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Loes
Platenkamp

BLOEM

A still life of flowers captured in textile

Project details

Year
2021
Programme
fashion-design
Practices
social-practice
Minor
New Earth

“For me, flowers are the most beautiful way to show reproduction in nature and to show it off.

With my project I want to give something back to nature in a meaningful way. Nature has been a great source of inspiration for me many times. For this reason I only use flowers to dye the natural textiles. With my collection I want to show the potential of natural dyes that could possibly have positive effects on our skin, by capturing the beauty of nature in textiles.”

The subject of my research is the effect of chemicals on our skin that are used to make or dye clothes. Much research into chemicals in fashion focuses on the impact on the environment. However, with my research I also want to indicate the impact on our immediate environment: namely the impact on our largest organ, the skin. Our skin has an absorbent capacity and can therefore also absorb these chemicals. About 8,000 different chemicals are used in the fashion industry. I should mention that not all of these 8000 are harmful, but some sure are. That’s how I found out that there are chemicals that can cause various medical illnesses, from contact eczema, hormonal disruptors and even cancer. While doing this research, my fear of using these harmful chemicals became bigger and bigger. And therefore I am sure that I do not want to support this way of making and dying clothes.

That’s why I started researching whether there is an alternative to dye textiles without using toxic and potentially harmful chemicals for our skin.

The BLOEM collection is made entirely of natural materials. The fabrics I used are made of cellulose fibers such as silk, cotton, linen and bamboo. These fabrics are printed with flowers. For me, flowers are the most beautiful way to show reproduction in nature and to show it off. In my collection I have managed to capture the beauty of these flowers forever in textiles. I have mainly used outdoor plants and flowers that contain a lot of color, but can also have a potential positive effect on our skin/health. Such as violets, which are known to have an antibacterial effect.

After making all these printed fabrics, I started to design modularly to show that there are many different possibilities with the fabrics. I also found it hard to cut the fabrics since it takes a while to make them. That’s why there are tunnels with strings on all edges of the fabrics. This way you can make an infinite number of different shapes on the body. In the collection I went looking for shapes in which the combination of the printed fabrics come into its own. That’s how I came up with various asymmetrical silhouettes where the emphasis is on the feminine shapes. The collection alternates between voluminous statement pieces and “simple” slip dresses. I did not cut the strings that come out of the tunnels of the cloths, because to me, these symbolize fragility, what flowers from nature are. All outfits are handstitched in a few places with a thread. This makes it easy to take them apart and create new outfits in other combinations.

The BLOEM project is an example of slow fashion. The fabrics for this collection are authentic and hand printed and serve as an alternative to the use of chemical dyes.
As the creator of this project I want to move between different worlds: fashion, design and art and combine this with scientific research. I think this puts me in a unique position that really suits me and in this way I try to do my part against the use of toxic chemicals in the fashion industry.

The project BLOEM is a collection that is aiming for a potential solution and an artistic expression for the problem of the use of chemicals in the fashion industry. With the BLOEM project I want to show the potential of plants and flowers on textiles, which can offer us many beautiful colors, shapes and possible positive effects on our health.

I want to make these fabrics and garments especially on request, so that no waste is created. The people who are attracted and curious about these garments are probably people who are environmentally conscious and are also interested in the effects of certain substances on our body. If these fabrics are being tested in the lab for possible health benefits because of the use of healing plants and flowers, I will appeal to this target group even more. I also want to reach people who suffer from (contact) eczema or a skin allergy to certain chemicals in clothing.


With the modulair design method I’m using I can create an infinite amount of new outfits with the fabrics. And since I didn’t cut in any of the fabrics no waste have been made. For me sustainability is very important as a young designer. We should take care of our environment and also our personal health.

Process pictures:

BLOEM 2021 – Loes Platenkamp