Meet the designer turning used plastics into high-fashion garments

In 2013, Padina Bondar was stunned by the sum of trash she noticed manufactured on a everyday foundation in her Monetary District apartment creating. Her remedy? Create a new know-how that transforms garbage bags into fabric. Because 2019, the New York–based, Richmond Hill–bred designer has been building recycled manner out of outdated plastics, utilized wrapping paper and caution tape. Now, several of her freaky-still-fantastic designs are on display at the Textile Museum of Canada until June 18 as part of a solo exhibition known as Padina Bondar: Refuse. We spoke to Bondar about dumpster diving, the horrors of speedy manner and her burning want to dress Woman Gaga.

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How does one particular commence producing garments out of other people’s trash?
I was researching style design and style at Toronto Metropolitan College in 2013, when Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza collapsed. I was heartbroken—over a thousand persons had been killed, most of them personnel in the building’s garment factories, generating affordable dresses that typically conclude up in landfills. Quickly fashion—the practice of mass producing minimal-good quality clothing—is developed on human legal rights violations. A yr later on, when I was operating a tailor made bridal robe business in North York, I started on the lookout for ethically generated materials and understood how number of sustainable textile choices there had been. So I started off actively playing around with blue, eco-friendly and clear plastic bottles, employing my know-how of couture procedures to produce flower and leaf embellishments for my label, Padina Bondar Models. I utilized any leftovers to create little sequins.

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When did garbage baggage come into the picture?
Inevitably, I decided to go after a MFA in textiles at Parsons University of Style, in New York. I focused on acquiring engineering that would allow for me to spin plastic luggage into yarn. It creates considerably less waste than the procedure of melting and repurposing the plastic in a manufacturing unit.

So you just put them on a spindle and go?
The information of the process are a trade secret—at minimum for now. But I use each bit of plastic, and certainly, the spinning is carried out immediately on the content. It is identical to standard wool spinning. It’s a arms-on solution, and it’s very labour intensive.

Is there any trick to acquiring plastics that are in good shape for the endeavor?
When I started off, I would go by the recycling bins in the garbage area of my Toronto apartment building. I’d take all the bottles and plastic bags that were visually intriguing. But, as I expended more time in New York, I observed the piles and piles of black rubbish bags on the streets. You see them more generally than trees—I phone them “the new nature.” And since many folks get rid of the luggage just before they are comprehensive, there’s frequently a few inches of plastic sticking out earlier mentioned the knot. So, I started out reducing the tops off and having the surplus. I continue to keep a pair of scissors in my purse at all periods.

Do people at any time detect that you are cutting up their rubbish luggage?
No a person has at any time objected. But I typically get people today looking at me who question a ton of inquiries and even just take photographs and video clips.

Does going through people’s trash ever gross you out?
I do not get a great deal of an ick factor. My feeling is that, considering that we built the mess, we need to clean it up. A good deal of individuals want to toss aged things away, but I attempt to be a bit far more liable. For illustration, my buddies know to preserve specified items for me—a distinctive browsing bag, a colourful sheet of wrapping paper—because I’ll use it in my work. I have a large stash of applied hookah pipes that I’m going to come across a thing to do with. I’ll collect practically everything that has prospective.

What’s the weirdest issue you’ve at any time observed though dumpster diving?
A lovely clear Kartell lamp. It was practically new other than for a smaller split, which I was capable to repair service very quickly. All the frames made use of in my present show are ones I uncovered in the trash, still in their wrappers. It is a bit much easier to locate great things in New York as opposed to Toronto, since more folks there set their garbage ideal on the control.

Do you at any time don your have creations out to run errands or for a stroll?
Totally. I use the garments as a kind of strain screening, to see how resilient they are. I have experienced a handful of pals wear them out as well—they’re just not for sale nevertheless because they’re all handmade. They are really snug and quick to cleanse, though. You just wipe them down and go!

Some persons could be hesitant to don garments made of, nicely, garbage. Any words and phrases for the skeptics?
Plastic rubbish luggage are water-resistant, strong, malleable, versatile. The very things that avoid them from degrading make them an wonderful material. They also work effectively for adaptable clothing—I have shoppers who use wheelchairs, and they appreciate this substance. They’re not apprehensive about it acquiring filthy or ripped if it will get caught in their wheels.

The manner field can be notoriously elitist. Have you been given any flak?
So far, every person has been exceptionally supportive. I received a major scholarship via the Council of Vogue Designers of America to help fund my studies. The textile hasn’t been produced commercially however, because this particular content works greatest with a handmade, compact-batch solution. But I do hope that it can encourage a lot more sustainable industrial procedures down the line.

Really should we anticipate to have wardrobes entire of recycled plastics in a few years?
I definitely hope so. The additional we demand from customers sustainable methods, the far more businesses will change towards them. People drive the market. I’m optimistic that we are likely in the appropriate way, and I simply cannot hold out to see these merchandise grow to be a lot more mainstream, obtainable and cost-effective.

Do you feel this sort of style has a foreseeable future on the crimson carpet? Any celebs you are hoping may possibly decide it up?
Girl Gaga is an icon when it comes to pushing boundaries and using substitute resources. Dressing her is a person of my largest goals.

You pointed out that your operate is labour intense. What motivates you to retain at it?
I enjoy utilizing clothes as a way to alter people’s views, whether or not it is speaking about how fast style is harming the natural environment or how several plastics basically end up obtaining recycled. I want to display men and women that we don’t have to continuously buy new things—there is so considerably likely in the merchandise that are correct in front of us. Moreover, when folks compliment a single of my models, I get to say, “Thanks—it’s a garbage bag.”

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.