The Material Revolution

**Material Revolutionaries - Creative Reuse + Tools of Transformation

In celebration of Sustainable Fashion Week UK, The Material Revolution hosted a special live online panel discussion on creative reuse with designers Jose Hendo (UK), Melissa Ferreira Schwager (Germany/Canada), Sylvia Calvo (Spain) and Jane Ziemons (Australia).**

**This conversation brings together the voices and practices of designers who specialise in creative reuse. This unique opportunity enabled these women to share their inspiring stories, how they are inspiring community and what their tools of transformation are.

For more information about Sustainable Fashion Week UK and our guest panel visit:**https://www.sustainablefashionweek.uk

https://sylviacalvobcn.com

https://adhesifclothing.com

https://josehendo.com

https://www.janeziemons.com/melaleuca-rise

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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This episode is a conversation with author, designer, researcher, educator and visionary Dr. Otto Von Busch. His research explores the emergence of a new hactivist designer role in fashion known as fashion hactivism - a term he coined almost 20 years ago. His seminal texts on the subject questions the current fashion system and encourages alternate practices that make fashion more participatory and more fashion-able.

We spend some time expanding upon fashion hactivism and how it has evolved over the years. His observations and insights sheds light into areas that are often left unsaid yet on the same token brings forth a truth on what really makes fashion vital. We further discuss emotions in relation to the body and how this awareness has the ability to transform role of the fashion designer to support you to grow as a user, as a consumer.

For more information on our guest:

Dr. Otto von Busch is associate professor of Integrated Design, School of Design Strategies. In his research he explores the emergence of a new hacktivist designer role in fashion, cultivating "fashion-abilities" amongst users. In his research he explores how the fashion designer engages participants to reform fashion from a phenomenon of dictations, anxiety and fear, into a collective experience of empowerment and liberation. In such practice, fashion is reverse engineered, hacked and shared among many participants as a form of civic engagement, or "fashion-ability," a skill rather than product.

Von Busch's perspective on fashion is based in its emotional grounding in the body, that fashion is something we feel more than follow. This gives a radically different approach to sustainability, as it shifts the locus and agency of fashion to the user, rather than the dictates of influencers or the fashion industry. By putting the emotional grounding of fashion in focus, designers can focus on the experience of fashion amongst users, rather than the promotion of trends and number of units sold, thus better preparing us to shift fashion from craft and mass-production towards experiences of biosocial growth and a sense of aesthetic agency.

To articulate this perspective on fashion, von Busch has over the last decade examined alternative perspectives on fashion, varying from Buddhism, mysticism, tantrism and witchcraft, to examining fashion as an embodied emotion and biosocial energy, utlizing the lenses of biology, psychology and neuroscience.

His latest publications include The Psychopolitics of Fashion: Conflict and Courage Under the Current State of Fashion, (Bloomsbury 2020), and The Dharma of Fashion: A Buddhist Approach to Our Life with Clothes, (Schiffer 2020).

Website Links:

https://selfpassage.info

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The Material Revolution http://thematerialrevolution.com

contact us: info@materialrevolution.com IG: https://www.instagram.com/the.material.revolution/

**The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution Music by: Interior Design https://inter**

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This episode is a conversation with researcher, environmental engineer and sustainability manager Krisztina Ujhelyi. Originally from Hungary she has spent much of her studies and research in various nordic countries leading her to work with the man made cellulosic fiber research project Ioncell at Aalto University in Finland.

We discuss her experience in working with this innovative fibre technology and its future possibilities. Her experience at Ioncell was not only limited to material research and prototyping but it involved contributing to the process of policy making. This helped define two pathways - end of life perspective or the lifecycle.

For more information on our guest:

Krisztina Ujhelyi has a background in environmental engineering and sustainability management. It was during her work experiences, she encountered the dark side of the fast-fashion industry which led her to become involved in the collection of tremendous amounts of donated clothes in Norway. The impact of this experience made her extremely motivated to use her knowledge of the circular economy and sustainability to the apparel industry.

