Ekduo

Our concept was derived by observing different species within the ecosystem and the essential life mechanisms they carry out.  

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Insects were our main source of inspiration, observing their protective layer on the outside called the exoskeleton. By having this layer on their body, not only are they protecting themselves, but also utilizing it as a way of differentiating from other species and attracting mates. Every insect has a different shape, molting mechanism, color, and size and that perception is what we are trying to explore within our designs.

 

The molting mechanism they follow is known as Ecdysis. It is essentially the process of shedding the old skin and replacing it with a fresh, soft layer. The casting off of the outer cuticle results in multiple old and new surface layers and a variety of textures. During the process, their movement becomes restrictive and changes their behavior until they fully outgrow the previous skin.  

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Through our designs, we aim to highlight this process and use new techniques to recreate these textures and explain the process in an abstracted manner. Our design aim is to be sustainable in terms of utilizing bio textiles made using cactus skin and aloe vera, as well as 3D printing techniques to recreate and distort the internal structure with biomimicry silhouettes. 

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The idea of multiple lives comes through with the molting mechanism and the life cycle of the animal's exoskeleton going into ecdysis but also through the materiality of each layer in our designs. The framework we have created follows efficient ways of maximizing the use of resources in multiple stages of the jacket’s user journey. Since, the jacket composes of multiple materials, each material goes through a unique start to end life cycle which differentiates the ways that the pieces can be reused, replaced and regrown.