wonderland-sheffield.co.uk/

Recycled clothing usually connotes trips to Goodwill or hand-me-downs, and recycled couture typically has its shining moment walking down a red carpet. But over the past three years, London scientist Tony Ryan and artist/design professor Helen Storey decided to tackle our notions of ‘recyclable wear’ and turn it completely on its head, making couture gowns from dissolvable textiles. The duo’s Wonderland exhibit ups the ante on both couture and sustainability – which, let’s be honest, have been pretty mutually exclusive as far as aesthetics go. The exhibition of their “disappearing gowns” gradually lowers dresses into large bowls of water, where they dissolve to create “vibrant underwater fireworks.” The Wonderland team hopes to introduce their “practical solutions to current ethical issues,” to the masses, interpreting their ideas into ingenious uses. Their developments (like intelligent packagings that dissolve into a gel in which seeds can be grown) have garnered numerous awards, and could revolutionize the issue of plastic waste. You really have to see it to believe it, so if you didn’t make it to the last stop in London, check out the video by Nick Knight on the Wonderland site. Super sci-fi.