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INNOVATIONS | 59

Runa Ray Do you think fashion can become a space for
is a fashion ecologist and interdisciplinary designer promoting the protection of the environment
with expertise in circular fashion. Focused on and the ocean?
sustainable development goals, she embraces the As a fashion designer, I've always believed in envi-
3Rs model (reduce, reuse, recycle), zero waste ronmental justice, meaning that my creations carry
initiatives, nature-based solutions and ancient a message of hope to bring light to current climate
techniques that reduce our impact on the planet.
change issues and help create solutions, keeping
the end goal in mind and following the '3Rs': Re-
With this new collection, are you speaking out duce, Reuse and Recycle.
against the way fashion affects our oceans?
Fashion has been criticised for printing and dyeing, How did you become involved in environmental
which cause pollution and wastes water. The tex- issues?
tile printing industry releases 99% of its toxic emis- I first became aware of the waste problem when
sions into the air, with the remaining 1% dispersed I was working for some of the big brands. Fast
in water and soil. These pollutants are transmitted fashion does not conform to the concept of cir-
through the atmosphere or via water, causing se- cularity. Why do the things we wear have such a
rious harm to marine life. negative impact on the environment? As an inde-
pendent stylist, and this is what I advocated at the
What is the art of floating inks? United Nations, I want to control and connect all the
I apply chlorophyll inks and dyes based on natural stages of my design, from the seed (even seaweed
pigments, to which I add a small amount of acry- seeds) to the final creation. I want to be responsible
lic, to a mixture of water and dissolved algae. Using with my designs, the choice of materials (sustai-
a toothpick, I create the patterns that I capture by nable cotton, peace silk etc.), the production me-
gently placing the fabric on the liquid. thods, and manufacturing processes. The fashion
world should be moving towards sustainable and
How is this ancient Japanese skill more responsible manufacturing processes, starting with
ocean-friendly? independent designers!
This technique has allowed me to abandon the
harmful chemical inks generally used in industry How do you approach the end-of-life of clo-
in favour of an eco-friendlier alternative of natural thing?
inks created from flowers, and plant roots such as When it comes to the end of their life, clothes can be
Indian madder, turmeric or hibiscus flowers, and reused in many ways to extend their lifespan. One
minerals. On top of that, I completed the whole pro- way of giving back to the ocean is to convert gar-
cess using just one container of water: 100 metres ments into pouches or bags that hang on ropes and
of fabric printed with just 75 litres of water! Plus, germinate seagrass. A unique way to use fashion to
the resulting patterns are organic, distinctive and revive the ocean!
resemble our oceans.

Faced with the pitfalls of industrial printing, are
you counting on algae to come to the rescue? DID
On one of my trips to the coastal communities of YOU
Mandapam, in southern India, I noticed women KNOW?
were harvesting wild seaweed without proper di-
ving gear or gloves. The seaweed was then dried
and sent to factories for food production (agar-agar The $3 trillion fashion industry is responsible
and carrageenan). I wanted to enhance the value for 20% of the world's wastewater through
of the products of their harvest and contribute to the processing and dyeing of textiles.
their coastal life. So, I use this food-grade seaweed,
which is very kind on the skin, as a coagulant in my
printing process.