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Fashion and clothing stands for 4% of global greenhouse emissions. In this talk we learn about menswear designer Randa Kherba’s journey through the fashion industry and circularity, and the creation of Algear, a bio alternative to constructing outdoor gear that harnesses the growth of cyanobacteria. This a blue, green algae that can adapt to stressful conditions.
“There needs to be a focus on design gear for short term use. This naturally grows and biodegrades, nourishing the land you leave it on.”
For Algear’s production, she realised she had to respect the different stages of the algae’s life. “I came up this ‘grow to order’ process, where you come to me and say I am going camping in September, and I would estimate how long it would take to grow. After this, you take it, use it and it biodegrades.”
Kherba is keen to shift consumers relationships with products. “This project scratches the surface. It shifts how we think about what we own. We need to shift towards the supply and how we can use the supplies we have access for maximum effect. By doing so we create product for demand, rather than creating product for product sake.”
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