Spot rising design stars (and their creations) at Singapore Design Week 2022
Transformation of cow dung desert by Adhi Nugraha
Cow dung pollutes waterways and the air. Through a research project, Indonesian designer Adhi Nugraha has developed a way to clean and process the material and turn it into useful household objects. The Cow Dung Wasteland Transformation collection includes three different speakers, a container that doubles as a stool, a box and a lamp.
Roger & Sons Upcycling Project for Singapore Airlines
In the 1970s, fast-growing non-native trees such as Khaya, an African mahogany, were widely planted in Singapore. Today it is a problem. “In Africa they have seasons, in Singapore we don’t,” says Morgan Yeo, director of Singaporean design studio Roger & Sons. “So the trees grow very fast and the roots don’t grow deep, and then they fall.” To combat the problem, more than 100 non-native trees are cut down and disposed of daily. They are then replaced by native trees with a more adapted root system.
With processes developed with the country’s high humidity in mind, Roger & Sons explores how to reuse both the wood and the sawdust created. Through Project Upcycling, a partnership with Singapore Airlines, the studio takes outdated airplane furniture such as economy seats and catering carts and reupholsters them in Oiled Khaya. The elegant result gives new life to both a furnishing object and a tree considered as waste.
“Fashion Composer” A-Jane
Self-proclaimed “fashion composer” Alice Jane Chang or A-Jane combines fashion and music to create everything from versatile wardrobe basics to an “art wear” collection. Combined with a rayon-polyester cape, lightweight recycled aluminum discs (800 in total) form the Distio Sound Cape, which sounds with movement. The sculptural Scifonic dress and the Stacca Art Top, explorations of zero waste, reuse fabric scraps from other models in the collection.
Spring Table by Studio Juju for New Optimistic Works
“The idea, conceived during the COVID period, was self-reliance, to produce things made in Singapore, which doesn’t have very sophisticated manufacturing,” says Studio Juju co-founder Timo Wong on the tables. company polyurethane coated steel. Part of the Made in Singapore collection, they are rendered in either single (red and black) or tri-color gloss hues accenting each component. “In Singapore, a car is a very valuable asset, so naturally the finish of our cars has to be perfect. The Spring tables look powder coated, but in reality they are painted in an auto shop,” adds Wong.
“Otherworldly Mutations” by Sean Sheila
Sea life disruption or the hottest look of the season? Our oceans are full of trash, and Sean Loh and Sheila Agatha Wijay, the minds behind Indonesian fashion brand Sean Sheila, are making better use of it. Nylon from ocean waste is incorporated into their Fall/Winter 2022 collection, which channels the novel-turned-movie “Annihilation,” as well as “otherworldly mutations.”
Drop straps add unexpected structure to the FW22 recycled nylon and cotton-rayon top. FW22ST, a deconstructed tailored top with balloon sleeves in 100% wrinkle-resistant triacetate, is a fusion of the shapes of two classic garments. Both pieces are rounded to recall mushrooms. All of Sean Sheila’s pieces are made by people living with disabilities.
Colette by Eugenio Hendro for ROA
Salvaged scrap materials are woven together to form Colette, an intricate wallcovering by Indonesian designer Eugenio Hendro created in collaboration with artisan weavers from Magelang, a city in Java. Removed from the generators, the copper wire is already coated, and therefore weatherproof. Cotton and mixed-material yarns are rethreaded, twisted and dipped in wax, while leatherette strips come from the shoe industry.
