Extending the Life of Fabric: Zero-Waste Approaches and the Design of Negative Spaces in Garment Production

This article investigates how extending clothing lifetime can begin at the pre-consumer stage by reframing textile offcuts as materials with unrealised, yet extendable, lifespans. While existing research on clothing longevity primarily focuses on use, care, repair, and post-consumer practices, significantly less attention has been paid to the material lifetime of fabrics during the cutting and manufacturing phases, where substantial waste is systematically generated. This study addresses this gap by proposing a design-led perspective on fabric lifetime as a critical dimension of “use for longer”. Grounded in a research through design methodology, the study combines digital pattern simulation, physical prototyping, and embodied making practices to investigate how textile offcuts —conceptualised as “negative spaces” — can be re-integrated into new garments. Rather than adopting fully zero-waste pattern design, which remains difficult to implement within highly standardised industrial contexts, the research explores alternative strategies aimed at maximising fabric use and preserving material value within existing production constraints. Through manual manipulation, draping, and artisanal techniques, textile waste is rendered visible and transformed into high-value design elements, activating cultural, aesthetic, and social forms of value. The findings demonstrate that extending the life of textiles is not limited to prolonging garment use but can also be achieved by intervening earlier in the supply chain, where discarded materials represent interrupted material lifetimes. By foregrounding the role of designers as agents capable of translating waste into value, this contribution expands current debates on clothing longevity and proposes a framework in which care, material awareness, and design responsibility operate as key drivers for circular fashion practices.