Eco-minded/inspired fashion

“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

Albert Einstein

Recently l read an article about honey bees facing extinction.  The decrease of their population reaches 35% in Europe and 85% in the middle East. Millions of colonies have died since 2006 in the U.S.A. The depopulation of bees could have a huge impact on the environment, which is reliant on the insects for pollination.

Karen Ingram's "Pollinator Frocks" are wearable gardens that attract and feed hungry bees. Featuring electron-microscopy images of pollen, coated with a nectar-like sugar solution that attracts and nourishes bees and as a result dresses mimic the way insects relate to flowers.

On the other hand, Amy Pliszka proposes a series of expandable living spaces-textile hives crafted from pleated fabrics, ceramics, and wood. The Central Saint Martin's graduate conceived of "Bees Beside Us" by picturing the colony as her client, resulting in a mashup of art and science that not only calls attention to the vital role pollinators play in food security but also puts a fresh spin on our traditional notion of the beehive.

 

The materials she used had to be natural and biodegradable, but also water-resistant, breathable, and insulating. Equally important, the fabric forms had to be visually attractive to the bees, which explains their understated beauty.