Fashion for Good
Creative Direction
Exhibitions
Brand Strategy
Concept Development
2023
On behalf of NFW, I conceptualized and executed a 7-foot-tall installation as part of Fashion for Good’s (FFG) exhibition Knowing Cotton Otherwise in Amsterdam, NL. The exhibition aimed to explore the relationship between this ancient fiber and the people whose hands touch it before it becomes a garment.
What happens when natural fibers like cotton are recycled? Through shredding and carding, fibers are extracted from used fabrics. This process drastically shortens the fibers, which in turn lowers quality. The result is that many recycled natural fibers end up in low-quality, downcycled products.
NFW has solved this recycling shortfall with Clarus. Clarus is built on the science of “welding” fibers, which effectively lengthens and strengthens natural fibers through closed-loop, green chemistry.
The installation illustrates the science behind Clarus: strengthening thousands of individual fibers to create high-performance natural yarns. It also represents the thousands of global storylines that share a common thread: cotton.
Visualizing ionic bonding technology
The Clarus® technology relies on the complete breakdown of natural fibers. Typically, recycled cotton is of much lower quality than we’d want in a product sold in the market. The Clarus technology rebuilds these fibers, essentially welding them together, to make them stronger, higher-performing, and sometimes water-resistant. The fibers are then spun into yarn, which can be shipped to factories to become high-quality fabric for use in endless applications.
My installation is a visualization of what happens at the microscopic scale. The meeting point of these yarns at the base of the installation represents the tightly wound fibers that began as frayed, unreliable fibers. It also represents the many cultures, harvesters, and craftspeople that contribute to the success of the cotton industry.