Carole Collet "Designing Across Domains to Enable Planetary Change"

Special feature "Cycles of Life: The Past & Future of Apparel" in collaboration with Yoshikazu Yamagata, designer of the fashion label writtenafterwards and organizer of the fashion learning platform "coconogacco." This time, we are pleased to welcome Carole Collet, a leading figure in research that bridges sustainable design, bio-design, and textile design since the 1990s, driving the field forward.

We discussed with Collet about the changes she envisions, considering the current landscape, where she questions textile design methods and now comprehensively examines design itself beyond the boundaries of fashion design.

Is it Possible to Be Both a Textile Designer & an Ecologist?

Passion for Textile Design & Concerns About Environmental Impact

I began actively researching how to incorporate the principles of biomimicry and biology into textile design in 2007. Prior to that, I focused on developing sustainable textiles, considering sources of raw materials, recycled materials, and types of dyes. While studying textiles at a university in Paris in the late 1980s, I learned in technology lectures how textiles are mass-produced and how reliant they are on harmful processes. Until then, I had not connected the textile industry with its environmental impact, but I vividly remember deciding I didn’t want to engage with such a polluted industry. In other words, my interest in sustainability stemmed from being an ecologist.

When that became clear, I enrolled in the master's program at CSM in 1991 to determine if I could balance being both an ecologist and a textile designer. In essence, I was figuring out how to maintain my passion for design without developing harmful materials that negatively impact nature to sustain the industry.

By the early 90s, there were already numerous research findings and reports on the textile industry and its environmental impact. However, these issues were not widely discussed. At the time, many people I spoke with did not fully understand what the problem was and thought that switching to natural materials and dyes would solve it.

In reality, cotton is one of the most environmentally taxing fibers we use. This is because conventional cotton farming methods use an unbelievably large amount of harmful pesticides and herbicides. Despite being a natural fiber, its farming methods have a negative impact on the environment. Additionally, traditional recipes for natural dyes often use heavy metals as mordants. Mordants help the dye penetrate natural fibers. However, I realized quite early on that "natural" does not equal "ecological," and I started thinking about how we could move beyond this.

Collaborating with Biologists & Discovering Biomimicry

In 1997, I heard ecologist Janine Benyus talk about "Biomimicry." Her book on biomimicry had a significant impact on me. After reading it, I wanted to think about "what we can learn from biology" and "how to bring this method into the design process."