Reclaimed Materials

 

Social street

I am sure that reclaimed objects represent an interesting way for the futur to approach fashion : recycling what we already own instead of making again. In this creative work, I want to better understand the role of unconventional materials, especially those found on the street and inspired by the street. First of all, I had experimented on how it is physically possible to create a piece of clothing only by using unconventional recyclable materials. I decided to use atypical material to work with such as signaling banner, to challenge myself and try my best to find new ways to consider fashion as a “zero waste” way to create.

I started by a serie of pictures featuring where I found this unconventional object and its first use. After experimenting, I will adapt myself to the capacity, adaptability, behavior of the material. I have to really dive into the properties of the material and try to successfully transform it into some kind of fabric, so it is wearable. I find important to consider why rehabilitation in fashion can support a social, political, ethical and/or sustainable cause. I want to find my way to use these atypical material so that It supports the right message. I hope to prove that diverting the primary function of street related materials, by making these textile wearable, will allow me to support a social message.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to create a piece combining both the street and the embroidery. So I collected signaling banners that serve to delimit a place that can not be crossed as a work zone or a pile of public equipment, for a period of one month. I molded an existing bra by pinning the banner.

My message address the whole population whose actions is directed by the authorities and the signs of circulation. Something that squeezes, covers and wraps the female breast is not trivial. But in this feminine piece, I wanted also to address women and the excessive sexualization of the female breast (whereas the men are not). Hopefully, stereotypes like the mandatory wearing of the bra are rejected by some movements. Among many phenomena, “no bra no problem” has become a feminist movement, even becoming a symbol of women’s rights and gender equality.

By creating a plastic piece that looks very uncomfortable, I try to show what would be the stereotype of femininity. And by covering my creation with pearls, I bring an illusion of comfort, an illusion of society.

In response to this criticism of society, I wanted to go further and realize in collaboration with a friend in first year of product design a sign chair. Together we decided to create a totally distorted sign, a rather ironic gesture, especially since it is a sitting. It is not a question of directly criticizing the public services but rather to criticize more particularly these authoritarian forces acting on the women, and all the stereotypes which are attributed to them. We decided to create a similar design compared to the bra, a set where colors and patterns are similar. Indeed, the goal would be to make a photo shoot of the bra worn on a woman, sitting on this chair, sitting on the authority. It would create a vision of a modern woman who overcome prejudices.

 

 

 

 

 

If I had to mass produce this piece of clothing, the challenge would be the time to grab the unused reclaimed materials from the street. The concept of creating garments from reclaimed materials require also time to test these objects, searching for the right way to manipulate them, find the most interesting way to work with their plastic qualities. In the street, there is just a fraction of the total quantity produced. The rest of the materials is in the industries, it wouldn’t work because I only work with what has been already used.

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