Nominee: Bachelor Research Award & Drempelprijs Social Practices 2020
The new circumstances of the past months forced us to take a step back and seek for new approaches. It made me look at my surroundings with a new perspective and led me to collect forgotten objects around the house. By attaching these to a mannequin, silhouettes were created that I could never have drawn by hand that easily.
To get a deeper insight into what I was doing, I based my research on upcycling and how it could be used as a design method to merge sustainable and high-end fashion into one. When upcycling with existing objects, each one contains symbolic associations depending on societal values, time, culture, etc. So these associations need to be in line with the message a designer wants to convey.
From the beginning of my graduation year, I knew that I wanted to address the topic of climate change - as the fashion industry plays a significant role in the cause of it. This led me to research different types of climate activists. By selecting objects that relate to what they are fighting for, I formed the base of my eco-warrior collection. Representing activists against the melting ice caps, deforestation, air pollution, the rising sea level, and a human barricade.
