It’s a curious and fascinating experience to slip into the external “skin” of another person. Even if the clothes are mass produced for an unknown number of consumers, each piece is affected by the individual as soon as it ends up in a the hands of that particular person. It is no longer an anonymous object. It stores aesthetic information unique to it’s owner including things like body shape, smell, posture, attitude and lifestyle. As we clothe the exterior of others, we perceive these elements directly from inside. This little experiment was the beginning of our project. “Reanimation / Wiederbelebungsmassnahmen”.

 

We set up a custom made container and collected used clothes. Each contributor received an identification number when he or she made a donation. These numbers were designed to help the participants track their personal clothes afterwards.

We received an enormous amount and wide variety of used clothing. We washed and ironed them first. After, we registered every piece in the order of the donations with the number identifying the former owner (anonymously of course), the color and the material, and photographed each of them.
In order to run this campaign, we decided to use modern technology . The information about each piece of clothing was saved in a small RFID-transponder, which is basically a simple chip containing 10 digit numbers. Numbers issued to each individual were unique within our archive. The information about the clothes could be accessed with it’s suitable reader. We chose this technology because of its simplicity and low cost. This was also ideal for our project because the transponders were persistent, durable, and washable. We designed a custom chassis, which also served as a three dimensional label and were easily sewn onto the garments.The RFID-Chips enabled us to follow the afterlife of the used clothes.

Nasty ordure and dirt are the disturbing factors of garments. We cleaned the used clothes thoroughly, and tried to enhance the other characteristics of design elements such as cuffs, holes, stains and usual traces of use, by repairing and placing them in particular positions. We picked up the elements intuitively, stripped them down, and assembled the most interesting and valuable parts for us into a new garment. This was a completely new and unusual method of creating clothes. There were no traditional drafts or even sketches. Our approach consisted more out of combination and immediateness. For instance the coupling of a classical trench coat and a down jacket resulted in outerwear of completely novel form. There were very few designs, determined from the beginning as most evolved during the process of construction. With this method, we developed hybrid pieces with an original aesthetic element. We combined a fur coat with a classical men’s chequered jacket. The silk shirt was transformed into a summer dress with an addition of the knitted belt, formerly part of a sweater. With the lining of a trench coat and the belt of from a pair of trousers, we made another dress. The attraction of all these pieces came from not only the mixture of materials and textures, but also from the unusual combination of different origins of old clothes. In spite of diversity in material, we paid a great deal of attention in order to give the collection a harmonious and elegant touch. It was also important for us to upgrade the new collection from the former clothes. We changed the lining of the new garments with silk in order to improve the comfort and the appearance. We did not try to be eco-fanatics, but we did care for the quality and the finishing of the clothes. According to our understanding of sustainability, it’s not just about raw material by itself, but also how we treat the raw material. Tropical woods have been in danger for a long time, but we don’t argue against using them to make musical instruments. These use are considered reasonable and economical as the final products would last for hundreds of years. We see materials such as silk in a same way like this tropical wood. If we use them respectfully to enhance the quality so that the products last longer, it will save energy and waste less in a long run.