Kamiko Bomber

Full description

Background
This project considers the relationship between materials and intended use in mass-produced fashion apparel products. Taking into account research from María Puig de La Bellacasa (2017) and her work outlining an ethics of care, this project considers the lifecycles of fashion items and proposes a speculative alternative. The techniques applied in this project are derived from extensive fieldwork with craftspeople in Japan, as well as the contextual and historical research of Fukai (2007), Omura (1999, 1997), and Katakura (1988).

Contribution
Through the Kamiko Bomber project we asked the following question: What role can paper garments play in the critical discourse around fashion? They help us reveal aspects of how we wear and care for garments; they help us ask questions about aesthetic and intersubjective durability as well as provenance and permanence.
In collaboration with Jake Nakashima-Edwards, one bomber jacket was made using traditional techniques out of very lightweight and delicate handmade Japanese paper. The bomber was intended to show that paper can be used to make workwear, and required a great deal of care during production and use.
Significance
This project is significant in that it contributes to the understudied field of paper as a possible material for fashion, and critiques norms around material and use relationships. As practitioners, we aim to produce garments that combine an aesthetics of wear with an aesthetics of care — in other words, a garment that looks good and fits well, and that also encourages the wearer to consider the origin of the materials from which it is produced, and also how they wear and care for the garment on and off their bodies. The work is exhibited alongside work from practitioners and researchers from around the world in a virtual exhibition. A “floor talk” was recorded and is viewable on the Contemporary Fashion Practices website.