By Sue Hickman

For Hannah Tabert, design has always been about exploring what could be rather than always accepting what is. She has found there are often interesting, unique solutions to problems right at our fingertips, and enjoys being a part of the process in discovering those solutions.

For her graduating collection, Hannah chose to explore the natural resources the world we live in provides us with, to add colour to clothing. After being increasingly exposed to the negative effects of many practices in the fashion industry, she knew she had to focus her attention on finding an interesting and unique solution to the problem of textile wastewater in the industry.

She chose to do so by creating a collection colored entirely with natural dyes. Though she in no way claims to have found an ultimate solution to the pollution issue, she hopes her exploration of natural dyes will allow people to become more inclined to think of it as a viable option to help curtail the negative environmental effects that current textile dyes often have—all while still maintaining colour as a staple part of one’s wardrobe.

By designing her collection specifically for baby-boomer women, Hannah is also helping to fill a gap in the market by offering unique options for women who are often overlooked in the fashion industry.

Tinctoria will be unveiled at the 2019 The Show on April 18 at Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s (KPU) newly opened Wilson School of Design building in Richmond. The beautiful and innovative $36-million building houses a range of design programs including the fashion-design-and-technology program.

Event details and tickets can be found online.

Sue Hickman: Who or what was the inspiration behind your line?

Hannah Tabert: During our third year at Kwantlen, we took a class called Surface Design where we were introduced to the concept of natural dyes. That class gave me enough of a taste of the process of natural dyes to fall in love with it, and motivated me to explore them more on my own over the summer.

After discovering how much I loved using natural dyes and considering some of the negative effects of the fashion industry, I decided that exploring natural dyes in my collection would be such an exciting way to do something that I was passionate about while also encouraging an alternative solution to some of these issues.

SH: Who are your style icons?

HT: I have always struggled with answering this question, and I think it is because I tend to base my style decisions more on convictions than on other people. Currently, I am inspired by anyone who is committed to buying clothing intentionally and ethically based on their conviction that our shopping choices shouldn’t have to cause harm to other people in the world. To me, that makes their style all the more meaningful and beautiful.

SH: What’s the most helpful thing you learned at KPU?

HT: I think my time at KPU has greatly helped my ability to think of things in the context of the big picture. By being in a setting where there are always problems to solve and always deadlines to meet, I’ve really learned what it means to prioritize my time and how to balance tasks in order to actually make a project happen. 

SH: Describe your education journey.

HT: In terms of fashion design, my education began when I was about five years old when my grandmother introduced me to her sewing machine. In the years following that I spent an incalculable number of hours making the craft my own by trying my own projects, taking extra fashion-related courses online during high school since my school didn’t offer textile classes, and even using my own free time to prepare for the Alberta Skills Canada fashion design competition. Something about the process of seeing a project through from beginning to end was always extremely powerful for me, and that is what led me to Kwantlen to continue pursuing my love of the process and of creativity.

SH: What word best encapsulates you as a designer?

HT: Passionate. I based my decision to join this program on what I was passionate about, and I based the inspiration for my collection on what I am passionate about. For me, even the design process itself has always been led by where my passion, or my gut, decides to take me. That is how I function, and I know that I always do my best work as a designer when there is passion involved.  This summer, I will continue to follow my passion for exploring alternative practices in the fashion industry by spending three months in Cambodia as an intern at a zero waste, fair fashion company called Tonle.