I CAN’T SLEEP
BA YEAR 2 SUMMER PROJECTAugust - September 2021
Made using PIÑATEX pineapple leather offcuts, 40-year old faux fur, cotton lace and deadstock fabrics, and upcycled beads.
This project acted as a reintroduction to my degree after a year-long gap year hiatus during the pandemic of 2020-2021. I wanted to investigate new innovations in modern sustainable textiles, as well as rethinking my own practice in a way that was more environmentally friendly.
Like many others during that time, I struggled with insomnia, depression, and a noxious cocktail of other experiences which left me feeling disillusioned and anxious. I wanted to get out of feeling that way while paying homage to this difficult time, so I kept a dream journal and painted scenes of my dreams in vivid watercolour which later became the basis of my fabric manipulations and samples.
The final look is made using leftover manufacturing offcuts of PIÑATEX, a vegan leather alternative made using pineapple fibres, as well as deadstock 40-year old faux fur and fabrics from my grandmother’s sewing cupboard embroidered with dismantled necklaces and trinkets from the 2010s. Personally, it was a good experience on researching the impact of your design choices as I later found out that PIÑATEX wasn’t as ideal a choice as I had thought - as of early 2022, it is not wholly biodegradable since it is coated with polyactic acid (a cornstarch-based plastic).
