Climate change is having adverse effects on our planet with several extreme weather events, from a record number of storms to widespread drought.
As average temperatures rise, wet areas experience increased precipitation and risk of flooding, while dry areas are likely to experience less precipitation and increased risk of drought. As a result of global warming, drying trends occur significantly in semi-arid and arid regions that end up facing serious challenges. Can fashion be used to highlight this problem while suggesting innovative manufacturing systems? Maybe.
Last year award-winning Austrian designer Julia Koerner came up with a collection called "Arid" that could be used to raise awareness about droughts and their long-term impacts on health, food and nutrition, but also as an example of how cutting-edge technologies may help creating a better fashion system.
The founder of JK Design GmbH - well-known for making the costumes for Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther" (2018) with Hollywood costume designer Ruth E. Carter using 3D printing, and for collaborating with Iris Van Herpen on the "Voltage" collection - Koerner specializes in digital design for 3D-Printing.
Last year she created in collaboration with Stratasys (in 2019, Koener produced with them the "Setae" jacket, made with Stratasys' J850 3D Printer) the "Arid" collection, using their Polyjet 3D printing technique.
Inspired by juxtapositions of oceanic and arid environments and the crystalline formations of the Dead Sea in its earth-tone textures, "Arid" is the result of Koerner's studies in translating processes from 2D to 3D for nature-inspired geometries and in creating textiles with multi-color 3D-printed parts.
The collection combines therefore organic and synthetic processes, while computational and generative techniques of parametric design allowed Koerner to mimic colour rhythm and proportions seen in nature.
In a way "Arid" can't be considered as an ordinary fashion collection, it is indeed a clever set of 38 modular parts (19 for garments; 19 for accessories) made with sustainable mesh fabric with 3D-printed elements in a variety of colours (1,500 to be precise; they add another layer, a sort of multi-colour effect, to the pieces).
The various parts can be combined to form different garments (including a full-dress, a jacket, a skirt or corset, plus a series of accessories) in different sizes that can obviously be disassembled and reassembled or matched with ordinary clothes. There is no sewing involved to assemble the parts, but all seams are connected with 3D printed connectors based on the muscle layout and anatomy of the female body and on 3D scans of the wearer.
So, while reminding us all of the consequences of permanent aridity, Koerner's pieces present us with new innovative ways, partially inspired by interior design (think about modular furniture), that may exemplify production and people's wardrobes as well, while adding a note of fun to our styles (imagine a future in which we may have a series of modular pieces that could be infinitely assembled to create every day a new design).
"Arid" is the result of months of research into textiles, joinery, and digital design processes. The collection was part of Koerner's Re-FREAM Research "Digital Vogue - Between Organic and Synthetic Processes", made in collaboration with tech partners Stratasys, Haratech and Profactor, and the University of Art and Design Linz – Department of Fashion & Technology.
Re-FREAM is a collaborative research project that matches artists and designers with scientists to rethink the manufacturing process of the fashion industry and develop new concepts for the future of fashion.
While at the moment such a project may still be deemed too experimental and maybe more apt for exhibitions, art projects, magazine editorials, films and even the performing arts, "Arid" paves the way for change and opens up a future in which consumers may buy modular, interchangeable and customisable parts rather than a whole design.
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