Wearable concrete

Wearable concrete

Concrete is the most widely used building material in the 21th century. After water, concrete is the second most consumed material in the world. Often described as resilient due to its special abilities as it doesn’t burn, rust or rot. Though it is never used for garments. Why is concrete not yet wearable? In order to challenge the status quo I created a flexible form of concrete. The result is a fabric suitable for a garment. To create the wearable concrete fabric I designed an innovative and unique formula consisting out two kinds of biomaterials and concrete. Each of the biomaterials add a specific property to the mix. The result is a sturdy but flexible fabric. One of the advantages of conventional concrete is the power to build in all kinds of different forms and ways. Wearable concrete couldn’t be called concrete if it loses the ability to be used in different forms and ways. Weaving and pleating are therefore two examples of possible finishing techniques of the wearable concrete fabric. To respect, celebrate and honor concrete in the design of the gilet I used the construction site as a building block.