Don’t be deceived. What looks like a pearl, is not a pearl. A creative team working with photographer Thirza Schaap has turned ocean plastic pollution into art – including a plastic deodorant roller ball.  In a new thought-provoking photographic series called ‘Fashion Meets Plastic Ocean’, Cape Town-based Dutch-born Thirza evokes contradictory feelings by juxtaposing trash and treasure in a beauty versus beast battle. 

Thirza left the Netherlands in 2012 for a six month sojourn to South Africa. After finding a home tucked between the Cape Fold Mountains and the Atlantic seaboard, she decided to stay.  Over the years, Thirza’s morning trips to the local beach turned into a plastic obstacle course which led her to take up arms against plastic pollution and in 2016, Thirza’s photographic series Plastic Ocean was born as an awareness initiative. The Plastic Ocean photographic series is a collection of different plastic arrangements against accented pastel palettes to make visual eye candy. “A lot of people photograph beach debris, but I wanted to find a more subtle way to draw attention to it,” says Thirza. 

For her Fashion Meets Plastic Ocean side-project, Thirza collaborated with fellow photographer Bruin Feskens and designer Dolian Mara.  Plastic materials washed up along the shoreline are transformed  into outfits with very little cutting and sewing intervention. This project is a captivating comment on what we’ve done to our earth with a provocative footnote of what can still be done. 

Materials were collected by Thirza Schaap and assembled by designer Dolian Mara.

Images 1 and 2

Model Miriam Ilunga wears a plastic bag hair piece and a plastic bottle-top ring found with a hole in the middle.  Photography Bruin Feskens 

Images 3 and 4

Cammie Fisher wears a wide Coca Cola umbrella piece with a top made of an OK plastic bag. Photography Bruin Feskens
Image 5 

Here Derya Cinar models an MTN umbrella dress. No scissors were needed. Photography Thirza Schaap

Image 6

Cammie Fisher models a pink plastic bag hair piece made by Derya Cinar.  Photography Bruin Feskens

Image 7 and 8

Derya models a bikini she made from ocean fabrics. Photography Bruin Feskens

Image 9

Miriam Ilunga models an earpiece made by Derya of ocean plastic and shells. Photography Bruin Feskens

Image 10

Miriam Ilunga is modelling an earpiece made by Derya of ocean plastic ( top of a deodorant roller). Photography Bruin Feskens

CREDITS:

Bruin Feskens Photography

Dolian Mara Designer 

Derya Cinar Designer and model 

Cammie Fisher  Model/ Make up artist/ retouching 

Miriam Ilunga Model 

Photo Captions: Thirza Schaap

Intro: Catherine Del Monte