New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Project category

Identify the award category for which this project is being submitted
Shaping a circular industrial ecosystem and supporting life-cycle thinking

Email user
natascha@von-hirschhausen.com

Basic information
Project title
WasteLessFashion GmbH

Full Project Title
our holistic collection "quiet rebellion" seeks to disrupt the entire lifecycle of fashion

Please provide a short, catchy description of your project to be used in communication towards the public.
WASTE LESS FUTURE. While every garment causes around 20% of loss in resources, we reduce this wasteful production technique to less than 1% within our entire fashion collection by creating innovativ zero-waste patterns. This is only one of the many reasons why we disrupt fashion with our holistic collection, which is unapologetic when it comes to sustainability. Our entire company is build on the strong believe, that we have to lead to a post-capitalist future by example.

What was the geographical scope of your project?
National

Where was your project implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Germany

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
We strongly believe in local production, so we work with production plants in Berlin and Forst (Lausitz).

Does your project address mainly urban or rural issues?
It addresses urban-rural linkages

Does your project refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your project benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your project won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Is your project fully completed
Yes

Please indicate a date (mm/yy)
2023-01-20

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As a representative of an organisation
Please provide the contact details for the project promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the project)
- Name of the organisation(s): WasteLessFashion GmbH
  Type of organisation: For-profit company
  First name of representative: Natascha
  Last name of representative: von Hirschhausen
  Gender: Female
  Nationality: Germany
  If relevant, please select your other nationality: Germany
  Function: CEO
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Friedrichstraße 67 (Q205, EG)
  Town: Berlin
  Postal code: 10117
  Country: Germany
  Direct Tel: +49 30 81036490
  E-mail: natascha@von-hirschhausen.com
  Website: https://www.nataschavonhirschhausen.com
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://www.instagram.com/natascha.von.hirschhausen/
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @natascha.von.hirschhausen #nataschaVonHirschhausen #wasteLessFuture
- URL: https://www.linkedin.com/company/natascha-von-hirschhausen/
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): @natascha.von.hirschhausen #nataschaVonHirschhausen #wasteLessFuture
In case my project is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my project in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
Ursula von der Leyen commented on my business in her NEB opening speech

Description of the project
Please provide a summary of your project.
With an independent impact measurement agency (made2flow) we accounted the lifecycle analysis for our collection. The outcome: Our zero-waste pants suit (for example) saves 60% of CO2 emissions and 14 years of drinking water of an adult with every single production compared to the industry standard.

Thanks to our zero-waste pattern-cutting design, the entire fashion collection is produced with less than 1% waste. With this production innovation, about 20% of resources can be saved in cutting alone compared to all conventionally produced garments.

In addition, all components of our garments are made of purely natural materials, which are audited annually along the entire value chain for ecological and social sustainability - from the main material to the care-tag and the packaging.

We also focus on waste-free solutions in fashion retail through innovative made-on-demand and pre-order buying options.

Design is the key to sustainability. Only garments that are worn with pleasure for a long time can be truly sustainable. That's why we emphasize sophisticated, minimalistic design and size-fluent tailoring with a unique design.

In order to reach the wider market we also work with bigger companies on zero-waste solutions. From workshops to designing entire collections we are devoted to change the entire business towards a post-capitalist future, which serves people and planet instead of harming them.

Please indicate the main themes of your project with 5 key words.
zero-waste design

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
post-capitalist entrepreneurship

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
fair and organic materials

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
local production

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
transforming fashion by disruption

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
HOW WE SAVE 20% OF RESOURCES: ZERO-WASTE DESIGN
The entire fashion industry causes about 20% material loss per garment due to offcuts in the cutting of clothing alone. These scraps are usually burned or thrown away, which means that a fifth of all resources are wasted in this process alone - even with sustainably produced materials. To avoid this immense waste from the outset, we developed our innovative zero-waste cutting technology with less than 1% waste. Thanks to this innovation, the production of our entire collection, and thus also our pantsuit, is virtually waste-free. To convey in an aesthetically vivid way how little waste is generated in our pantsuit, we developed an earring from its fabric scraps, which has since become our trademark. Beyond production, the key to sustainability lies in design, as only garments that are worn long, often and with pleasure can be truly sustainable. That's why we pay special attention to a perfect fit, which we guarantee by working with curves in the pattern in a complex way. This innovation sets new standards and shows how fashion design and sustainability go hand in hand - for a WasteLessFuture.

