Scratch me

The project ‘Scratch me’ is an innovative textile project that contributes to sustainability in the fashion and textile industry.

For this project, special textiles have been developed which visual appearance and structure can change over time.

The textile fabrics woven for this project exist of multiple layers. Between the outer two visible layers, a second pair of layers are hidden. When the outer layers are damaged, the inner layers which were hidden will appear. With this, the look and feel of the fabric also change, making it richer in user’s history by the intensive use without losing its functionality. Depending on the choice of yarn this textile concept is applicable to both fabrics for interiors, as well as textiles for fashion.

The motivation for this project stems from sustainability. In the old days luxury fashion items, which were made out of expensive fabrics kept on passing from one generation to the other. For example, a wedding dress was both used by mother, daughter and granddaughter. When it got damaged, the fabrics of the dress were repaired either by professionals or by the new users themselves. In this way, the fabrics lived on in a very tangible and personal story via its user’s history.

Today, the textile and fashion industry tends to be geared towards creating fabrics that can be easily discarded after using it for a short period in order to push consumers to buy new products. The project ‘Scratch me’ presents an alternative by emphasizing that the user’s history can enrich the textile, making it more valuable on a personal level: sustainability through social inheritance. The textile fabrics of ‘Scratch me’ invite consumers to create a lifelong bond as these textiles become more beautiful over time.

The first samples of the textile fabrics were made in collaboration with the Textile Museum/textile LAB in Tilburg.