WELL-CRAFTED GARMENTS//ON A WAVE OF ITS OWN - ATID

Sustainability has become the industry buzzword over the course of the last 20 years, but it’s only been in the last 5  that it’s been plastered across every press release, magazine article and ‘influencer’ sponsored post.

Whether brands or designers are being increasingly mindful for the right reasons is irrelevant as long as they manage to intertwine sustainability into their every day and seasonal operations. Not to drag this out too much but this can be done in countless ways now from sourcing leftover material, utilising reusable and plastic-free packaging and eliminating fabrics that contain toxic microplastics; the possibilities are endless. And, what’s on the horizon looks increasingly promising as we say a fateful goodbye to 2020.

With the rise of increasingly mindful designers, often comes mindful brands, such as Story Mfg. and Eden Power Corp, to name a few. Throughout their design process conceptualising a product to speaking to manufacturers, ‘sustainability’ and consciousness is rife. The aforementioned, with ATID included, prioritises this above and beyond many other key factors, but the end result is always the same - incredibly well-crafted garments.

Alexander Taylor Studio is aptly described as an ‘industrial transdiscipline design studio’ with a comprehensive background developing furniture and lighting, but their focus has shifted more towards innovation and systems. In addition, his experience delves deep into footwear and his work has had a monumental impact on the current landscape of footwear design.

This is in hand thanks to his work with adidas back in 2007 when he came up with the idea for Primeknit technology - making a pair of shoes from one piece of knitted material - which has since revolutionised the industry. Bearing these projects in mind, he is one of the most important designers and thinkers of the current-day. With this experience behind Taylor and his team, they launched a clothing platform - ATID - which carries forth the philosophy and experience cultivated through the agency work. Emphasis is placed on utilising leftover ‘deadstock’ materials, harvested from some of the world's leading technical garment factories which ATID has forged relationships with. 

Adidas Yeezy 380 Prime Knit

ATID was in development for 2 years before it launched in August 2020, but there’s a lifetime's worth of experience behind it. It’s an embodiment of Taylor’s career thus far and builds upon that multi-faceted design knowledge he has accumulated, from the fields of footwear, furniture and lighting. Unlike traditional ‘brands’, which, upon retrospect isn’t a fitting description of ATID, it operates on a wave on its own, led by a conscious and sustainable approach.

Our conversation with Taylor has informed us on the behind-the-scenes decision-making skills that lead the way for their product development. In addition, we spoke about the process behind the adidas ‘Primeknit’ project, their relationship with KTC and technical materials. 

Hi Alexander, thank you for taking the time out to speak to me and tell Sabukaru a little more about yourself. First of all, please could you talk about your background and what you do?

I am from an industrial design background and built an altogether transdiscipline design studio. We originally began designing furniture and lighting for international editors and then focussing more on innovation and systems. In the last 12 years, our focus has shifted slightly to designing footwear. 

I enjoy the challenge of creating something new and developing alternative ways to make products which are ultimately more efficient and more advanced in performance. I am constantly driven to learn and understand, and anticipate what’s coming next! I am always looking to challenge existing models and systems of making in order to present alternative solutions. Whether that’s through practical innovations or collaborating with industry experts in order to illustrate and force change.

How do the Alexander Taylor Studio and ATID play into the hands of each other?

Over the years Alexander Taylor Studio has been able to research and learn how to work with various materials and, most importantly, to develop a way of working with factories and partners in order to build stories. We are a team with material understanding and making skills.

ATID was organic in the sense that we didn’t set ourselves too many targets and were conscious that we had to be happy with the product and then we would present it; there were no seasons or collections in mind.

My dream is that ATID exists as a platform by which we can represent the studio philosophy and design language through limited edition products which help pave the way for change on a larger scale in industry whether it be through the supply chain or system change or through material development and innovation. ATID is a place for applied research which manifests itself through products you can live with.

With regards to the agency and the creative projects you undertake, can you shed some light on the process of the goings-on? From conceptualising an idea to the end product. 

I guess we have a very clear way of working, one by which we can apply a method which is very much step by step. Always asking questions, researching viable solutions and engaging with industry experts in order to realise physical proof of concept models and prototypes which enable us to illustrate and identify feasibility. I really look at our work as practical innovation, looking to simplify and make sense of objects and production which in turn generates not only something new in terms of how a product is made but how a product looks.

For me, design must be intuitive, it must tell a story and be instantly recognisable as to construction or function and this can be celebrated. 