It was during her master’s at Aalborg University in Denmark, she took the initiative and became an intern at Aalto University Finland with a man-made cellulosic fiber technology called Ioncell. Over a 1.5 year time period, she immersed herself into material research and explored how this technology can utilise its chemical recycling potential for natural fibers. Her research contributed to the improvement of man-made cellulosic fiber technologies, textile recycling and the circular textile economy.

Currently, she is seeking to learn techniques from the creative side of the fashion industry and is spending time learning sewing techniques and volunteering with Fashion Revolution Hungary.

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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This episode is a conversation with EILEEN FISHER WASTE NO MORE Creative Director, Sigi Ahl and Administrative/Project Manager Abigail Erikson. Our discussion focuses on their innovative use of industrial needle felting and how they are utilising this technology to shift the narrative of this machinery into a design tool, resulting in an artisanal textile for the 21st century. We touch upon how Waste No More came into fruition and what they are doing differently.

Our conversation captures how their innovative approach is not only transforming and giving new life to pre-loved Eileen Fisher garments but how it lead them to establish a creative process, alternate design system and circular business model. It is through the reimagination of their own supply chain that they are translating material research into meaningful forms of engagements and collaborations.

For more information on our guests:

Sigi Ahl

Sigi Ahl is an artist and author based in New York. As a collaborator with EILEEN FISHER since theearly days of the company, she helped found EILEEN FISHER’s recycle program in 2009 and went on to establish DesignWork as an extension of that endeavor. Ahl has had solo exhibitions in the US and Germany, as well as written and illustrated several children’s books, one of which was nominated for the German Children’s Literature Award. Her paintings and graphic works are in public collections including f.e. Rhineland-Palatinian Museum, Mainz; Museum for Contemporary Art, Cuxhaven; Marilie Hess-Foundation, Frankfurt; and the City of Frankfurt. Ahl received a Diploma in Visual Communication at Offenbach College of Applied Arts, and a Master’s Degree at the Frankfurt Academy of Fine Arts, Städel.

Abigail Erickson

Abigail began her career in the fashion industry a decade ago after graduating with a degree in Fashion Design & Business. Her early training at Marie Claire magazine, Theory, & Tibi made her realize the importance of sustainability in fashion and how it is sorely lacking. This observation lead her to the project On Purpose, a corporate social responsibility initiative by Kate Spade & Company.Her time at Kate Spade was spent establishing a complex supply chain in rural Rwanda. She took her knowledge from there and went on to help scale sustainable fashion start-ups and small businesses. Her experience establishing complex supply chains spans many states & countries.

Erickson joined the EILEEN FISHER WASTE NO MORE team in 2018 as the Administrative & Project Manager. Erickson loves to organize, whether it be people or processes, & she loves systems (creating them or reorganizing them). She believes there is a solution for everything, it just takes a little creative problem solving & negotiating. Being a creative herself she understands that this is always a fluid process, never stagnant.

photography: courtesy of EILEEN FISHER WASTE NO MORE

Social Media Links: @eileenfisherny @wastenomore @eileenfisherrenew

Website Links:

www.eileenfisher.com

www.wastenomore.com

www.eileenfisherrenew.com

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impac

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This episode is a conversation Estonian based sustainable designer Reet Aus. Reet is not only the pioneer of an in industrial upcycling method but she is a researcher, environmentalist, theater and film artist who has been experimenting with recycling in fashion and costume design since 2005.

Our conversation highlights the valuable role of upcycling as a design method and how it came to inspire the industrial recycling system she developed. But Reet’s knowledge and experience of upcycling reaches far beyond the traditional use of this method. She continues to explore and expand upon the concepts of upcycling by creating actionable solutions that are rethinking and changing they way we consider waste and design systems in our environment.

For more information on our guest:

Reet Aus is a PhD-qualified fashion designer and environmental activist, a natural rebel who founded REET AUS COLLECTION® and THE UPSHIRT®. She is a pioneer in the field of industrial upcycling for fashion, and has developed the UPMADE® certification, in order to pass on her knowledge to brands and factories.

Reet’s guiding mission in life is to save the fashion industry from itself, and to show that there is a way of ending the throwaway culture that causes so much waste and destruction around the world, reducing the environmental footprint of the industry she loves. Change is possible - Reet’s story shows that - and she wants to be an inspiration to everyone!

Website: https://www.reetaus.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/reetaus

IG: https://www.instagram.com/reetaus/

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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This episode is a conversation with Barcelona based eco designer and circular economy ambassador Sylvia Calvo of Sylvia Calvo BCN. Sylvia is driven by sustainable and circular principles and is motivated by the use residual natural materials, specifically coffee bags which are made from jute fibre. Her research in working with this resource and her ongoing collaboration with artists, craftspeople and local industry has contributed to the transformation and value perception of this material.

Our discussion captures the importance of practitioner knowledge within the circular economy and the necessary ongoing learning that is required in building and scaling a sustainable design practice. We also address

the quantum physics of materials, how care is integral in the creative process and in the methods used in design and how we can use fashion as a vehicle for knowledge.

For more information on our guest:

Sylvia Calvo, born in Barcelona, studied English Philology at the University of Barcelona and obtained her MBA at Keller Graduate School of Management in Chicago, USA, where she lived for about 15 years. There she worked for the airline industry, but moved back to Barcelona in 2002 to work in her family maritime transportation business. She always wanted to study fashion design, though the circumstances in life made it not possible at that time.

After attending a conference about Eco-Fashion in 2012, the concept she had about the fashion and textile industry changed completely. She started to investigate, to read and to learn about sustainable fashion and the alternatives available to have a more positive social, environmental and economic impact.

In 2015, she created the brand “Sylvia Calvo BCN”, working mainly with original used coffee bags to transform them into garments and complements. Together with five colleagues, she co-founded the Non-profit Association “Moda Sostenible Barcelona” (MSBCN), the first association of this kind in Spain, in order to promote the benefits of sustainable fashion, its creation, production and comsumption, and to bring it closer to consumers.

International Masterclass: with EdenTravel program at different entities in the States and Europe.

Websites:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/sylviacalvobcn/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/sylviacalvobcn/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviacalvo/?originalSubdomain=es

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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This episode is a conversation with Berlin based artist and performer, Lisa Simpson and her performative sewing and textile research practice. Her alternative approach to upcycling the discarded and second hand clothing began in Brazil where she established Agente Costura. A signature feature to Lisa’s work is in how she uses the Singer sewing machine as a musical instrument.

The nature of her practice is motivated by her love of sewing which is brought to life in her studio, though her materials/tools and in her performances. Our discussion addresses improvisation and how this informs her ability to adapt and create with the varying materials, musicians/performers and communities she collaborates with. Our conversation also highlights the Maskerade Brigade, a project she initiated
in response to the pandemic.
For more information on our guest:

Lisa Simpson has been playing the Singer, a sewing machine, since 2003. In the daytime she tackles unwanted clothing, pins them down and cuts them up, transforming them into new wearable shapes. By transforming wardrobes she is questioning contemporary consumption habits, bringing forth a discussion around the sustainability of the fashion industry. At nighttime the Singer joins her fellow musicians and Lisa sews to the beat of the music, improvising on clothing based on rhythm and sound. The prepared sewing machine is amplified to become a musical instrument and layers of sound are looped as layers of fabric are stitched together, creating a dreamlike soundscape, enhanced by self built wearable oscillators and feedback machines.

Lisa has a Bachelor degree in Visual Arts from Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná, a Master of Applied Arts degree from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and is currently enrolled in the Art in Context program at Universität der Künste Berlin. She has performed extensively on an international level, including Goethe Institut Jakarta, Schneidertempel Istanbul, The Vancouver Art Gallery, the Month of Performance Art- Berlin, Museum der Fünf Kontinente Munich, the Bimhuis Amsterdam, Curitiba Fashion Week, among others. Lisa currently lives and works in Berlin, and is involved in a range of different projects in collaboration with artists and interested audiences.

Websites: www.agentecostura.art

www.maskeradebrigade.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/agentecostura/?hl=en

FB: https://www.facebook.com/agentecostura

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The Material Revolution: http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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This episode is a conversation with Dutch based designer Billie van Katwijk of Studio Billie. Her interdisciplinary practice as a designer is one that has taken an unconventional path and consideration of everyday materials. She considers resources, processes and design outcomes carefully through a thoughtful process of examination that both physically and philosophically highlights the emphasis on nature and life cycles, transforming our understanding of materials, in particular to how we perceive and experience beauty - in all its stages and forms.

