The Dutch designer Maarten Baas collaborated with the contemporary fashion brand G-Star RAW for this year's Milan design week. The partners aimed to explore the limitations and affordances of denim as a fabric outside its usual garment production context. Instead, Maarten Baas employed panels of G-Star RAW post-production denim waste to form new objects and stimulate conversations about "discuss habits of overconsumption and the need for more and less." The exhibition's title—'More or Less'—hints at this.
The striking centerpiece of the Maarten Baas x G-Star RAW collaboration is a private jet, measuring fifteen meters in length, wrapped in denim. Through this artwork, the designer and brand both visualize copious amounts of leftover materials from the fashion manufacturing process but also draw attention to the ultimate "symbol of luxury and consumption."
Denim-Wrapped Private Planes
Maarten Baas Explores the Possibilities of Denim with G-Star RAW
Trend Themes
1. Sustainability in Design - Exploring the use of waste materials in innovative ways can create disruptive sustainability opportunities in the design industry.
2. Collaborative Branding - Collaborations between designers and fashion brands offer new possibilities and experiences within the fashion and design industry.
3. Transforming Luxury - Reimagining luxury goods and materials can spark conversations about the societal values and perceptions of consumption in the luxury industry.
Industry Implications
1. Fashion - Using waste materials in innovative ways can lead to new possibilities in sustainable fashion production.
2. Design - Collaborations between designers and fashion brands can lead to creative and innovative approaches to design.
3. Luxury - Exploring innovative and unconventional materials for luxury goods can transform societal values and perceptions surrounding luxury and consumption.