Do we think of used clothing and textiles in general as a part of waste?

Not sure I did until I read The last word in disposable fashion by Rachel Shields (The Independent, December 28, 2008).

Would you think of buying clothes that dissolve in the wash?

Rachel shares her thoughts on the topic while reviewing the Wonderland Project, a collaboration between "Helen Storey, a designer and professor at the London College of Fashion, teamed up with Professor Tony Ryan from the University of Sheffield and Interface, a research centre at the University of Ulster".

The Wonderland Project Rachel writes:

"Created plastic dresses – made out of a similar material to washing capsules – that disappear on contact with water, with the aim of drawing attention to the problem of waste plastic. "It is about getting different disciplines together to solve a global problem," Professor Storey said.

A touring exhibition, which began at the London College of Fashion, and in which the dresses are hung from scaffolds and lowered into giant fishbowls, dissolving in dramatic patterns as they are submerged"

They will be part of the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year awards at Design Museum (London) on February 13.

Want to see the melting away in action, see the last minutes of the disposable blue jeans in a revealing Wonderland short film (by Showstudio)?

Helen Storey and Tony Ryan share their thoughts in the video below.

Art, fashion, reflection for Green Day # 60

Last Week: Buy Less Stuff: Shortest Road to Going Green and Saving Some