Fabric Re-engineered as Products

Fabric Re-engineered as Products is a research project in collaboration with colourloop Co. Ltd (colourloop) & Kyoto Design Lab (D-Lab).

As core members of the D-lab team, together with studio monoya, we conducted material research and designed the products, exhibition, website and visuals for the project.

For more information and photos, please check the official project website (in Japanese).

The textile industry has been identified as a major environmental problem due to its GHG emissions from production, use and disposal, and short life cycle of products. In Japan, the annual waste of clothing is around 1.4 million tonnes, much of it destined for landfill or incineration as recycling rates are low. A reason for this is the difficulty of material recycling; mixing materials when spinning, weaving and knitting.

In response to these problems, colourloop has developed the “Colour Recycle System”, a system that sorts discarded fibres based on colour, rather than material, and transforms them into new attractive materials.

The new system, which enables waste fibres to be remade into colourful olefin sheets, requires the development of a wider range of applications beyond that of traditional recycled material from waste fibres.

During this collaborative research by Kyoto Institute of Technology’s (KIT) KYOTO D-Lab and the university-born venture company colourloop the design possibilities for waste fibers were explored and new applications for colourloop’s resin sheets have emerged. 

Fabric Re-engineered as Products

Collaborator: colourloop Co., Ltd.
Project Lead: MIZUNO Daijiro (Kyoto Institute of Technology)
Technical Lead: INOUE Tomohiro (Kyoto Design Lab)

Products and Exhibition Design team:
SAKURAI Toki (studio monoya)
YOSHIDA Takuji (studio monoya)
HUFFMAN Emma (salot)
VAN KAATHOVEN Danika (salot)

Support / OKANO INC.