Gelatinous goo garments showcased in Iceland

In Iceland, designer Valdís Steinarsdóttir has developed a gelatin-based material that can be made into seamless articles of clothing using molds. The garments can also be melted down and made into new clothes in a closed-loop.  

Traditional clothing production leads to 60 billion square meters of waste annually.   Steinarsdóttir, who displayed a vest made of the material at the recent DesignMarch festival in Reykjavík, says using molds significantly cuts down on waste compared to other methods of producing clothes.  “This method of making clothes definitely challenges us to stop and rethink our current manufacturing methods,” Steinarsdóttir told Dezeen. “It proposes a technique that eliminates excess scraps and synthetic materials.” 

The material can also be made from agar derived from algae. Natural dyes and sugar alcohols are also used, as needed. The resulting material feeds a bit like plastic, Steinarsdóttir says. “I find it exciting to use natural materials to replace synthetic ones but still keep the plastic-like texture and feel, to make something that’s in fact natural but looks unnatural,” she adds. 

A previous project by Steinarsdóttir turned waste animal bones and skin into vessels and meat packaging, respectively.