The key objective is to save enormous amounts of resources and to start a discussion about the wastefulness in our current industry practices by leading by example. We want to change the way we do fashion, so we offer these innovativ zero-waste solutions to other companies as well.

HOW WE AUDIT THE SUPPLY CHAIN FOR ALL COMPONENTS: MATERIALS
All components for all our garments are organic, fair, plastic-free and biodegradable. Strictest certificates, such as Gots and IVN Best, as well as additional Fairtrade agreements ensure the environmental and social sustainability of our materials along the entire value chain - from the main fabric to the care-tag. Thus our collection is cross-seasonal, size-fluent, cross-gender, made-to-order and more. Everything for a WasteLessFuture.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
DESIGN IS THE KEY TO A SUSTAINABILITY

Beyond production, the key to sustainability lies within the design, as only garments that are worn long, often and with pleasure can be truly sustainable. Therefor our collection stands for minimalist, versatile design with a unique and long-lasting form. The whole collection ist handmade locally without causing waste in the production or the retail, which adds additional value to our sophisticated design.
In true tradition of the Bauhaus we search for the "Gute Form“ meaning for well-designed items, that are true to their use. Our fashion is created to be used for a long time and to empower the people and their active lifestyles.
Our new rationalism combines high-end sustainable materials, with a local zero-waste handcraft production and timeless minimalist design. Our garments come to life on the body and are created in a size-fluent way, meaning it will fit even if the body changes - for a WasteLessFuture.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
HOW WE EMBRACE EVERY BODY

While our core objective lies in zero-waste design and sustainable innovation, we also care about inclusion within our holistic collection. Our designs stand for body positivity and size-inclusiveness. Our size-fluent designs embrace every body. No one has to fit in a number or has to worry about not having the „right“ size anymore. In the buying process this stigmatization is taken away and even more our garments are created to grow with you, no matter how your body changes:
One dress, for example, will fit all body types from size 34-48.
Some people feel stigmatized by having to buy a bigger size. Some worry, if their carefully chosen clothes might not fit anymore if they gain or loose weight. This focus on weight is not healthy. Feeling good in your own body is the key to feel welcomed within society. This focus on weight has to end. For us it means the focus on the numbers and sizes has to end. Size-fluent design is our answer to well-being and inclusive fashion design. We lift the emotional weight off by neglecting sizes wherever possible. To embrace all different body types.

Thus we aim to re-define gender stereotypes. Ranging from gender-neutral to gender-fluid design our collection reflects the search of an era which is at least open to fluid, non-binary gender definition, that embraces the people and their potential over strict stereotypical thinking.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project
We believe, that the industry has to change their destructive ways. And we believe, that we need companies, that lead by example and show that sustainable, fair and future-driven companies with a post-capitalist mindset can thrive within our capitalist system.

By changing the industry (slow but steady) we want to benefit everyone. Because too long has all the weight of sustainable consumption been put on the back of consumers and citizens alone.

Consumers can not change the product or the market. It is the companies who have neglected their responsibilities way too long. This is why we want to proof, that sustainable, future-driven entrepreneurship is possible, while reaching out to other companies to work with them in becoming more sustainable. It. is. time.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the project. Please highlight what the added value of their engagement was.
We work closely with our suppliers and have had collaborations with suppliers in the past related to different sustainable priorities. These collaborations take place at the local, regional and international levels. The added value of the suppliers is clearly their craftsmanship and knowledge and the close cooperation enables us to have full transparency along the entire value chain.

In addition to suppliers, our customers are also key stakeholders, mostly at the local and regional level. Their purchase decisions determine the raison d'être of our products on the market. Not least due to our self-operated flagship store, as well as the high demand for pre-orders and custom-made products, we are in a continuous exchange with our customers. This is a valuable basis for product development.

Furthermore, we offer zero-waste Workshops for industrial partners who strive to seriously structure or restructure their companies / products in a sustainable way. The workshops are an important contribution for us, because they give us the opportunity to actively shape zero-waste and sustainability outside our direct scope by helping other companies on their way. This happens on a european and international level by sharing our knowledge.

No shareholders were engaged in the company. The WasteLessFuture GmbH has organically grown without any kind of funding.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your project. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was.
To refine our design and reach our goal to find out how sustainable fashion can be made and designed we engaged with different companies and stakeholders.

One of our key partners was made2flow, who helped us to assess how much more sustainable our product is compared to the industry standard. With that impact measurement company we found out, that we save up to 60% of CO2 in the production of our garments.

