seeking new ways to reuse existing garments to counter the millions of pounds in annual waste. A standard garment production process may begin with a drawing of the desired garment, a pattern is then generated to achieve this design, a marker is made to most efficiently use the fabric, the pattern pieces are then cut from the cloth, sewn, packed and distributed to retailers. Standard garment production generates an average of 15% textile waste Waste elimination hierarchy The waste hierarchy consists of the three 'R's' - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, in order of impact. Zero-waste fashion design eliminates pre-consumer textile waste, while not necessarily addressing waste created during the use life and disposal phase of the garment's life cycle. During textile production, many pollutants in the form of liquid, solid, and gas are emitted to the environment. The textile and apparel industry is the most polluting and has a low recycling rate of about 15%. The Zero-waste fashion design would significantly eliminate gas emissions during the production process and give any material waste proper use. Notable contributions Dorothy Burnham: Cut My Cote from 1973 was a seminal text that summarised decades of Burnham's research into cuts of traditional dress. Madeleine Vionnet's design approach aligns itself well to zero waste fashion design and many of her garments had minimal waste. Alison Gwilt and Timo Rissanen's book Shaping Sustainable Fashion includes a number of references to zero waste fashion Exhibitions DPOL by Siddhartha Upadhyaya exhibited at London Science museum, Antenna Exhibition for its breakthrough in sustainable and zero waste fashion. Bad Dogs by Timo Rissanen, UTS 2008. ZERO Waste: Fashion Re-Patterned 2011. Curated by Arti Sandhu from Columbia College, Chicago. YIELD: Making fashion without making waste 2011. Curated by Timo Rissanen and Holly McQuillan held at The Dowse Art Museum, New Zealand and Textile Arts Center, Brooklyn. AUGUST & AIGHT : A commercial show of Zero Waste / DPOL products exhibited by Siddhartha Upadhyaya and Shreya Upadhyaya at Ethical Fashion Show, Paris Fashion week, Sep 1–6, 2011 References External links NYTimes Article on Zero Waste Clothing and the environment