Profile: Madelyn Sumner – Real Leather Design Competitions

Madelyn Sumner

Curtin University

Fashion Design BFA

Womenswear, Sustainable Design, Atelier - Pattern Cutting

Inspired by femininity, theatrical design, and her fascination with the power of the human body, Madelyn creates bespoke pieces that are exciting and extravagant, for those that share her values of personal empowerment and embracing individuality. With her knowledge, skills, and passion in a broad range of fashion specialisations, including silicone art, sustainable design, textile technology, modular design, silk fibre textile design, textile recycling and biomaterial innovation, practicing in Perth, Western Australia (Whadjak Region), her work borders between art and design, leaning into conceptual and couture spaces. Madelyn is experienced in a range of digital design programs, which are at the forefront of sustainable fashion. These include the pattern making program StyleCAD, as well as Clo3D, a 3D design software, and the adobe suite. She also creates wearable art pieces in effort to bring to light issues surrounding sustainability in the fashion industry. Driven by the learning process, she is always determined to expand her knowledge and experience.

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REINVENT

Category: Apparel

Competitions: International

REINVENT, ‘the future way to dress’, explores the use of leather to promote slow and sustainable fashion in a loveable, transforming garment. Inspired by modular design, the dress is customisable by the wearer, enabling it to be worn in multiple configurations and sizes. With all seams replaced with zips, the wearer is able to change the dress in accordance with the way their body, lifestyle and personal taste changes overtime. The hardware used allows the wearer to add different necklines, sleeves and other extensions to the dress, sparking their creativity and making the dress even more loveable. Using leather as the main fabric, a natural by-product of today’s food culture, the garment has the strength and durability to last and be loved for a lifetime. The design promotes the use of current resources that would otherwise go to waste, as opposed to synthetics that are not sustainable or durable. This little black dress, reinvented, is only the start of the future of the way we consume fashion, with endless possibilities for manipulations and adaptations.