Frühlingsblumen in eine neue Dimension bringen
Taking Spring Florals to a New Dimension
From organic cotton to recycled ocean plastic, thrifting to capsule wardrobes, and real quality to tangible change implemented by certified brands - the sustainable fashion industry is buzzing. To some, it may appear that the hive is full. There doesn’t seem to be much left that can be changed when it comes to the basics of a needle and thread.
However, the worlds of fashion and technology are destined to collaborate, and are rapidly creating a world of their own. Innovations in bio-technology and the desperate need for a change in the fashion industry are resulting in technology lending a helping hand to fashion’s otherwise toxic industry.
Biogarmentry is a new phenomenon that is taking eco-fashion to the next level. Whether it is wearing a photosynthesizing dress, planting your well-worn items to create a garden, or just outright wearing the garden itself - the days of digital floral prints may be numbered. Instead of taking on a more natural approach, the return to nature is rather in its entirety.
What is Biogarmentry?
Photo from TWG Tea
Biogarmentry, defined by creator Roya Aaghighi, is clothing that produces oxygen through photosynthesis, by means of the plants in the textile itself. This means that the garment becomes an active contributor to purifying the air around it, as opposed to contributing to the pollution caused is very creation. Creating living, breathing, garments is no easy endeavor. Roya worked with scientists at the University of British Columbia to create natural fabrics that could safely and effectively provide a home for the living plants embedded in the textile. This is done by using different kinds of cellulose and protein-based fibers.
Not only is the garment biodegradable and air-purifying, but it comes with specific care instructions, thereby taking a “considered approach” to fashion to another level entirely. By creating living garments, this initiative forces consumers to have a more personal experience of their clothes, not only as the wearer, but as the actual custodian of the garment as a living entity.
Not only is the garment biodegradable and air-purifying, but it comes with specific care instructions, thereby taking a “considered approach” to fashion to another level entirely. By creating living garments, this initiative forces consumers to have a more personal experience of their clothes, not only as the wearer, but as the actual custodian of the garment as a living entity.
Without the appropriate attention and care, the garments will perish, instilling a heightened sense of responsibility in the owner, as the fragile existence of their garment lies in their hands. This begs the question of how different - if at all - this is to our existing responsibilities to our current everyday clothing. While our garments might not turn brown and die, they will eventually wear down to mere scraps if they are not appropriately cared for. One, therefore, becomes responsible for the lifecycle of every garment upon its purchase, and this includes ensuring that the garment has a responsible existence.
Without the appropriate attention and care, the garments will perish, instilling a heightened sense of responsibility in the owner, as the fragile existence of their garment lies in their hands. This begs the question of how different - if at all - this is to our existing responsibilities to our current everyday clothing. While our garments might not turn brown and die, they will eventually wear down to mere scraps if they are not appropriately cared for. One, therefore, becomes responsible for the lifecycle of every garment upon its purchase, and this includes ensuring that the garment has a responsible existence.
Not only is the garment biodegradable and air-purifying, but it comes with specific care instructions, thereby taking a “considered approach” to fashion to another level entirely. By creating living garments, this initiative forces consumers to have a more personal experience of their clothes, not only as the wearer, but as the actual custodian of the garment as a living entity.
Photo from TWG Tea
Without the appropriate attention and care, the garments will perish, instilling a heightened sense of responsibility in the owner, as the fragile existence of their garment lies in their hands. This begs the question of how different - if at all - this is to our existing responsibilities to our current everyday clothing. While our garments might not turn brown and die, they will eventually wear down to mere scraps if they are not appropriately cared for. One, therefore, becomes responsible for the lifecycle of every garment upon its purchase, and this includes ensuring that the garment has a responsible existence.
Amicaux
However, photosynthesizing garments are not the only revolution of fashion inspired by the merging of nature with fashion. In the conception of Amicaux, Roya has also designed a collection that returns to nature in its final stage, creating a cyclical model of consumption. Amicaux traverses what we have come to expect from eco-textiles. Not only is the textile created from paper waste, but seeds are also embedded into the fiber itself so that the garment can be planted at the end of its life. This initiative extends the true lifecycle of the product, ensuring that on completion of its wearable lifespan, it can have a continued positive environmental impact, turning it into something good, instead of contributing to the already dire textile waste crisis.
“This project aims to visualize how one’s relationship in relation to materials changes over time. How adding new aspects to materials that one can connect with could instigate a shift in one’s disruptive attitude towards materials and consumption,” explains Roya, “I aim to reconsider waste as a resource not only for designing a new material [but] also to introduce a shift towards our consumption behaviours in relation to materials.”
In making use of the resources at our disposal with new and innovative means, this project forces one to see their belongings as having a life past their initial use, therefore contributing to the cultivation of an overall mentality of longevity and repurposing. It’s this exact mentality that is absolutely necessary to nurture to ensure that we continue to protect our environment.
“A clothing that reconnects us in the most physical way, to the essential.”
Exploring The Reconnection Between Humans and Nature.
Roya is not the only young designer revolutionizing the bridge between technology, nature, and fashion. Paula Escalona, a Madrid-based young designer, has created a collection that she refers to as “[exploring] the reconnection between humans and nature”.
Paula’s garments are formed out of natural fibers that replace ornamental accessories and decorations with real living plants, growing out of the garment itself. The collection, “Symbiotic Nature” was created with the intention of reconnecting the human experience to nature - making a statement on the importance of taking care, and acknowledging the fashion items we invest in. In a beautiful description, Paula explains that the garments provide a tangible experience “where the human body is the support for nature to grow, live and create its lifecycle” - reminiscent of THE GUESTLIST’s philosophy that ‘We are guests to this earth.’ Her pieces aim to prove that we are not separate from nature, or the clothing we wear, but rather that we play integral and pivotal roles in their development and success.
Image from Bellcq
Image from Bellcq
Taking it one step further, Paula has also created a project by the name of
“Commensalism Nature”. Defined as a “form of biological interaction in which the participant gets a benefit from the other without harming him”, this project was created to display how nature can coexist without parasitism. By using Tillandsia Usneoides (a type of Spanish moss), and the practices of indigenous loom weaving, Escalona has created a textile out of the very plant itself. The design combines the idea of a collaborative existence with a living plant, to once again tie the product back to its roots, and to the wearer.
Plant-based textile alternatives are one thing, but we are no longer dealing with fabrics derived from a plant that was once growing in the soil. We are now entering a world where our clothing is alive, continues to live on us as we wear it, and can continue to live after we have completed our journey with it. In a perfect relationship of collaboration and symbiosis, we can exist alongside our favorite statement garment . The weight of fast-fashion guilt is being replaced with the natural fibers and blooming flora that cover your shoulders, gently relying on your respect and care to extend their blossoming life that much longer.
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