Living lace

• Main Author: Teoh, Abital Ruth Hui Jin
• Other Authors: Galina Mihaleva
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Visual arts and music::Design::Product
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70981
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The clothing industry is one of the largest contributors to the earth’s pollution. Fashion fads go out of style just as quickly as they start trending, resulting in tons of textile waste being dumped into landfills, discarded carelessly and floating in our oceans. Fast fashion is rapidly diminishing how we value clothing, the environment and ourselves. There is an urgent need to seek eco-friendly alternative materials and methods of production that are sustainable. While many have turned to growing bacteria cultures, straining soy waste and pressing dried fungi, I have approached this issue with a living material that will continue to grow with the wearer. Living Lace is a bespoke wearable that explores our symbiotic relationship with nature by integrating fauna into fabric, creating a dynamic organic lace that transforms and evolves with time. Instead of deteriorating like conventional materials, Living Lace is an example of additive aging; it grows with the wearer. How the plant embroidery changes size, shape and colour is a direct reflection of how we take care of ourselves and, in turn, our environment.