We also worked with fair trade companies around the globe, like India and Bangladesh, to understand and learn more about the social background of sustainable production. For example we worked with "Living Blue" on a capsule collection, which was zero-waste and fully natural dyed in fair trade working conditions in Bangladesh. Collabroations like these are important to us to learn about different cultures, develop meaningful, one of a kind items with a unique craftsmanship, that we need to save.

We also search the knowledge exchange to our production in Forst. It is an exciting and demanding process to set up a production, that is made zero-waste and with exclusively sustainable materials. This needs openness from the production and willingness to try new ideas and a lot of communication from our side. We are very thankful, to have found a partner willing to explore the production possibilities of waste-free patterns and sustainable materials.

Please give information on the results, outcomes and impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for. This includes also benefits from the project for direct and indirect beneficiaries
ZERO-WASTE DESIGN SAVES VALUABLE RESOURCES

With an independent impact measurement agency (made2flow) we accounted the lifecycle analysis for our collection. The outcome: Our zero-waste pants suit for example saves 60% of CO2 emissions and 14 years of drinking water of an adult with every single production.

Let's illustrate this:

Our production innovation in zero-waste cutting technology proves potential for immense savings in resource consumption and waste avoidance. With significantly less than 1% waste in the cutting of the garments, we can produce our entire collection with virtually no waste. Using our pantsuit as an example, we illustrate the clear advantages of our innovation: We need 3.80 m2 of cotton for a pantsuit. A conventional suit, on the other hand, uses about 5.18 m2 of material. In comparison, we thus save about 26% of the material for our suit, which means that 1.29 m2 of material are saved for each cut of the zero-waste suit. The waste from conventional cutting corresponds to about 0.31 kg of cotton material per cut. Therefore, at least 0.31 kg less cotton must be grown for our pantsuit. Zero-waste cutting thus saves 2.3 m2 of cultivation area per suit. In addition, 3410 litres less water are used per suit. In line with these figures, we also save significant amounts of energy, pesticides, herbicides, dyes and other factors in the further processing of resources per item, which are used to a considerable extent in conventional textile production. We therefore contribute to saving CO2 and avoiding environmental damage.
Calculated per 1000 suits, our zero-waste cutting innovation can save more than 310 kg of cotton, 2,272 m2 of cultivation area and 3,410,000 litres of water.

Please provide documents showing the results, outcomes and impacts of your project
PDF
PDF
- pdf-1-5293.pdf
Please highlight the innovative character of the project, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the project
- being one of the first zero-waste designers, who brought the innovation to the market
- all sustainable and fair materials throughout all components
- size-fluent design
- gender-fluid design
- cross seasonal and made-to-order collections
- local production
- post-capitalist entrepreneurship

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your project.
For our zero-waste design we work with:
- zero-waste pattern making in 3D digital fashion solutions
- knitting
- draping on mannequin

To account for the percentage of waste we secure all scraps during the sampling and measure them in comparison to the final design. This way we make sure, that it is always under 1% of waste for our entire collection.

Gender-fluid / size-fluid:
- fitting on different body types

Please describe which elements of your project could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and context. This may involve for example aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings etc.
Teaching and workshops were already given at:
- FIT New York, USA
- HO Genth, Belgium
- Bauhaus Universität Weimar, Germany
- Universität der Künste Berlin, Germany
and more. To share knowledge about sustainable practices and zero-waste design with the new generation.

And workshop and collections are being developed with business partners, such as HESSNATUR GmbH & Co KG.

By teaching and developing zero-waste solutions with other companies we search to spread and exchange knowledge about zero-waste design - for a WasteLessFuture.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the project addresses by providing local solutions
- textile waste and overproduction in the fashion industry
- exploitation of people and the planet throughout the value chain in conventional fashion production
- overconsumption
- greenwashing / green wishing
- and let's face it: Capitalism needs to be disrupted and rearranged into a new value oriented way. Capitalism needs to shift from a purely profit-orientated nature to one that is driven by social and ecological factors as well. For my company I would proudly say, that we put VALUE OVER PROFIT, but for our capitalist system profit and value might be at least the next step we need to take now.
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images (or other types of visual representations, if images are not possible) to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below
- 2023 QUIET REBELLION photo credits.pdf
By submitting your application you confirm that you are the copyright owner of the images provided and that they can be used by the European Commission for the purposes of promoting the New European Bauhaus on all platforms (websites, print, social media and other).
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes

By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed project has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes

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Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their projects, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted project, is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes