{"id":64021,"date":"2024-06-13T16:06:52","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T21:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/universomola.com\/?p=64021"},"modified":"2024-06-13T16:06:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T21:06:52","slug":"que-pasa-cuando-muere-una-prenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/universomola.com\/en\/que-pasa-cuando-muere-una-prenda\/","title":{"rendered":"What happens when a garment dies?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ileana Gonzalez<\/span><\/p>\n

For some time I have been thinking about all the alternatives that exist to recycle a garment, where the garment continually dies and revives in other ways. But I wondered, <\/span>how long is it possible to revive a garment? What happens when the material wears out so much that it is not possible to give it a new life? Will there come a time when it is no longer possible to continue circulating? What do we do with these garments?<\/b><\/p>\n

Thinking about the life cycle of a product, that is, the chain of processes involved in the life of a product, from the extraction of the raw material from which the product will be made to the disposal of its waste, is nothing new in design.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Initially, the scheme showed us a linear cycle in which the death of the garment generally ended in the garbage. Already in 1967, Michelangelo Pistoletto, with his artwork \"Venus of the Rags\", warned us about this future, by showing us a pale <\/span>Venus looking at a mountain of fabrics and rags manufactured in the Third World to be consumed during a couple of days. That mountain of multicolored clothes and rags, alive, growing with time, became visible.<\/b> Therefore, this cycle had to be rethought, replacing the line with a circle representing the perpetuity and recycling of materials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00abVenus de los Trapos\u00bb, 1967. Work by Michelangelo Pistoletto.<\/span>Source: HA!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Thus, this circle seeks to recirculate the garments, either through second-hand stores, taking parts of them to rebuild a new one, disassembling them and reusing their materials, among others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, with the amount of clothing that exists on the planet, which far exceeds the amount we actually wear per person, has led to the fact that even second-hand stores are not able to circulate all the clothes that constantly come in. The storage places for garments are overcrowded in all stores, and finally, the life of the garments ends, most of the time, in dumpsters or are burned.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what can designers do about it?<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thinking about the end of the cycle is thinking about waste management<\/b><\/p>\n

When designing, you should not only think about creating a garment that is aesthetic and \u201csaleable\u201d, but it is important <\/span>to think about the future that these clothes will have,i.e: think about waste management.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

One of the solutions that Elena Salcedo proposes in her book \u201cEthical fashion for a sustainable world\u201d is to think about disassembling the garment, where it is designed to be recycled. As she puts it well,<\/span> \u201cthe large number of materials that we find in a single garment, including accessories and decorations, and the use of fiber mixtures have become important bottlenecks for recycling once consumption has been exhausted.\u201d<\/b>Therefore, when designing it is important to avoid using textiles with mixed compositions, since it is difficult to separate the fibers when recycling them. That is why it is preferable to use composite textiles, for example 100% wool, 100% cotton, among others. It will also be important to think about the accessories and decorations that the garment has. On the one hand, using the smallest number of accessories and decorations possible and on the other, choosing those that are easy to remove from the garment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another solution that the author proposes is biodegradable products. These are those that break into pieces under certain conditions of light, heat and humidity. They disappear completely without leaving toxic particles in the environment, fully integrating into the biosphere without damaging the ecosystem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Compostable t-shirt from the Vollebak brand.\u00a0<\/span>Source: Restless Culture<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

For example, the British brand Vollebak, specializing in sports and outdoor clothing, designed a T-shirt a few years ago made of cellulose and completely compostable algae ink. This shirt degrades based on environmental conditions, making it a sustainable option. The color, because it is based on a natural dye, changes over time, which adds the advantage that each shirt is unique. This means that once the t-shirt reaches the end of its useful life, it can be placed in a compost bin or buried in the ground.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Compostable algae t-shirt from the Vollebak brand.\u00a0<\/span>Source: Restless Culture<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

If Michelangelo Pistoletto's work teaches us anything, it is that we should not turn our backs on these problems and continue seeing how the mountain of rags grows every day without taking action.<\/span> As designers, it is essential to take the responsibility of thinking about the possible paths that a garment can take.<\/b> Although there are some solutions and there are probably more, it is important to use design as a tool to innovate and be sustainable.<\/span><\/p>\n

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References<\/span><\/p>\n

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