Yeni Deri by Melis Kiran

Textile / Abstract

Plain weave.

Melis Kiran's project “yeni deri” (Turkish: new leather) deals with the various possibilities of converting discarded leather clothing into new materials. Due to the rapid change of fashion, leather products are also becoming quickly unfashionable and disposed of. Leather, a rather luxurious natural material that was designed for long-term wear, has now become a mass product. The UN agricultural organization FAO assumes an annual production of 1.8 billion square meters of leather. In Melis Kiran’s project, the disposable leather clothing is processed into new surfaces using various techniques. Depending on the raw material available, two different processes are used: Larger cut pieces are cut into leather strips and then woven; smaller cuttings, on the other hand, form the basic material for a kind of powder that, mixed with biopolymers and glycerine, can be poured into flat parts. This leather bioplastic can have different surface structures and properties depending on the mixing ratio of the respective substances.

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