[Design Indaba 2016] The cutting edge of the cutting edge

Programming materials to build themselves

Graduate of ECAL University of Art and Design in Lausanne, Switzerland and collaborating at MIT in Boston, Christophe Guberan is crushing pre-conceived notions of materiality and time in the manufacturing process.

Identifying the making of shoes as a “slow process”, Guberan uses the sensitivity of materials such as paper and wood to moisture, programming them to bend or crinkle at will by strategically applying processes that control the rolling, folding and miraculous moulding of materials into shoe components before your very eyes. It is not far off to expect the custom making of garments that will be able to mould to the body, the technology of which will likely transform manufacturing in areas such as furniture, construction and aviation as well.

ACTIVE SHOES Upper from Christophe Guberan on Vimeo.

Hydro-Fold by ECAL/Christophe Guberan from ECAL on Vimeo.

Grow your own throw

Kazuya Kawasaki is immersed in new aspects of fashion, such as growing bio-material in his home inflatable pool to create “sustainable, desirable fashion garments”, which look a bit like seaweed, as well as exploring 3D printing and modelling for clothing and rugs as alternatives to existing resource intensive models.

Folk tradition

As part of her graduation project at the new School of Form in Poland, Basia Dżaman, showed how she had used a KUKA robot to weave carbon fibres into the intricate lace patterns practiced by traditional Polish folk embroiderers. Using Grasshopper® and Rhino 3D software, Dżaman extruded custom-printed tool heads, which were able to be programmed to make a selection of different kinds of stitches.

Put on something light and flowing

A design graduate of Parson School in New York, Yogita Agrawal put her mind to the task of solving the lack of access to lighting in the rural villages of her native India. The fact that people in the area walk up to 1-2 hours every day, gave rise to her solution for a wearable device which she named after the Jhool – meaning swing in the vernacular and also sounding like a unit of energy.

The gadget, powered by human motion, may be customised to the wearer’s taste and decorated with crocheted motifs which are apparently traditional symbols of empowerment. The Jhoule can be used as a torch when out at night or hung on a hook in the home environment to extend cooking or study hours.

The singularity

I don’t think any self-respecting fashionista in the world will want to be without Vera du Pont’s Open source Fashion Manifesto or her covetable pop up coats.

Vera du Pont

A graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven, du Pont completed her Masters on the Future of Fashion which inspired her to relook the garment manufacturing process. She recounts that even the simplest t-shirt will likely pass through an average of seven processes, more if there is finishing and buttonholes.

Her solution, the Pop Up, sees her having used computer technology to provide the template for a DIY cape made from a single piece of fabric. Melting yarn tech prevents edges from fraying. Made from the most delicious light wool weave, with double-sided print to be reversible, with their spacey striped motifs, Pop Ups look as if they could be either what Cleopatra wore or the costumes for a film set in the year 3000. http://www.veradepont.com/.