Can you pick out a particular project you’ve worked on and tell us about the process behind that and how it came to fruition? 

The Primeknit project, as described below, was a game-changer! It’s almost too big to understand that it was generated from the project I was asked to be involved in. The same, only a few years later, happened with the original Parley shoe we were asked to work on with adidas. 

I think we should bring up adidas’ ‘Primeknit’ material and the role the agency played in the development of this innovative technology. I’m under the impression you were tasked with designing something entirely new for the London Olympic Games hosted in 2012. As the partnership began 10 years ago, how does your relationship with adidas continue to work?

I wasn’t interested in designing a single pair of shoes, I'm more interested in changing the way we make shoes.

My first shoe project came in late 2007 when I was invited to work on a project for the Olympic Games in London 2012. Myself and a few other designers were asked to propose designs and technologies which came from another industry, something which in terms of shoemaking technology had not been done before. 

Following an introductory factory visit it became apparent there was an opportunity to simplify the making process in terms of numbers of parts and pieces used to make sports shoes at the time. Typically 15 - 20 different components would go into making 1 shoe, all assembled with cut and sewn textile and moulded parts and pieces glued together.

I wanted to write the brief and communicate how we could make a shoe out of a single process. I proposed knitting from a flat knit machine as a lot of high-end office furniture was using this method. By using single pieces of engineered textile, with limited waste, there was ample opportunity for a variety in yarns and continuous innovation.

The first prototypes were made in a chair factory supplier in Germany and then developed over the course of 3 and a half years resulting in the original adizero primeknit shoes which, in the words of adidas, "were the lightest and most sustainable performance shoe the brand had ever made”. Primeknit was born and the technology scaled, ultimately changing the way shoes are made today.

So, ATID is almost like a physical manifestation of Alexander Taylor Studio and the work the agency produces, except you have total creative control with the process?

Exactly! To a certain extent it was born of frustration because for many years, for the most part, as an agency you work behind the scenes and deliver concepts which are then filtered into the brand. The motivation with ATID was to have an input on every aspect of the product's life; photography, branding, marketing etcetera. 

The plan is to build chapters through collaborative partners, the first being KTC and using deadstock materials. Then, we are planning to work with Algiknit who create algae-derived, biodegradable yarns and textiles.

We are also working on technical socks with a German performance brand informed from medical application and then some ATID concept footwear is also coming very soon. These all come as illustrations of what could be and it is important for us to understand that we will not be able to compete with bigger brands when it comes to huge investment technology, however, I hope that we are in a position to help ‘fast track’ innovation for the greater good and the platform ATID will become self-sufficient and enable these exciting projects to be born.

How do you balance the agency and ATID?

We run ATID as a project and as if it were a client. In fact it is in all aspects a client, although it is financed and driven by the studio and team. The element of having to deal with sales and other associated workload we are yet to see, I anticipate and hope it becomes separate and self-sufficient as it grows and as opportunity comes, however as with the agency work, we will take it step by step. 

The majority of ATID products are technical in some way or another, whether that’s through their use of fabrics or construction. Why is it important to produce what some consider as ‘staples’ or ‘basics’ in a functional way? 

ATID is to offer an alternative and one which is considered in material and construction. For the initial launch concept, we are in collaboration with a factory only working with technical materials and therefore the material is somewhat defined for us.

I think it's curious to create staple looks in technical materials and those which otherwise may not be used. For example, the Nylon Ballistic Jacket could be considered as one of those staple products; you would never design the jacket and specify such a material, however we think it looks amazing and have managed to intercept nylon textile which otherwise would have ended up shredded, burnt, or destined for landfill.

With ATID, you work closely with KTC - one of the world's leading manufacturers of performance outerwear - can you tell us how this partnership was brought about and why you both chose to work with one another? It’s almost like a perfect marriage between both of your values. 

Our first contact with KTC came some years ago when we were interested in collaborating with an outdoor performance factory for a footwear client we were working with. While this did not materialize we kept in touch and it led us to the conversation of a direct collaboration between us in order to try and inject some new thinking and opportunity for us both….

As a design agency, we work very closely with factories and are always seeking out new opportunities to collaborate and learn, one such conversation began three years ago. In understanding how we work and seeing the impact our work was having for adidas and other clients, Gerhard Flatz at KTC invited us to visit the factory and consider how we could work together. 

