If we ask, how
you will recycle or reuse plastic and other non-biodegradable waste, perhaps
your answer will be by creating an artistic project. Or otherwise, you may be
using those disposable bottles to make pen holders or makeshift vases. But,
have you ever thought that a fashionable outfit can also be made using these
waste materials.
Now the new age
designers have come up with the idea of using trash material to create
fashionable outfits keeping in mind the sustainability and environmental
protection; which is called 'Trashion'.
Trashion, means
"turning trash into fashion" is a new term for art, jewellery,
fashion and objects for the home created from used, thrown-out, found and
repurposed elements to save our environment.
Wan Yunfeng, a
Chinese artist and known fashion (Trashion) designer makes head-turning “clothes” from trash
that's fit for the best runways around the world; he is trying to create
awareness towards environmental issues in a rather unconventional way.
His distinctive
gowns and traditional Chinese dresses are crafted from plastic waste draped and
twisted around his body. He photographs himself in these costumes to send a
message about environmental protection. Wan uses commonly found plastic waste
including polythene, bottles and bags.
Each piece of
dress that he wears is made all by himself. In his photo series, titled
"Protection of the Ocean", Wan has used commonly found single-use
plastic wastes, such as plastic bottles, polythene bags, and plastic ropes.
In this
photoshoot Wan appeared himself entangled in nets and plastic waste, his
tortured facial expressions designed to mirror the pain of trapped, ocean
animals. The main purpose of this photoshoots is to give people a much-need
reality check. Though his creations are not something that can be worn in daily
life; they sure do make a remarkable statement.
Explaining this
creation, Wan wrote on his Instagram- "The materials used in the dirty
organs on my head were made from the marine debris I picked up at the beach and
in the sea, the ropes that were discarded on the rotten nets in the sea. It is
also one of the materials in the "Protection of the Ocean Series-1"
that I just designed. The harm caused by marine garbage really shocked
me".
"I make
clothes to bring awareness to the environment, it is performance art. So of
course you can't wear these clothes in daily life, it is to deliver a message
of environmental protection," he said.
“I ask for
materials from everyone. Some come from my daily life, some come from my
friends. I also travel globally. I go to some antique markets and flea markets
to buy things. You need to make it beautiful.” says Yunfeng.
Wan has posed in
his creations in some of the world's famous fashion cities including Paris and
New York. Some of his work has a more modern edge, as seen in "Crazy
IKEA," a series of images taken in New York's Times Square. Yunfeng made a
dress using Ikea's trademark blue coloured shopping bag.
As per their
sustainability filings for the year 2017, Ikea group and its subsidiaries
produced a total of 590,254 tonnes of waste, of which about 70 per cent was
reusable. But here's the catch - that figure also included the waste that was
sent for incineration which generated power.
At the same
time, in Paris he repurposed an old quilt into a rather majestic gown that had
a heavy Victorian aesthetic.
In his apartment
in Beijing, the Chinese artist collects tons of used plastic items,
pastel-orange roller skates, ram's skull and tangled rope which he eventually
uses to create these gowns or a call for animal protection. The self-taught
designer draws inspiration from both Chinese as well as Western culture.
"I just
have to protect our environment. I just believe that everyone should work to
protect our environment, don't you think? If even just one person is influenced
by me, I should do it".
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