RE.CODE I 2020
0,4 : 1 : 10 : 400.000.000
0,4kg of waste is generated during the production of 1kg of textile. Every German consumes
on average 10kg of clothing per year. This results in 400.000.000 kg of production waste per year in Germany.
2:22
Over a period of two years, a t-shirt is worn 22 times on average before being sorted out or disposed.
How can we transform natural fibre waste into durable textiles that are emotionally engaging?
Nowadays discarding nearly-new textiles and clothing has become a cultural practice. The origin of the problem may lie in the failed emotional attachment to the object. The resulting symptoms are masses of textile waste. Re.Code wants to counteract both the short life span of textiles and clothing and the growing amounts of textile waste created throughout the production and consumption cycles. Cellulosic textile waste from the production process – such as short fibre waste, selvedges or long yarn waste – is selected carefully according to fibre quality and colour and spun into new yarn with a small amount of added virgin fibre content. Since the available waste is constantly varying in quality, texture and colour, each yarn is unique. The yarn is woven into double-sided textiles, which include an individually chosen text on one side, and a pattern generated by the “Re.Code” software on the other side. Depending on the text, a different pattern is generated, which is woven or knitted, making the textile a personalized unique piece. The text can also be used to communicate the textile supply chain, in order to create transparency about the entire textile manufacturing process.
Re.Code is a counter-design to serial mass production, exploring the fusion of traditional textile craftsmanship and new technologies through a holistic approach.
Project partner: Suzan Camlik, Rebecca Van de Sand, Lobke Beckfeld
Models: Carlotta Scholz, Devid Sita
Photography: Leonie Schöning
In a Framework of Textile Prototyping Lab, weissensee school of art and design Berlin
Partner Institutes: Sächsisches Textilforschungsinstitut,
Textilforschungsinstitut Thüringen-Vogtland e.V.