KTC 7 Layer System Jacket

KTC is a world-leading outdoor technical garment factory making some of the best apparel for the world's premium brands. It was such an exciting opportunity, from the outset, a true meeting of minds, and we just had to find a way to start something together! We had to define a direction which would make sense for us and KTC, both from a product typology perspective and a material and making perspective. We always look to challenge the existing systems and offer alternate methods. We work in a way which is very much about development streams and research, which enables concept stories and limited production opportunities. 

I believe that often the biggest hurdle for presenting or developing something new is being able to engage with a physical representation of ideas. We have a working method whereby we develop models and understanding through making. Often trial and error and research into various materials or construction solutions which often present innovative or novel alternatives to industry.

We discussed the initial direction together whilst touring the KTC factory around working with only the leftover inventory material or so called ‘deadstock’. Huge volumes of waste textile from the fashion industry are destined every day for landfill or incineration and rather than add to the creation of new materials, which were in essence the same as those which already existed, we decided to work with this ‘deadstock’ material. Limited quantities of leftover textile are all accounted for in books of material inventory and we decided to use this to make technical apparel and accessories. We do not profess to be the first to work with the concept of up-cycling, however to work directly with the factory and have the confidence and freedom to just start something together would surely take us in an interesting direction.

Clothing Wate Statistic 2017

Over the past couple of years the project evolved as we realised there was an opportunity to develop a platform for research and opportunity to develop material processes through objects. We figured this was a practical way to enable and implement change, whilst opening the door to future collaboration and collaborators. ATID is a platform whereby we can create chapters and stories which can either exist as moments or longer running channels of creation.

The first chapter is to initiate the leftover material story and understand how this could work. We take an eclectic mix of technical materials and craft them into garments and accessories, in the end creating limited edition pieces due to the finite nature of the material available. From a design perspective it generates the challenge to assign materials to different solutions; for example, t-shirts crafted from pocket lining material or bags from super lightweight down jacket rip-stop or overshirts from Cordura nylon - all bringing an element of desirability and spontaneity. 

I am an optimist and believe we will find new systems amongst the global reset and ATID is both an opportunity to create and also a ‘business card’ in order to illustrate our capabilities as a studio. 

You pledge to utilise leftover ‘deadstock’ materials where possible. Is the factory really on board with this and forthcoming or did it take some negotiation to do so?

KTC is 100% on board with using the leftover materials and runs a very well organised inventory whereby we can access quantities available and put to one side as we develop and the relationship is very much a partnership in this sense. 

I would say they are also open to the idea of building the network and see the opportunity to contribute and use the materials.

A lot of your design work is centred around the idea of reducing waste and being more environmentally conscious. Can you talk about why this informs your design process? In respect to this, how do you overcome problems that arise with regards to some of these technologies? For example, there may be a solution that easily arises but doesn’t 100% align with your values, do you ever consider taking this route?

We use the idea of reducing and talking about waste as the driving force behind the project, this creates the opportunity for us to illustrate and highlight waste in the fashion industry and beyond.

We discover through making and trying to solve problems which inform the designs. We are often confronted with ideas which do not align with our values, however we respect that as much as possible - it certainly does not make our lives easy. Oftentimes we have to work 10 times harder in order to come up with results which conform to our values. We are always offering something in my opinion which helps drive change and awareness that we all have to be responsible.

With brands such as yourself, ATID, and Story Mfg on the rise, where do you see the future of design heading?

I think that all boundaries and traditions are being challenged and now more than ever with the pandemic I believe there is more willingness to collaborate. There is a change in mindset from a business and consumer perspective.

We have to seek out new ways in which to present and engage with product now, especially at a time when we are restricted in movement.

Thank you very much for you time!

As the design studio and ATID progress, they continue to embody the same ethos that has plagued Taylor’s vision for years: a drive to innovate and design beyond the realms of what is currently understood by most. Their emphasis on utilising methods that reduce waste, as exemplified by the Primeknit project and their relationship with KTC, is a stark reminder that change is happening on an industrial level. Hard work has to be done to conform to the values that we endorse but these mediums are achievable. 

About the author:
Ali George Hinkins is a UK-based freelance writer, currently contributing to eye_C Mag, Sabukaru Online and his own respective website. The topics he covers are broad but he mostly dabbles in technical clothing, from performance-wear to outdoors gear. Striving to provide content outside of generic media output, he immerses himself in the realities of those working inside the industry and translates those stories.