Her work shines a light upon materials and concepts that are often considered taboo or perhaps would make some people, uncomfortable due to the subject matter. But her practice as a designer brings forth a truth that addresses contraversial issues and yet on that same token it invites an opportunity to reflect upon what we value and where there are big gaps in our understanding of valuable resources.

**Our discussion focuses on one of her material concepts, Ventri and how she came to develop it. This project transforms animal food waste, specifically cow stomachs discarded by the animal industry, into an alternative material and leather resource. She developed a proprietary tanning process in order to make this into a functional material and utilizes craft applications to construct this material into bags and accessories. We address issues of the taboo in relation to her discovery and how deeply invested she is in utilising this resource to produce a material and design outcomes to create awareness and to inspire conversation that educates.

For more information on our guest:**

As a graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven Billie van Katwijk has developed a process for turning cow stomachs into a material - a leather - that can be used to make bags and accessories. Her project Ventri has captured the attention of the design world after she discovered that cows stomachs are considered a waste material.

Billie van Katwijk is fascinated by nature; alive and dead, in all its purity and imperfections. As a result of her love for animals and nature, she tries to highlight the beauty she sees in them. Often she does this by (re)using natural forms, colours and materials.

Van Katwijk believes in showing contradictions and taboos, but avoids judging them. That’s why her approach is unconventional, discussing existing rules, habits and dogmas and leaves the beaten track, to create something new.

“I want to add value by making unconventional choices, getting people to think and inspire. My concepts are completed by the user, with his or her own thoughts.”

Websites: www.billievankatwijk.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/studiobillievankatwijk/IG: https://www.instagram.com/studiobillievankatwijk/

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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This episode is a conversation with textile artist and designer Melissa Ferreira Schwager about how she came to establish her brand Adhesif Clothing through her experience as vintage clothing buyer. After 17 years of being located in Vancouver, Canada she recently relocated to Germany. Her unique, patchwork aesthetic is an exploration of upcycling where zero waste methods are combined with sustainable surface design techniques. We talk about how she came to develop her knowledge and expertise in working with certain fibres and materials through the process of upcycling.

Our discussion looks at how she chooses to take a project based approach to her collections and how this translates into a story - capturing the history of the cloth in collaboration with the methods and processes she uses in their transformation. We also speak very candidly about the creative process, Vancouver, and how methods of creative use/reuse such as upcycling is a valuable skillset and sustainable solution for textile waste in our environment. `

For more information on our guest:

Originally born in Montreal, Canada, Melissa was influenced by her mother who worked as a production line seamstress in a factory there. She would often sit for hours by her mother’s industrial sewing machine playing with scraps of fabrics and sorting buttons while her mother sewed. It is not surprising that since this time she has been experimenting with textiles, Melissa is proud to say she is a self-taught designer and artist.

Working as a vintage clothing buyer for many years inspired Melissa to create garments with older textiles because of the amazing quality and special characteristics a lot of these reclaimed textiles own. There is a double advantage in using sustainable materials; not only do they reduce waste in the environment, but they also add distinctive narrative personality to her eye-catching creations.

Since establishing the eclectic line in 2003, she continues to catch the eye of International media with her styling work being featured in multiple fashion editorials like FASHION, FLARE, Freshly Worn Magazine, PUMP as well as on television with the Knowledge Network & CBC Canada to name a few.

With her thoughtful and resourceful approach to designing, Melissa looks forward to continuing to implement sustainable materials & methods in all of her future collections.

For more information about her collections and design work visit the links below.

Website: www.adhesifclothing.com

Instagram: @adhesifclothing

Facebook: www.facebook.com/adhesifclothing

Twitter: @adhesifclothing

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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#TMR - Episode 7 - Modern Barkcloth - Jose Hendo

This episode is a conversation with Ugandan born, London based artist and eco sustainable designer Jose Hendo about her specialised knowledge and experience in working with barkcloth - the world’s oldest textile made by man. We discuss how deeply connected she is to this resource and the impact it has had on her career and personal life not to mention its historical cultural significance to the people of Uganda.

