Pattern Room (www.patternroom.com) was launched in June this year with an ambitious goal to make a significant difference to the environmental and ethical impact of the development and production of clothing, not just fashion.
Pattern Room is an on-line catalogue of commercially-ready clothing patterns that provide the opportunity to both reduce the development time and cost of clothing and also to help enhance the fit of the clothing, poor fit being a significant contributor to clothing waste.
Ms Van Der Sommen said the new website was a seven-year project that will change the way designers and manufacturers approach development by:
– Giving access to tens of thousands of pre-tested, ready-fitted commercial patterns
– Reducing waste and cost by streamlining development of many clothing items
– Improve fit across the range which will improve sales and reduce ‘end of season’ waste
With more than 200,000 patterns currently available, Pattern Room is developing new styles all the time adding approximately 2-3000 designs per month to the library.