Creative Process ~ Monument Pant

Blue Nude ~ Slow Fashion Brand - Monument Pant Original Artwork

 

Monument is the first pant from the Sonoran collection and named after Monument Valley in Arizona, USA.

We wanted to create a colourful printed pant in an elevated fabric that maintained the comfort and zen-inducing qualities of the beautiful wrap pants we saw during our travels in South-East Asia. The Monument Pant features an East-Asian inspired folded and draped frontal tie, with the silky drape of the bamboo plain fabric creating a flattering backside. They are at once comfortable, cool, and elegant -  as ready for a road trip through the desert as they are for a poolside cocktail.

 

Blue Nude ~ Slow Fashion Brand - Monument Pant Sketch

 

Collaborating artist MET created the artwork used on the Monument Pant, titled Sea Within the Sky. The art is a faraway view of a dramatic Southwest valley. Godly and inspiring, expansive desert formations tower over the valley while clouds create pockets of dark shadows on the ground below. 

 

Blue Nude ~ Slow Fashion Brand - Monument Pant Original Artwork

 

The Sea Within the Sky's medium is acrylic on canvas, meaning it had to be professionally scanned to create a digital file that was ready for printing on fabric. The resulting digital file was then transformed into a tile print that was digitally painted over again by MET to make the psychedelic stripes that are on the pant today.

 

Blue Nude ~ Slow Fashion Brand - MET with the Monument Pant Artwork

 

The artwork was reactively digitally printed onto bamboo plain. Reactive digital printing reduces water consumption by up to 50%, as compared to roller or silkscreen printing. As well, there is less ink wastage and therefore less ink discharge.

Bamboo is an unexpected and efficient crop to use as fibre for clothing. Bamboo grows very closely together, meaning the yield per hectare of cultivation is higher. In simple terms, less land is needed to produce more crop for harvesting. As well, bamboo growth requires very small amounts of water, usually needing no more than natural rainfall to grow commercially.

Despite the crop benefits of bamboo, it is worth noting that in order to transform the bamboo into the silky fabric you feel today, a chemical process is required. While we do see small use of bamboo-based fabrics as a more sustainable fabric choice than conventional cotton or oil-based fibres, moving forward we aim to source bamboo fabric that has been treated only through a Lyocell (closed loop) process or that comes from a certified partner.

The Monument Pant was manufactured at our local small-batch production studio in East London. They specialize in high-end production, working with many emerging designers and brands in the city. Each pant was made by hand in-studio by their talented seamstresses and cutters

You can purchase the small-batch Monument Pant here.

 

Blue Nude ~ Slow Fashion Brand - Monument Pant

 

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