But it's done, and I couldn't be more relieved. The last couple of days have been hectic since nearly everyone in our class has been sewing non-stop and printing and pressing their thesis books.
It's been plain insane.
The thesis or "graduation project" as we ought to say, contains a research part that we started already in November last year and based on that research we were asked to design a collection of 20 pieces.
I chose to research plastic and its effects on our environment. As a visual inspiration I used one of my favorite anime: Neon Genesis Evangelion.The research started out with the idea of an apocalyptic world that was caused by mankind. I thought that with that idea, plastic would serve as a great example of environmental disaster waiting to happen. Basically, I started studying plastic, what was the status of plastic waste in the world and how it can be recycled into fashion/fabrics/textiles.
The research begun by looking for information about plastic waste and its environmental impact. Huge amount of plastic gets thrown into landscapes each year and because it does not biodegrade, it contaminates our surroundings and food. Also it was quite disturbing to find out that there are huge garbage patches floating in the Pacific Ocean. I honestly had no idea that there was such a thing until I learned about it in "Trash to trend"-workshop. Even though plastic can be recycled into new products, there is still far too little of recyclable raw material collected to make it count.
The hardest part of the project was to find textiles made out of recycled polymers. It took me a while, but finally I did find the fabric that I needed, but was surprised how little of such textiles are on the market for a basic consumer. It seems that this kind of textile is just starting to arrive on the market.
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| Cover shot by Jirina Alanko |
