IF CLOTHES COULD TALK
WHAT WOULD THEY SAY?
Clothes provide protection against weather conditions, insects, and infectious diseases, but it has evolved to become much more than just a means of covering the body. It personalizes and enhance our appearance and reflects our ever-changing identities. As our tastes and lifestyles shift, so do our wardrobes and the amount of clothing we purchase.
The rise of "Fast Fashion" has led to a massive amount of clothing being discarded each year, significantly impacting the environment. This project addresses the challenge of fashion waste resulted form "Fast Fashion" by reimagining "unwanted" clothing. The result is a fully customizable chair and storage system. The innovative system allows fabric rolls to be used without deconstructing or degrading the material, enabling adjustments to cushion thickness and offering the possibility of re-wearing the clothes as needed.
"The chair is called; Family of four from Copenhagen, Denmark. It belonged to two children, a boy and a girl and their parents. The bags of clothes have been sitting in the attic for a few years, and started to collect that particular musty smell. Going into these bags of clothes you can find a few denim jeans. Some of his jeans are worn but others brand new, they are from their father who passed away. The mom had a habit of cutting into her blouses when she found the sleeves too long, you can see some of those bright, patterned cutout pieces lying around. The kids were flying through their teenage years, growing out of their clothes in no time and a few clothes remained."
Cycling through the city of Copenhagen, I saw them everywhere: big blue and black containers for donating clothes. How often have you cleaned out your closet and donated bags full of clothing to one of these containers? Giving away clothes that no longer fit or appeal to you seems like a good idea. However, it made me question, how often these clothes are actually used again. The reality is rather sad but true: most of the donated clothing is often of such poor quality that it is not suitable for rewearing. A few of these clothes get burned with little energy recovery, but most of the clothes end up on huge landfields adding to the environmental problems.
After receiving a couple of these bags full of clothing, I realized that I did not want to cut them into pieces or destroy the sometimes very nice items. These clothes had an identity that I did not want to dispose of. As I carefully cleaned them and naturally rolled them up, putting them away, an idea came to mind: could these clothes become a cushion? The result is a customizable system where clothes can be added and removed. The chair itself is made of a wooden frame crafted from light beech wood. Its rigid lines and sharp edges give it a clean and elegant look, which counterbalances the often messy or DIY appearance the clothes might have. This chair not only offers a unique seating solution but also preserves the memories woven into every fabric.
