Over three years, artists/designers, scientists and industry experts entered into the Re-FREAM co-creation processes. They collaborated through lab experiments and Zoom-calls, imperfect outcomes and pivots, materials and contemplation, fueled by brain cells and enthusiasm. Together, they conceived trailblazing solutions for pressing social and environmental needs. Their exchanges generated far more than prototypes and products – they are key to defining new narratives.
By identifying shared processes and common values, across disciplines and borders, they seeded future practices of not just urban manufacturing, but world-making. Some results will remain intangible – the memories of frustration then exhilaration when overcoming obstacles, the hum of machines, the laughter exchanged, the distinctive smells and soundscapes of labs.
Re-FREAM explored urban manufacturing through the categories of 2D to 3D (Linz), sustainable finishings (Valencia), electronics and textiles (Berlin), all integrating the overarching questions of sustainability and customization. Each project revealed the impact of design and manufacturing beyond ephemeral products and economic profit.
The practices and processes they generated contribute to finding new forms of sustainability and community engagement, new and inclusive ways of creating meaningful impact, and new ecosystems. Materials and their manipulation are never neutral: making is the transmission, production and embodiment of knowledge.
The co-creations also explored and questioned connections and assumptions about fashion, technology and science practices. They challenged participants to develop new multi-disciplinary skills, develop new creative languages and a more nuanced understanding of themselves, of each other, and the surrounding ecosystems.
Our futures depend on this new material, ecological and planetary awareness; our social fabric depends on establishing a common understanding of who we are, where we come from, and where we are going.
Explore the results of this unique Art-Tech collaboration here: Pioneers of Future Fashion and Fashion-Tech
