I had to have it. And now I do, I certainly do not regret the purchase! The book comes with 20 wearable projects all displayed in a beautiful simple aesthetic."



You can read Marine’s full review (as well as an incredible, curated collection of sustainable fabrics, and lots more…) over at akindcloth.co.uk, or check them out on Instagram . ✨

💰How do you keep costs down when creating Zero Waste Design garments? 💰

We would love to know how you keep your spending low when on your Zero Waste Design journey!

For many people, we know that a change to a more sustainable wardrobe comes with one big, really important barrier - the cost.

Have you found ways to spend less while also creating less waste? Do you have tips on a more affordable way to grow and learn in the zero waste space? Why not share with the community in the comments below? 👇