Waste to Dress, Fashion Project, Sri Lanka
Millions of tons of plastic wind up in the sea each year and cannot be recycled in the usual way. Enormous rubbish patches have appeared in the oceans all over the world. “Out of Garbage” focuses on utilising ocean plastic for fanciful fashion purposes, thereby bringing a subject to the catwalk that makes us conscious of the fact that every individual can contribute with his or her lifestyle, habits and attitudes to combat the insanity of our throw-away culture. Out of plastic and back to nature.
The Out of Garbage / Waste to Dress project took place in Ahungalla, Sri Lanka in collaboration with one world foundation. Ocean plastics like bottles, bags or fisher nets, that have washed up on the beaches, houshold garbage like packaging as well as leaves that have fallen from trees in the tropical rainforests and gardens and factory left-overs arising from garment production (support: Akris, Switzerland), replaced conventional clothing materials, creating the project's transience-and-persistence-theme of materials as well as focussing on the necessity to return to a sustainable packaging and textile industry world that protects resources.
Along with some 40 women who were trained in the tailoring workshop of the one world foundation school, Bettina Reichl (fashion and packaging designer), Irma Denk (Edition 2020 interrupted by Corona) and Steffen Pirkl (Edition 2022) produced styles in a 1-month workshop that were presented in a final fashion show on 29th of December 2022. A
blog documents the creation of the designs as an online diary from the time when the materials were gathered right up to the staging of the show itself. Photo reportage: Marija Kanižaj
Since 1995, the one world foundation has funded free educational programmes in Sri Lanka, from preschool through to professional training for more than 1100 pupils and students. The diverse and state-certified schooling offers are crucial in helping children, especially those from poor and socially deprived families, improve their employment chances. One of the focal areas for the one world foundation is the deliberate advancement and training of girls and women. The further-education courses in the Women’s Cooperation, which includes the project “Waste to Dress”, gives young mothers genuine opportunities to return to work.
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