In this new section we will talk about different artists and creatives that with their work defy the fashion industry modus operandi disclosing new sustainable ways to create in today’s struggling world.
Some people state “the promise of a better future lies with the young” and in this case it’s true, Romane Poret, a french designer from Seyne is here to change the business. The artist started this idea as the final project of her first year of school in the french institution: Higher Education School of Art and Design in Toulon. The purpose behind it was revaluing food waste using it for the creation of bioplastics, at first sampling different results, creating fabrics and then following it up with the manufacturing of clothing and accessories. Achieving an environmentally friendly production and product.
How is the process? As we can observe in her Instagram’s page, Poret makes various recollections in her near-by supermarkets to access fruits and vegetables that are not for sale due to discomposing or defects. She declares that peels, or the products that have more fiber are better for her designs since they provide a firmer material. At home is where enchantment takes place, she boils them and adds secret ingredients to obtain her virtuous recipe. Finally, after one or two days in a mold, the liquid becomes hard and reshapes into the biodegradable fabrics that we see here.
Poret has mastered her invention to the point of not being able to distinguish real leather from her textiles, as she showed in a recent video where one of her mixes looks exactly like a leather jacket she owns. And we are yet to see what else she can achieve, since her last creations do not strictly follow fashion designs and they expand to the art world with collaborations and expositions in France and Hong-Kong.
Her new ventures are her collaboration with designer Marion Gaudino with the project DOMUS POLPA, diving into architecture, form and design. Creating a series of lamps shaped as houses built with Poret’s bioplastic fabrics, made out of bananas and oranges. The project was in Paris design week last September. And recently last November she collaborated with Paul Bonlarron, a designer and decorator in the exposition « Les Nouveaux Ensembliers » for Mobilier National in Gobelins’s gallery, France. Making a bioplastic vitrail from fruits and vegetables, that later in the year will be exhibited in Hong-Kong.
As it is common knowledge, our planet has most certainly an expiry date. We humans made possible some irreversible changes that damaged nature for good. Even though many people around the globe are continuously fighting back to restore a certain balance, we all need to put our hands into it, and that starts from powerful people to the creators to the consumers. That is why Romane Poret’s project is so important, her positive impact is challenging today’s fashion and art industry. Especially considering that the fashion industry leaves around 8-10% of the global greenhouse gas emissions and more than 90 million tons of textile waste every year, among many others.
It is time for a radical change, with the market’s introduction of new fast fashion chains such as Shein or Temu we are feeding the problem more than helping. Our actions count more than ever and with these projects and initiatives we can hope that not everything is lost. We expect to see more of Poret’s works soon, and as long as we keep fighting back we can remain hopeful.
Photo Credits: @studioevaporer
