Would you do it yourself?
A collection made to confront one about their relation to the cruel meat and dairy industry. Called ‘’Would you do it yourself?’’ as the factory farming industry is one detrimental to human, animal and environmental health, and I challenge you to consider WHY you are deciding to eat animal products. Is it because this daily genocide is hidden away and it’s ‘easy and tasty’ ?
Would you raise a cow, rape her and traumatise her by stealing her child every single year again until her legs cannot carry her anymore and then cruelly take her life? Would you raise a pig that’s as intelligent as a 3 year old child, see it learn and create connections with its brothers and sisters and then slit it’s throat in front of it the very brothers and sisters it grew up with? Would you be able to do such a thing?
BIOMATERIALS
I have made the collection with respect to humans, animals and the environment. I chose wool as one of my main textiles. It is not vegan, but in respect to the planet and human bodies it is one of the most sustainable options. I believe that if we truly want to reach equality, we should be able to work together without exploiting other individuals. I got the wool of a sheep named ‘Jip’, combined with the last shaving of my grandmother’s sheep that passed away 30 years ago. I washed it, dyed it with avocado peels, carded it, spun it and eventually crocheted it into garments.
Next to that, I used algae leather – a leather like textile that I created at home. Algae can grow almost anywhere in water, and is a huge source of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. No harm to animals or the environment is done in the process and there is no waste. The whole collection – except one pair of shoes – is completely biodegradable : you could bury it in the ground and it will disappear.
DETAILS
I have researched the shocking life as an animal in the factory farming industry and added quite some literal links to make the horrors visible - a jacquard knitted scarf-top showing the life of a pig, imagery of being trapped in metal cages and bulging out of the skin. This collection wasn’t about making anything prettier than it is, but rather showing the terror in it’s true form.
Photography: Toto Stoffels Models: Patricia, Lindsay, Elise
Process // Final Show
Shown below are two video’s - one showing the process of creating the collection and the other showing the performance I did as the fashion show. I created a punk song that I performed by lip synching with my ‘band’ show my animosity towards the mass murder of animals on the daily.
