OUTSAPOP TRASHION: recycle art

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10. toukokuuta 2008

Manon Gignoux´s love for wear and tear

Manon Gignoux makes clothes, accessories, jewellry and home decor from pieces of fabric. I think she has a wonderful way to combine (muted) colors and to transform an worn down fabric into something comfortable, soft and inviting.

"The origins of my work can be traced back to my last year of study at France’s Duperré School of Applied Arts when I carried out a photographic study of the clothes worn by workers in the early 20th century and explored the "traces of wear and tear" on clothes. Starting with details of a hundred or so photographs taken from books, I filled research notebooks and ended up with four themes: the "carpenter" or the traces of alteration, the "washerwoman" or the imprint of repeated movements, the "inside-out suit" or the dynamics of (de)construction, and the "woman shopkeeper" or the encounter between work clothes and everyday life and the way an object that is worn fits the body." (paragraph from Manon Gignoux website)

"I play on the relationship between clothes and object, I dress objects in order to protect them and to tell their story… damaged coverings, darned, made from accumulation and colours faded by time."

1. toukokuuta 2008

Worn trash or fashion made from recycled materials?

I often search the web for new talent that transforms recycled materials into fab fashions. Again I found mostly only pictures from "trashion fashion shows" presenting dresses and other garments made from ... just trash. Literately. How on earth is the wider audience ever going to change their views on recycled fashions if we keep displaying garments made from plastic bags/magazines that might look inventive for a second on the runway but that no one in their right mind would ever wear in public...? You tell me. I´m sure all those plasticbag-dresses would look great on a Vogue/Elle editorial but WOULD SOMEONE BUY OR WEAR THEM?

We live in a world of sales and marketing. I believe the cause of sustainable fashion and using recycled materials is a very important issue, but in order to get other people and especially those fashion-people see what you see it has to be presented the right way. It must sell. We have to show the fashion consumer that making fashion ourselves can result to something more unique and beautiful than they could ever find in a regular shop.

Concentrate on the design rather than creating just gallery-pieces or preaching about the ethnical side. The thing most recycle-designers need to concider is that "can this garment/item be sold?", "will someone pay to wear this?" or "what would my not-recycle-oriented fashion-loving friend think about this?". Unless you´re Mr. Martin Margiela, the king of trashion, I suggest you think about this. Get that WOW-effect in to your designs.

I have a mission to prove that recycled fashion does not mean "wearing your garbage", but that you are able to create amazing, design-like (and wearable) fashions by using discarded materials. You know that you´re on the right track when you have this convesation with someone seeing you designs for the first time:
- "That dress is amazing".
- "Thank you. It´s made from 60 ties..."
- "..What? I did not notice any ties!"
- "Look closer."

19. huhtikuuta 2008

Make Art not Trash (trashion links)

Art for housewifes has collected a huuuge list of artists that use trash and recycled materials for their works. The site itself is a bit confusing, but the links are great. This should keep you busy surfing the interweb for a few afternoons.

Shoe chair by Willie Cole "Made In The Philippines"

12. maaliskuuta 2008

Margaux Lange handcrafted Barbie couture jewellry

I have a love-hate relationship with Barbie. It has become the symbol of dumb blondes and it reminds me of the insanity of extreme plastic surgery. If I see Barbie dolls I just want to hurt them (I know I need therapy...). On the other hand Barbie dolls have been a mirror of women´s role in society in different decades. Funny I still have not seen "President-Barbie" in the shops... In any case Barbie is an icon as much as Mickey Mouse and that just makes her fascinating.

Margaux Lange, a crafty gal from Brooklyn NY, makes jewellry from Barbie and Ken dolls. "Wearing the body, on a body" as she describes her art. Since I´m not going to NY soon, I´ll just have to pop in at her ETSY shop. I love humoristic jewellry and these are just too incredable to wear. They are beautifully executed technically and design wise. In fact I’d love to own a piece one day... Plastic fantastic!

Also this shop carrys MargauxLange:
FACÉRÈ.com

18. helmikuuta 2008

Creativity through a lens

Most of us have at least a pair. It can be for protecting from sun light (or paparazzi!), to be able to see further or to read or just for show if you are into the nerd-look. I´m talking of course about glasses. (image from Adventures in Trashion)

Glasses can also be used as materials for trashion creations. I came intrested in this material a while back when I realized that basically any thriftstore or secondhand shop has a box full of different sort of glasses that they are just dying to get rid off. Here are some of my specs-favorites.

Lens necklace by Maison Martin Margiela

Necklace by Elena Mary

Spectaculous artwork from Stuart Haygarth

Granny glasses curtain from PlanB

12. joulukuuta 2007

My new recycle artist/designer discoveries

Let me introduce some of the recycle-artists and designers I have discovered recently. These guys have been a great inspiration to me and I hope you will like them as well.

Maison Martin Margiela (Artisanal collections)
An old favorite but always worth mentioning :) I think seeing Margiela´s work as an art student in 1998 got me intrested in reconstructions in the first place.