The world is changing rapidly. Many things do not have time to live the full cycle of life assigned to them by the developers, and grow old physically. Much faster they become morally obsolete and end up in a landfill. Of course, ecodesign will not clear landfills, it is just one of the ways to solve the problem, but combining environmental, creative and economic aspects, it provides several potential development scenarios. I was lucky: my project idea “Eco-Style – Fashion of the XNUMXst Century” was chosen by experts from the Institute of Russia and Eastern Europe in Finland, and I received an invitation to Helsinki to get acquainted with organizations whose activities are somehow connected with environmental design. Employees of the Institute of Russia and Eastern Europe in Finland, Anneli Oyala and Dmitry Stepanchuk, after monitoring organizations and enterprises in Helsinki, chose the “flagships” of the industry, with whom we got to know over the course of three days. Among them were the “Design Faactory” of Aalto University, the cultural center “Kaapelitehdas”, the design shop at the city’s recycling center “Plan B”, the international company “Globe Hope”, the eco-design boutique workshop “Mereija”, the workshop “Remake Eko Design AY ” and etc. We saw a lot of useful and beautiful things: some of them could decorate exquisite interiors, the design ideas turned out to be absolutely amazing! All this is successfully converted into interior items, decor, stationery folders, souvenirs and decorations; in some cases, new objects retain the features of the original images as much as possible, in others they acquire a completely new image. The owners of eco-design workshops we spoke with said that they have to fulfill orders for dresses for the most solemn events, including weddings. Such an exclusive is not cheaper, and often more expensive than new clothes from department stores. It is clear why: in all cases, this is handmade piece work. It would seem that recycling (from the English. Recycling – processing) is inextricably linked in the concept of “handmade”: it is difficult to imagine that the phenomenon can have an almost industrial scale. However, it is. In the large warehouses of Globe Hope, second-hand overcoats of the Swedish army, sails and parachutes, as well as rolls of Soviet chintz of the 80s, bought by a zealous Finnish entrepreneur during the years of Perestroika, are waiting in the wings. Now, from these painfully familiar colorful fabrics, the company’s designers are modeling sundresses for the summer of 2011. I have no doubt that they will be in demand: each such product is usually attached to a tag describing its history or specification. Many products are popular, but the bestsellers are clutches made from the lining of overcoats, on which branded patches and ink stamps have been preserved, indicating the history of the “original source”. We saw a clutch bag, on the front side of which there was a stamp of a military unit and the year of marking – 1945. Finns appreciate vintage things. They rightly believe that in the past, the industry used more natural materials and more sophisticated technologies that give better quality output. They value the history of these objects and the creative approach to their transformation no less. The organizers of the exhibition strive to draw the attention of guests to the fact that they are not just buying unique things, but also participating in an important event related to sustainable development and improving the quality of life – in the city, country, world.
2022-11-11