Jose is committed to the education and preservation of this cultural cloth and has been instrumental in developing two initiatives - Bark 2 the Roots (B2BR) and the R3 campaign ( Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). We discuss how her designs are not only a reflection of her cultural influence (Ugandan/British) but how they serve as a reminder to preserve heritage and our environment.

For more information on our guest:

José Hendo is a Ugandan-born British eco-sustainable designer who takes a fresh approach to fashion design, challenging the throwaway culture. José Hendo has won multiple awards. She promotes the use of organic, eco- textiles and recycled materials to create unique often avant-garde garments and accessories for both women and men. She supports ethical values and the environment. She chooses to work extensively with barkcloth. In 2014, José Hendo launched an initiative called BARK TO THE ROOTS (B2TR). She is now connected to the Bukomansimbi Organic Tree Farmers Association (BOTFA) in Uganda who have preserved this heritage of making cloth.

Collections produced by the label are inspired by a mixture of José’s African heritage and British influence. Barkcloth features in all collections, used innovatively alongside other organic fabrics such as organic cotton, silk, hemp, bamboo, end-of-line fabrics such as linen, wool or denim and upcycling.

Garments are produced at the design studio, ‘José Original Ltd’, situated in London.

Websites: www.josehendo.com

http://barktotheroots.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josehendo/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/José-Hendo-Label

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoseHendo

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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This episode is a conversation with the artist, textile/fashion designer the Mary Jaeger, based in Brooklyn, NYC. We begin our discussion on how she was introduced to traditional textile techniques and her expertise and knowledge of shibori. From shibori to tuck techniques, Mary’s integrated approach has enabled her to develop proprietary techniques that has come to inform and shape the signature textiles she is known for.

Our conversation continues as she generously shares her experience on how these techniques are an opportunity to educate, inspire and transform our understanding of the contemporary use of traditional techniques. Her unique, innovative textiles bring forth a consciousness about materials and processes with an emphasis on skilled craftmanship.

For more information on our guest:

Mary Jaeger is an entrepreneur well known for her innovative textile, fashion and interior designs. She is a master of natural fiber manipulation, repurposed cloth, resist dye techniques, couture sewing, digital technologies and minimal to zero waste. Drawing on years of study and work in Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe, Mary exhibits internationally at museums, galleries and fine stores. Mary won the Smithsonian Honoring the Future Sustainability Award in 2019. Her heirloom collections can be seen at her Brooklyn, NY atelier and online at maryjaeger.com.

Links to Social Media and Website

Website: http://maryjaeger.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/maryjaeger_ny

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MARY-JAEGER-DESIGN-IN-TEXTILES-

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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This episode is a conversation with Kyoto based international felt artist Jorie Johnson. Her specialised expertise and knowledge of wool and of the felting process is an example of a textile practice that is contributing to the field of contemporary felt making through her research and innovative approach to the medium.

Our discussion examines how her lifelong passion and affinity for wool continues to be informed by historical and contemporary research. How her role as an educator allows her to share her knowledge of capabilities of wool felt. And what motivates her curiosity for what can be done with wool felt in the studio.

For more information on our guest:

Born into the family of a Boston wool merchant, Jorie Johnson studied Textile Design for industry in the USA (RISD) and Finland (KOTO). Residing in Kyoto, Japan for the last thirty years, she re-established her studio, JoiRae Textiles, which focuses on the expression of feltmaking in our modern nomadic times.

The author of two books and numerous articles on the subject of feltmaking, her work has appeared in contemporary textile magazines including Surface Design Association Journal (US), Fiber Art Now (US), and FELT Matters (UK) and, her research work in HALI (UK). A lecturer at various Japanese Universities she also travels worldwide to reach the history, and teach the genius of the medium.

As an invited research fellow for The Imperial Household Agency Nara, from 2011, she has been analyzing, sampling, and preparing the official study of the rare collection of 8th CE Tang Dynasty Kasen felt carpets in the Shosoin Treasures repository.

