Parsons students at Poltrona Frau's workshop
Italian furniture maker Poltrona Frau is encouraging material mindfulness with a program in partnership with New York’s Parsons School of Design.
Students were tasked with developing ideas for new leather goods that could be constructed out of scraps while minimizing waste in the process, and the three winners are spending this week with the brand’s team to bring their prototypes to life. Creating this outreach program may help to get the next generation of designers invested in more sustainable production practices.
Creative recycling
The experience of the three winners, Huira Koo, Juwon Bahn and Iris Moon, at Poltrona Frau’s factory in Tolentino, Italy is being documented on the brand’s social media accounts. Using the hashtag #PFWasteless, the brand has shared photos of the three students consulting with workers at its Prototype Workshop to transform scraps into beautiful new objects.
In addition to the leather, the women were allowed to incorporate other materials as long as they were instrumental to their design, responsible and used sparingly.
Poltrona Frau employee consulting with Parsons student
Often, finding ways to be sustainable unleashes creativity, resulting in new designs.
French leather goods brand Hermès raised awareness of its Petit h collection with an email blast featuring a scientist in a lab coat.
Petit h takes leftover fabric and pieces with slight imperfections and turns them into unique pieces that sit outside of a fashion season. While using remnants might not seem like a luxurious concept, Hermès has used digital content to prove otherwise (see story).