Chic-STeam for Sustainable & Quality Fashion

In many national educational conferences hosted by STEP Up physics or American Physics Society, oftentimes we heard stories that girls didn’t want to major in physics in college because physics is hard for them and they are interested in fashion design instead; which revealed two persisting myths. Science, especially physics, is too hard for girls to handle. Most girls think that they should major in fashion, perceivably considering there are no other options available.

 Fast fashion has become a sensation since Zara boasted in the 90s that they could turn an idea into a product in their store in 15 days. Fast fashion, is a cheaply produced and priced garment that copies cat-walk style fashion and quickly ships to the market. To keep up with the current trends, fast fashion induced overproduction and overconsumption of clothes. In the United States, it is estimated people throw away 24 billion pounds of used textile each year, more than 100 pounds of textile waste per person because most clothing was only worn 7-10 times before going to the landfills. The other environmental impact is the excess use of water, averaging 700 gallons of water to produce one cotton shirt. The production of plastic and synthetic fiber like polyester, nylon, and acrylic in clothing is an energy-intensive process, and yet it takes hundreds of years for these materials to biodegrade. To make the matter worse, it is also estimated that 35% of all microplastics in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic textiles.

The second myth, girls were somehow messaged that they were not good at STEM subjects through the regular K-12 education. In middle schools, boys are twice more likely to be interested in STEM and 5 times more likely to pick a STEM career in college.

 Our Chic-STeam will address both myths in a proactive way. Chic-Steam is a hub of teams to educate the public, especially the girls about fashion history, global and regional garment making process, the chemistry of modern clothing materials, and innovation and research of recycled materials. Since girls are interested in fashion which it’s accessible to them daily in an intimate way, we will make them even more educated about fashion in a historical and global sense. We will introduce learning modules on fashion history and regional clothing around the world. We will demonstrate the chemistry behind textile clothing. By raising the awareness of how quality clothing was made to last longer, we will encourage fashion designers to use local and natural materials. We will create a hub where people can offer free clothing for people who are in need, sell unwanted clothing at a low price, collect recycled and unwanted clothing materials for the supply chain to create recycled or remake clothing. As our team expands, we will establish a Research and Development team to work with the supply chain for innovative ways to clean recycled textiles.

It is a 3-prong solution. First and foremost is the educational outreach. Chi-Steam will provide learning modules on fashion history, regional & traditional clothing stories, textile industry, and innovative textile materials in the make, as well the garment making process. It is also a hub where people can donate, buy, sell, resell unwanted and used clothing. The donated textile materials will be channeled to the supply chain industrial buyers for cleaning and recycling. We will also get funding for research and development on how to clean the collected garment materials in an energy efficient manner. We will establish a team or coalition of fashion designers who will use recycled and refurbished textile materials for our new clothing lines. 

Our target audience are middle to high school girls who will learn about fashion history, garment process, and the chemistry of developing sustainable and quality clothing which mitigates textile wastage. They will be given internship or training opportunities to educate their peers and juniors. They will learn how to manage the website for donation, resale, refurbishing, and remake of clothing from recycled textile materials. They will also further their participation in research and development when they go to college and develop innovative ways to clean and recycle used textile materials. They grow to be the agents of change while becoming economically independent, socially desirable with trendy clothing from recycled materials, and leading the generations in directions they formulate.

Even though we are in the conception stage, we can establish the Chic Science Team according to our planned time frame. This team will establish learning modules and deliver online free of charge. We will start recruiting middle and high school members who are interested in growing with us. We will develop the hub of collecting donated and used clothes for resale, refurbishing, and remake. We will also develop contact with supply chain industrialists who will use our collected materials for cleaning and recycling. We will form a core of fashion designers who will then use the refurbished materials to create new lines of clothing to sell on our hub.

We need funding and seed money to create opportunities for middle to high school girls to learn about fashion to start with. We need a network of professionals who can connect with us on a continuous basis to provide monetary and professional expertise in creating the learning modules, build the website and app, train the participants, and connect with the industrialists who will recycle and clean the collected textile materials. We need to connect with universities and technical centers to do research and develop refurbished and recycled materials. We need to team up or train new fashion designers who will use recycled materials for our new clothing lines. 

