Here’s how the second runner-up of Project Runway Malaysia Season 1 became the first-ever Malaysian to create an entirely sustainable collection
When it comes to storytelling, we usually stick to the tried-and-tested formula of starting from the beginning. However, for Hatta Dolmat’s prolific journey as a fashion designer who’s recently earned himself a spot in the Malaysia Book of Records last year for being the first local designer to ever create a ‘complete sustainable collection’, let’s start somewhere in the middle.
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It was 2015 when Hatta was working on his ready-to-wear collection for the annual Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week. At the time, he was one of few designers who designed their own motifs—an expensive investment back then. Not wanting to let the remaining textile (as well as the team's efforts) go to waste, this led to Hatta trying to find ways to reuse the their fabric offcuts. "The more we upcycled our fabric, the more it became a habit. I started to wonder about the role I played in the bigger picture," he explains.
After the show had ended, a discomfiting thought nagged at the back of his head when he saw the mountain of waste left behind in his wake.
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“From mock-ups and samples to a complete collection of over 30 looks, can you imagine how much scrap fabric a single designer produces every season? This doesn’t even include the factories that create the thousands of clothes you see online!”
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