Denim’s Upcoming Leaders: George Clarke
Continuing our coverage of the next leaders, the denim space is set to see, we’re highlighting George Clarke.
The young designer participated in the recent Graduate Fashion Week in the U.K. city, where 10 students entered their designs in Lenzing’s Sustainable Denim Competition. Lenzing partnered with Graduate Fashion Week to create a competition that furthers its vision of driving more sustainability in fashion and design. Participating designers had to consider both the style of their entries and the materials that would make the product.
Clarke designed a raw indigo sustainable denim jacket with yellow stripe details and a lined yellow denim collar, plus a sustainable denim hoody and jeans with the same yellow detailing. To make the styles, Clarke used denim from Turkey’s Orta, with TENCEL™ branded lyocell fibers.
Judges in the competition said of Clarke’s designs, that they were “thought through and inspiring,” that the “shaping and cut was super” and that “the use of the yellow complemented the dry indigo beautifully.”
For Clarke, the highlight of the experience was enjoyable and getting to use denim was right in line with what he wants.
“Denim is a fabric I aim to specialize in towards the future, so having the experience to learn more and be part of such a huge project which allows me to gain more knowledge into the future of denim was amazing,” Clarke said. “My highlight of the denim project was being able to visit Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, and to meet the other people involved in this project, and learning all about Lenzing and their fibers and how the company is having such a huge positive impact on the world.”
The industry still has a way to go with lowering its environmental impact, starting with dyeing, if you ask Clarke.
“Less dye could be used, especially in those cases where most of the dye is bleached or washed away, reducing the finish-treatments greatly,” he said. “The finishing process is the most damaging part of the whole production cycle.”
Using less impactful fibers could also help considerable, which was one thing that drew Clarke to TENCEL™ fibers.
“There are many elements to TENCEL™ Lyocell that fascinate me, the process and to how it is made is the main one, and how TENCEL™ is also more environmentally friendly than other fibers,” Clarke said.
When asked what Carved in Blue means to him, Clarke said it means a lot. 
“As a fashion design student hugely interested in specializing in denim and the future,” he said. “Not only do I want to see a change in denim as a fabric and innovative ideas in the design side, but also the future and impact it has on our environment.”