I am an educator working with a few national organizations beside my high school under the NYC Department of Education. I am the 2023 NYC STEP Up girls in physics ambassador. I am also an active member of the American Chemistry Society which I have received professional development funding to present and attend their annual conference this August. I was the recipient of a few Research Experiences for Teachers at Cornell University, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Penn State University, the topics of which are material science, interdisciplinary sustainable energy, and electrical engineering in self-driving cars and drone development. I am an active participant in the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

The solution addresses the issues created by fast fashion and girls not interested in STEM. We don’t see that both myths are against each other. On the contrary, the solution helps solve and support both situations in a proactive way. Chic-STeam will grow next generation women leaders who are proactively knowledgeable about the fashion industry, design, produce, and buy clothes using refurbished and recycled materials. They will also lead the industry by introducing, using, and designing innovative materials and clothing to the fashion industry which are environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Chic-STeam will be impactful to our society. We provide quality educational outreach about the traditional clothing and fashion industry. We guide middle to high school girls to understand that they can joint force their fashion interest and STEM study. Our approach is solution based to identify gaps in traditional K-12 education. For example, in learning about fashion history and textile industry, we will use local and recycled materials to design and produce modern clothing. We will sell the products online to develop a career path for the participants to seek economic independence. This is not just STEAM study but covers all spectrum of human education. When collecting used textile materials, we are constantly expanding the initiative to promote responsible production and over consumption of scarce resources. We form networks of professionals and climate activists to reduce textile waste and microplastics by using recycled and biodegradable materials. We are building an institution of networks who will also promote justice, peace, gender equality, decent workplace environment, and economic growth and independence for marginalized people who will need free clothes from our team. Our Chic-STeam will expand its sphere of influence to become a sustainable community that welcomes all.

Once Chic-STeam first receives its seed money, we will launch a campaign to connect middle school to high school girls in New York. We will provide in-class and/or out-of-school learning modules and internship opportunities to learn about fashion inside and out. Then we will train the Chic-Science-Team and Chic-Fashion-Team to speak in public forums, competitions, and educational conferences to spread our mission and vision. In parallel, we will form partnerships with supply chain industrialists, college research teams, and global textile recycling facilities to expand our network in order to establish a career path for our participants from college and onward. We will also partner with fashion designers to join our network so that they will start mentoring our participants to follow their dreams.

The experience in Chic-STeam can be a lifetime experience. We are here to provide a long term and sustainable experience for participants to grow with us. Since our impact goals are both regional and global, we encourage all types of participation, in-person and virtual, flexible and fluid as can be. We will have networks of people from all ages, genders, and backgrounds to promote our course and train our participants. We are collecting data and statistics to celebrate and continue our footprints. 

Chic-STeam will develop its own website to launch all the learning modules. We will also develop an app where people can donate, sell, buy used clothing. The app will expand to include drop off centers and shipping hubs for unwanted clothing. Eventually, we will launch refurbished and recycled clothing lines for people to shop. 

1 person for now.

Chic-STeam is in its concept-stage. 

Although the first target groups are middle to high school girls, the Chic-STeam will expand to include all genders, ages, ethnicities, inclusively to work towards achieving our goals. We will start the initiative in NY region, but the platform is global. We will address specifically the needs of poor, marginalized, and migrants who need our free clothing. We will provide educational and career pathways for our participants and juniors to become economically independent. 

Chic-STeam is a hybrid of non and for profit organization. Ideally, we hope our revenue stream to run our organization, however, we do need extra channels of revenues to support our social and educational goals. We will actively pursue educational and scientific research funding for the different teams to develop learning modules, manage the donation and resale hub, launch new clothing lines of refurbished and recycled materials, and job shadowing, internship, and scholarships for our participants.

Chic-STeam is a social enterprise which will actively seek funding from NSF, American Chemistry Society, and other educational organizations. We will enter into competitions and apply for fellowships, grants, scholarships to support our social programs. 

We will gather recycled materials for people to make some pocket money. The biggest revenue line from our enterprise will probably come from the refurbished and recycled clothing lines. Therefore our revenue stream will be mainly from service subsization where we sell products or services to an external market to help fund our social programs. This model is integrated with the non-profit part of our organization; the business activities and social programs overlap. 

Since Chic-STeam is in its concept stage, we haven't tested the market yet but more will come as we have established our team.