rubber bands

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Design

Fringed Orange Apparel Knit Entirely From Rubber Bands by Rie Sakamoto

At first, the garments look as though they’ve been spun with a traditional medium—wool or yarn—but on closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the thin and springy mesh-like material is composed of thousands of elastic bands that have been knitted together. Made by Japanese designer Rie Sakamoto, the handmade collection includes a jacket and dress, each of which illustrates the diverse functionality of stationery items like rubber bands. 

Sakamoto’s “rubber collection” initially was exhibited at Tama Art University in Toyko as part of a graduate exhibition and the garments, which took Sakamoto half a year to make, reflect on how overlooked materials and objects can have diverse uses in fashion, contemporary design, and art. 

The flexibility of the soft bands allows Sakamoto to stretch the rubber to make different-sized garments that are adaptable to various bodies. Similar to how wool garments are created with needles, Sakamoto makes each garment by knitting the rubber bands together. When closely observed, the materials are a matte, sand-like color, but when thousands are merged together into textiles or fashion pieces, an earthy orange emerges. When Sakamoto’s garments are held up in the light, they become almost iridescent

To keep up with the designer’s inventive apparel, follow her on Instagram. (via designboom)

Design

Rubber Bands with a Bow: The Art of Japanese Packaging Simplified

Japanese design is often focused on adding engaging design to unexpected places, subtly nudging the audience to look twice at everyday objects from erasers to lunch boxes. Designer Yu Aso has placed this idea into one of the most common packaging elements—rubber bands.

Aso has reimagined rubber bands with a mizuhiki twist, a Japanese art form using cords tied with decorative knots. The most common of these is the shoelace knot, which he has effortlessly worked into a rubber band that is appropriately named the mizuhikiband. The band was was originally created as part of the 2013 Kokuyo Design Awards with the theme of “happy x design,” but has since gone through two years of revisions to refine the design and make the product more foreigner-friendly.

It was also important to Aso that the band have a sense of repetition in its design, encouraging users to use the product over and over again to secure a variety of gifts.

Mizuhikibands will be available in four different colors and packaged in groups of 7 beginning in early October. (via Spoon & Tamago)

Update: Mizuhikibands are now available in the U.S. through the Spoon & Tamago Shop.

Design

Cubic Rubber Bands by Nendo

Earlier this year Tokyo and Milan-based design firm Nendo (previously) accepted the challenge of redesigning the rubber band, one of the most common desktop items that seems so ubiquitous that it’s disposable. After all, the cost of a few hundred more is just a few bucks. But what if a rubber band was interesting, functional, and you didn’t want to throw it away. This was the idea behind Nendo’s cubic rubber band, a completely different form factor resulting in a desktop object that isn’t meant to be stashed away in a drawer or tossed in the trash. A set of three retails for 1080 yen (about $10), though you’ll need to be able to navigate a Japanese retailer, Marks, to snap up a set. (via Spoon & Tamago)

Design

SÖHKA Lamp: A Customizable Light Made from Rubber Bands

The SÖHKA Lamp is the latest creation from French designer Malet Thibaut (previously). The light is composed of five wooden pieces and 60 rubber bands that can be assembled in practically unlimited configurations to create different lighting patterns for maximum geometric shadow fun. The SÖHKA Lamp will be available for purchase via his website in the near future.