Fabric: Zoukin (cleaning cloth) / Bath mat

Zoukin (Cleaning cloth) / bath mat

Sourced from the towel cupboard at home.

This Zoukin was initially sewn by the designer's mother in Japan, using an old bath towel. Since it seems to be wasteful to damage a perfectly good fabric, the stitches of the chosen zoukin were unpicked, so that the tattered section can be used for the garment.  

At the designer's house in Japan, all towels are classified as A, B, or C, with A being the best quality towel. When the signs of wears are seen to towels, they are reclassified, and C level towels are sewn to make zoukin or bath mat depending on the size of the towel. Standard hand towels were converted into zoukin, which is used to clean the household, and bath towels were stitched into a bath mat. 

Most school kids in a primary school in Japan are required to bring a zoukin at the start of the year so that they can clean the school by themselves.  Most of the Japanese schools have cleaning time allocated in the timetable.

Once a zoukin became heavily tattered, it could be used to absorb old cooking oil or disposable cloth before being discarded.

Some Japanese retailers sell towels, of which designs are reflected on the lifecycle of towels. For instance, Muji sells towels that have a tile pattern on them (Muji, n.d). The grids, which also prevents naps from falling apart, can be used to cut the towel to make it into zoukin. 

Reference

Muji n.d. , My home towel, viewed 20 October 2019, https://www.muji.com/ca/towels/.

'Shame & Love - A story of fabrics -'

2020 S/S

Inspired by Boro

(traditional Japanese textile using tattered rags)

Designed, patterned & manufactured by

Yoshie Shimizu Beetham

for

Major design: 'Waste not want not'

BA of Fashion Design

(YR2 SEM2)