SMOCK
2024-2025
 

Textiles are amongst the world’s largest sources of waste. Even though they are used for protection, for self-expression and for care, they are often undervalued: mass-produced, quickly consumed and rapidly discarded. In this context, textile designers must address not only today’s but also tomorrow’s needs. SMOCK draws on traditional smocking, a technique historically used to shape valuable fabrics without cutting, making them easier to reshape and reuse. The project reinterprets this technique and historical context in the contemporary setting, investigating alternative ways of producing and consuming. Rather than creating a single, fixed design, SMOCK approaches textiles as a fluid material, capable of evolving in form and function over time. By embedding three-dimensional structures and shapes into transformable, jacquard-woven fabrics, the project speculates on a variety of applications, silhouettes, styles, sizes and meanings in one single textile. SMOCK explores a future where textiles adapt to shifting wants and needs, aiming to strengthen both the personal and societal relevance of the textiles we live with.

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Work in progress --- to be premiered at Dutch Design Week 2025

For more info, reach out to contact@nickyvollebregt.nl