Bridge 3 Vanity Fair on fashion and ecology

                                               

The Zero-Waste Sneaker, 2018

Introducing biotechnologies like silkworm silk (an animal protein that is entirely decomposable) for the production garments and shoes instead of polyester (a plastic fiber which is not decomposable and toxic) is necessary for the future of fashion to become a sustainable industry in future. Therefore, I request permission for a collaboration to design and create a style in the form of a sneaker, which is entirely decomposable and makes use of synthetic and natural technology, to visually show society, the future of the fashion industry, where zero waste clothes and products are possible and cause zero harm to the environment we live in.

 

Researching and listening to Designers like Natsai Audrey Chieza, Suzanne Lee and designer & architect Neri Oxman, who all believe that biology is the future for fashion, astronaut gear, furniture and even housing, I was fascinated of what the future will hold in place for us.

 

All three designers agree that bacteria can help us to grow these new materials. For designer Natsai it was the bacteria Streptomyces ceolicolor that enabled her to make striking pigments that help her dye clothing that is non- toxic and uses less water. Designer Lee used bacteria in the air to help her Kombucha-sugar mixture to grow vegetable leather. And last but not least designer and architect Oxman uses biotechnology and 3D printers to produce chitosan paste to manufacture clothing. I strongly agree that biotechnology can be a new alternative to create more sustainable clothing in future. Today, we individually consume on average 13kg of apparel fiber per person and which impact has about 2% to 10% of an environmental impact according to the 2006 European Science and Technology Observatory report (Coles, “Mottainai vs. Methane: The Case for Textile Recycling, 2016, pp.136). We still live in a world where clothes, shoes, and cars resembled out of materials that can be used once to be then thrown away and never used again. We don’t find material parts in nature. Nature grows its materials in a way where it varies material properties but not its composition. Buying recycled clothing instead of new clothes, repair or change old clothing silhouettes to new ones to match the today’s style/trend, would help to cut down the rates of consumption. The question is, who will contribute, who will join the new tomorrow, where we experiment and create with nature to design materials which are significantly and delicately put together minimize consumption. What about the Japanese or German traits of keeping clothes over a lifetime? What about consuming less and plant more regarding vegetation and perhaps in future clothing? I firmly believe we all should experience the hard work, eagerness and well-tailored garments needed to convince and communicate a message to its observer (audience) that reflects upon the culture and the political movements of our time. In other words, clothes of the future should all proceed a purpose, and not be a billboard for brands in order cut down consumer rates and produce with a goal which I believe will help to change mindsets (to remind everyone to only consume what is needed). A tomorrow where Fashion designers will work on minimizing material use and work more with its function and its purpose. The future of fashion must lie in questioning the consumer, the labor, its lifetime and its function in order to sustain vital resources for future generations.

 

Adidas, for example, is currently featuring Parley, featuring sneaker and garments made out of recycled ocean plastic to minimize plastic polluting marine sea life, which is slowing down consumption and pollutants of plastic in our environment but doesn’t fix it. On the other hand, Neri Oxman and her team kibbled “Chitin” form shrimp seashells, to 3D print a structure which can be for garments and is fully decomposable when thrown away; it even can nourish marine sea live and help grow a tree when planted into the soil (Oxman, 2015, Ted Talk). Likewise, Oxman and her team experimented with growing a structure, made out of a silkworm’s fibers, which he/she uses to spin its cocoon, where they analyzed its fibers and found out that different protein properties structures can be grown/engineered to be tangible and resistant to the environment. What if we can grow or 3D print a shoe sole out of silkworm fibers, which is nothing else’s than proteins spun together to build those fibers. Likewise, “Bolt thread,” a new start-up company in Massachusetts is experimenting with growing fibers out of spider silk which is like the silkworm fibers a protein fiber that can be used to weave the structure of a shoe surrounding your feet. In other words, a zero-waste sneaker, designed and build out of materials that are similar and natural. A sneaker that can be planted back into the soil when worn out and a technology that would out roll the use of petroleum based plastics like PVC, polyester, and Viscose that harm and pollute the environment because it’s not recycled by nature. I strongly believe, integrating these new technologies would help the fashion industry to become more sustainable, though we have to ask and challenge the ideas whether or not its morally correct to manipulate genetics, print with real silkworms and do we have enough resources of these new technologies. Challenge we have to face and experiment with to seek and find a balance how to use these new technologies wisely and less consummately.

 

A way to take action would be to introduce zero-waste technologies into our daily routines. Small steps lead to significant changes. Changes like using more personal mugs and water bottles to minimize plastic waste. Changes like cooking for oneself or with friends instead of nonstop delivery services that bring with them plastic waste, which not reused again. Changes like buying clothes and shoes that last for more than a season or buying recycled clothes and fabrics to change them to make them yours. Changes that allow imagination and creativity to happen and not be ignored. Changes in growing friendships and communities with experts where we talk, collaborate and take action to solve these problems step by step. Incorporating and experimenting with these new technologies is vital so that the designer of the future, the ones who need to find answers to fashions pollution problems, can incorporate these technologies into their design process and thinking. On my behalf, I ordered 25 silkworms for eight dollars to experiment and test whether the silk that the worms will spin can create the mesh for my wire modeled shoe, which I designed to create entirely decomposable footwear that can nourish the soil with nutrients when thrown away. I believe that knowledge and collaborations are compelling and make projects succeed. Let’s talk with our taxi drivers, with our Starbucks baristas and our friends about this issue and its possibilities to get attention and more voices on board to help us drive this conversation of changing textile fiber productions. Companies like Bolt threads, Bionic Yarn, Parley are all new start-up companies that work on recycling and inventing new protein fibers that help us with cutting back own environmental pollution with consumption of clothes. In other words, the technology is already out there, it for us to open up these resources to existing in the production methods we use to create the skin we wear.  I pledge for a fully decomposable sneaker, which should prove to society how prosperous and vital the biotechnology is in future for the fashion industry. We sit at the hot spot of students, faculty, resources, and imagination to create the yet unknown tomorrow. The tomorrow where the Tishman Center, the faculty, students, and collaborators can network and build a sneaker made out proteins. I call him the silent fox, the underdog of the new, the shoe that is natural and grown through design thinking and new technologies.

 

I feel that The New School Community, the Tishman Environment Center, and GAIA would be an excellent bridging point, where I could be challenged even further, explore the new and bring together knowledge with collaborations. Generations Y/Z have the chance to create and establish a new culture in fashion, which is about to become more natural, more second skin like than ever before. We have the ability and technologies to create the new rather than copy Asian sweet couture, the 60’s, 80’s or the 90’s (high historical movements in society and fashion styles). In other words, show your style in your creative work just like Dapper Dan with his costumed Loui Vuitton leather jacket that gave Afro Americans/Africans the right to wear Loui Vuitton in public. Be your own culture that helps to create new cultures, communities, and technology designed tools to help sustain the future. Personify your voice in fashion and form with purpose (Kawamura, 2004, chapter 4, pp 57). I want to be part of the new tomorrow. The tomorrow where simplicity is beauty and sustainable.

 

Research & Inspiration

Neri Oxman