Jeans are a staple in most people’s wardrobes. The moment it starts to fray or fade (unless that’s part of your fashion statement), you either give it to someone else or just throw it away. There are those who donate it to organizations that upcycle or recycle but oftentimes, it just gets thrown in the trash. Since the material is strong enough, there are a lot of things you can do with it and this designer experimented with combining it with different materials to make it the main character.
Designer: Junghyun Kim
The Denim Project turned discarded denims into something that may last longer than if you’re wearing it. They were able to bundle and ground it and then combine it with various other materials like wood glue, plaster, and resin. What they were able to create are decorative plates which can serve as part of your aesthetic and decoration in the kitchen or living room. Well, technically you can also actually use it as plates for when you’re eating. If you’re an Asian mom though, those plates will remain on the shelf.
The decorative plates have a white and blue colourway since denim is of course colored blue. This color combination is pretty familiar to a lot of households especially those that like the aesthetics of The Great Wave of Kanagawa, a woodblock print by Japanese artist Hokusai. There are hexagonal plates that also can serve as trays while there are coaster-like smaller versions that have stands.
As the denim is reborn as these plates, they will have a longer lifespan than when they were used as clothes. Well, unless of course they’re dropped and broken but even those can be recycled and re-used.
