This project was triggered by the fact that fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world after oil (1). Low recycling ratio of approx. 12% is one of the main reasons. Ultrafast fashion companies like Asos release 4500 new pieces per week.
Why not using paper as a base material for clothing. Japan has a rich tradition in fashion made from paper, mainly out of economical reasons (2). We already have a broad knowledge about recycling paper. From my point of view the foundation for a lifecycle based fahion out of paper is already existing.
Another trigger for this project was the vast amount of plastic waste in our oceans, which is a commonality with fashion.
Based on my fascination for Blaschka's glass model of a Portuguese Man O' War and the above mentioned triggers I created a simple, scarf like fashion accessory out of paper and paper yarns. Parts of the paper were dyed by cyanotype. The proof of concept worked quite well and will be developed to a more usable piece in the future.
