Knitter’s world
Read about how designer Rie Sakamoto put together an exhibition of knitted clothes – all painstakingly made from rubber bands…
Read all about the student who is knitting garments from elastic bands!
When Japanese design student Rie Sakamoto was contemplating the final year of her course at the Department of Integrated Design at Tama Art University, Tokyo, and the exhibition she would have to create, she hit upon an intriguing new material to create her finished pieces from – knitted rubber bands! Seeing the inner beauty in these everyday objects, and observing the “texture, high elasticity, transparent feeling, and beautiful amber colour” of the bands, she worked painstakingly to create a stunning collection of clothing for her coursework.
Sakamoto was preparing for her final year when she came upon the idea of using elastic bands as her material. “Many people have a negative image of rubber bands,” she explains. “I worked on the production with the belief that the rubber band has wonderful characteristics that no one has found yet.”
For her graduation exhibition, she knitted several items of clothing, including boots, a shimmery long cardigan, and this stunning dress and bolero jacket, all showing o the beautiful shades and richness of the rubber bands. And of course the super-stretchy finished material guarantees a perfect, flattering fit, that’s easy to wear as well – “I could feel the comfort that I had never experienced before!” she notes. Sakamoto also says in her exhibition notes: “We have found the value of a rubber band that fits a wide range of body shapes, and stretches the fabric freely.”
We’re not sure we’ll be rushing out to copy the technique though, as unsurprisingly turning an item of stationery into beautiful clothing is a bit more hard work than normal hand-knitting. Each individual band is painstakingly joined to the next, then wound onto reels so that they can be used for knitting. “I spent more than a year making rubber bands, and my hands fell apart,” says Sakamoto. “The elasticity of the rubber band was so strong… About five knitting needles were also broken!”
It was also a very long process, with the first pieces taking six months of trial and error to perfect the technique, and the rest of the exhibit taking about a year to finish. But we’re sure you’ll agree the end result is worth every painstaking moment. Her professors agreed, noting that “The results far exceeded expectations and were amazing. It was doubtful that the material and colour of raw rubber would be suitable for many clothes, but when I saw the finished product, it was fashionable, avant-garde, and strangely fitted. Moreover, the properties of the rubber band were fully utilised.” With her degree finished, and having received widespread acclaim for such a stunning final project, Sakamoto is now looking forward to the future. “I would like to do my best to develop art and design so that I can live as an artist,” she says. We wish her the very best of luck.
Find out more about Sakamoto’s design work at her Twitter account, @sakamoto_entame, and on Instagram @sakamoto_entertainment. Written by Rhian Drinkwater. Exhibition comments translated from Japanese.
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