Eco textiles show in Tilburg

Fashion made from recycled polyester? A chair made from resin and flax fibres? A machine powered by solar energy that produces textile objects?

The work of several TFRC members is currently on show in reTHINK!: Eco Textiles at the Audax Textile Museum in Tilburg, Holland. The show is an overview of the lifecycle of textile production from a sustainability point of view and includes the work of independent designers as well as commercial textile companies from the Netherlands.

The work on show originates from the three-year upcycling textiles research project led by Becky Earley at TED/CCW, where a group of textile designers were asked to explore recycling through four interconnected themes - systems and services design; short life/long life; ethical production and new technologies.

On show at Tilburg is one of Becky Earley's upcycled polyester TOP 100 shirts, (below)from her Template Collection, where she created new transfer prints for old polysetr shirts through hand -drawn and painted marks.

Mel Bowles is showing her Wallpaper Dress,(below) a project exploring themes of customisation, co-design and emotional durable design, where a found pattern is transformed into a treasured and unique garment using local resources, skills and bespoke digital printing.

Clara Vuletich is showing her Love & Thrift coat (below) a garment that addresses aspects of both material and emotional durabulity.

Kate Goldsworthy (CSM) is showing a new garment (below) made using laser technology to re-invigorate polyester. Kate is also running a one day workshop on using laser technology for upcycling at the Museum, on January 28th.

There is a good review of the show in Dutch site Design.nl.