Selected for the exhibitions “Artwear, Fashion and Anti-fashion”, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, “HATS: an Anthology by Stephen Jones”, Victoria & Albert Museum, “Fashioning Felt”, The Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, NYC, “Celestial Threads”, The Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among other institutions which also include her work in their collections.

She was a participant in the “2018 Intersections in Felt, 3rd International Symposium, Common Language of Turkic World-Patterns”, which was her first visit to Baku, Azerbaijan.

Website: www.joirae.com

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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Made in Italy with Soul

This episode is a conversation with the Italian brand Meraky. Our conversation begins with how they were introduced into working with discarded materials which led them to establish their brand - a brand known for creating high quality fashion accessories out of unusual materials.

Part of our discussion looks at how craft has come to inform their approach in how they have come to develop design solutions using waste materials and what roadblocks they have encountered and how this has come to establish a new material development. We also talk about what motivates their brand philosophically and the steps they have had to take to develop relationships and partnerships to assist in their ongoing research and development.

For more information on our guest:

Rosaria Marraffino grew up in a small town in the South of Italy, before moving to Bologna to attend university to study astronomy. Since she was a child she always had a passion to “make” things from whatever she sough around her. She met her collaborator Emilia in 2006 while they were both students. They found themselves renting places that didn’t have much furniture (well, not much “nice” furniture), so they decided to take matters into their own hands. It was during this time they realised there were plenty of treasures made available to them.

Their creative collaborative relationship developing during their restoration, redecoration and repurposing of items they collected during their “rescuing expeditions”. It got to a point when all of the rooms in their apartment became full and they began to sell some of their creations. They also realised were running out of storage space and decided to go smaller. They transitioned into utilising beer caps, lids, recovered leather and textiles, This is when they developed their first brand, Re-find where they participated in every local market they could possibly find.

In 2017, they fell in love with coffee packaging - a material that can’t be recycled . They created their first “coffee-themed”collection, Aroma, renamed their brand Meraky and decided to work with local artisans to help us refine their process in order to perfect their new textile structure into hand-made accessories.

In 2020 they with met another start-up, Casa Grigi, from Portugal. Together they are developing an innovative 100% vegan and natural material, made out of banana peels. Their next collection, Mocha Split, is almost ready to be launched.

Links to Social Media and Website

Website: www.merakydesign.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/merakydesign/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MerakyDesign/

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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#TMR - Episode 3 - Regional Hemp + Slow Denim - Shreyans Kokra - Canvaloop

This episode is a conversation with India based hemp textile leader, Shreyans Kokra of Canvaloop. Our discussion addresses how he came to transform a 40 year old family textile business that used to focus on synthetic textile production into a leading sustainable textile company who now produces hemp and alternative bast fibres harvested from the region.

Shreyans shares not only his entrepreneurial journey but what they are doing differently to create impact and change in the textile industry. We learn about the yarns and fibres they producing, their Slow Denim Campaign and the communities they are supporting in the Himalayan region of India.

For more information on our guest:

Shreyans is educated in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Armed with multiple degrees in finance and business, his experience ranges from working in an accounting firm, investment bank, co-founding a marketing start-up to co-heading a textile manufacturing and technology firm. Being actively involved in family business of Textiles since young age has given him deep understanding of textiles. He realised that in synthetic textiles - there is adverse ecological impact, lack of material innovation and slow functional improvements.Later at Babson, he met Shikha Shah and one of the discussions were on fashion and textile industry. Hemp was discussed in one such chains of discussion and thought of its triple bottom line had a significant impact. This discussion and research led us to the inception of Canva Fibre Labs LLP.

“Belonging to a family business that has been in synthetic textiles for over 40 years, I have witnessed first hand the impact of fashion on the environment. When I discovered hemp I realised about its potential to replace mainstream textile materials as a much more sustainable alternative. The next challenge was to build the adequate technology that could convert the hard bark of the plant to super soft fibre fit for making modern apparel. Once we achieved that through a 100% green processing and developed the fibre we asked ourselves - What is it that we love as much as hemp? - That’s when SLOW Jeans came into the picture”

https://www.canvaloop.com

Facebook - facebook
IG - Instagram
Twitter - Twitter
Linked In - Linkedin

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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T**his episode is a conversation with UK based textile artist, Allan Brown and his investigative relationship of nettle as a fibre and resource. We discuss his discovery of the plant and how it has come to inform his knowledge and use of processes that have lead him to develop outcomes that have come to inspire a community - a material community.

Allan's knowledge of this resource and of the environment that surrounds him continues to motivate his curiousity for what this fibre has to offer. We discuss the importance of regional textiles and localism, how time and place is reflected in the process of making textiles and how his solo journey of foraging has led him to connect with a global community of nettle researchers and makers who collectively share a deep interest (and passion) for this regenerative resource.

He runs the Nettle for Textiles Group in collaboration with other nettle activists in the community.
For more information on our guest:**
Allan Brown is a textile artist, living in Brighton, East Sussex.

Allan's practice as an artist focuses on the creation of location specific textiles from fibres and dye plants that are grown or foraged in and around the South Downs.

He is best known for his experimentations and expertise in and around nettles and he explores the process of hand spinning (drop spindle) and weaving to produce cloth from wild nettles- urtica dioica. His background in permaculture and food production informs his relationship to the land which has also expanded his interest in growing flax and numerous dye plants on his allotment. He spins, dyes and weaves to capture the spirit of time and place through the colours and fibres harvested from his immediate environment. He is motivated to produce cloth that comes from the land with the intention to return to the land, with as little impact as possible.

Links:

nettlefortextiles.org

Facebook Group - Nettles For Textiles
IG - hedgerow.couture
Facebook - Hedgerow Couture
Vimeo - Nettle for Textiles Video, Winding the Warp
(shot and edited by Dylan Howitt)

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The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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**#TMR - Episode 1 - Cotton + Circularity - Benjamin Itter - Lebenskleidung

This episode provides an introduction to the cotton fibre and conversation with Berlin based textile company Lebenskleidung. Their journey began with this humble fibre which slowly enabled them to expand and specialise as a leading sustainable textile company in Germany (Europe). They wholesale a range of sustainable fabrics, serving as sourcing partners by building strong partnerships and relationships with local and regional manufacturers throughout Europe, India and Africa.

We sat down with Benjamin Itter to discuss his expertise and experience in working with cotton . Our conversation navigates how this fibre came to impact his life and career, leading him to co-found his company in 2008 while living in India. We discuss important relationships that are cultivated through fibre production, Auyervedic dyeing, sourcing, community development, circularity, sustainability issues, and more. Benjamin recently wrote an article in Fiber2Fashion on cotton and circularity.

For more information on our guest: Benjamin Itter
Co-Founder and managing partner of Lebenskleidung, Berlin/Germany. Founded Lebenskleidung 2008 in India where he lived for a total of 3 years. Studied German Literature, Political Science and Human Geography and came to textiles via the socio-economic problems, farmers and textile workers in India faced. First project were ayurvedically dyed home textiles. Company developed towards a sustainable fabric wholesaler with the emergence of a sustainable thinking textile movement in Berlin. Former advisory board of the International Natural Textile Fair INNATEX; Speaker at Heimtextil, Beauty & Nature, Green Fashion Consortium, Ethical Fashion Show, Fashion Institute of Technology - State University of New York, Slow Fashion Spain Madrid etc. Benjamin Itter is regular lecturer at School of Fashion Technology, Pune, India (SOFT) and Executive Member of the Consortium of Green Fashion India.

Company Profile: LEBENSKLEIDUNG

"We are Lebenskleidung – a fabric-loving company from Berlin-Kreuzberg. Our credo "More Than Fabrics" should sound not only beautiful, but essentially expresses what is important to us: We love and live sustainability and not only in the production of your fabrics."

https://www.lebenskleidung.com/en/https://www.instagram.com/lebenskleidung/

#TMR

The Material Revolution
http://thematerialrevolution.com

The podcast is independently developed and produced. It is through your support that will help us continue to create meaningful and impactful content.

Patreon page to make pledge: https://www.patreon.com/thematerialrevolution

Music by: Interior Design https://interiordesignmusic.bandcamp.com

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