Design beyond trend
Notes from a conversation about what is lost when culture is reduced to trend and what it takes to design with intention instead
Opinion
An Open Letter on Textile Fibre Indexes
At the crux of the ecological and social crises are many conflicting ideas about how to address challenges in order to affect change. As the fashion and textile sector as a whole seeks to navigate this perplexing terrain, strategies and...
Don’t look Up! has a surprising amount to tell us about economics, much of it useful
In the new Netflix sensation Don’t Look Up, two astronomers, played by Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo Di Caprio, discover a massive comet heading towards Earth, and desperately try to warn the US president, played by Meryl Streep. Their hope is the...
“Seaspiracy” Review: Find out what’s fact, what’s fiction and what to do about eating fish
This week Netflix dropped it’s long-teased documentary, Seaspiracy, about an ocean in peril, drowning in plastic, pillaged by overfishing, and rife with all manner of lawlessness. And to a large extent, this is true. In fact, despite it’s rather sweeping...
20/20 VISION: Can fashion be faithful to sustainability?
As a lover of words, meaty and meaningful, it pains me that so many “just-right” words have been overworked and overused to the point of becoming stale shadows of their former selves. There are countless examples of words being reduced...
20/20 Vision: Choosing community over convenience
It’s not lost on me that I’ve been that person with the Prada sunglasses. Long before my other hallmarks – the beard or the red hair or the black tunics – I’ve had frames on my face. They had become...
How thrifting became part of the system that encourages hyper consumption
According to Thred Up, by 2030, the second-hand industry is predicted to replace fast-fashion. Thrifting is a term that has become part of our everyday language. A few decades, or even a few years ago, this word would be mistaken...
The Twyg manifesto
We’ve compiled a manifesto as a guide to our content creation – it’s an open-ended, living guide to our editorial journey that is of unfolding learning. Care Caring for people and the planet are fundamental to everything we do. In...
Ranked: the impact of five different soft drink containers
People are increasingly aware of the harm plastic waste causes to wildlife, and many would avoid buying single-use plastics if they could help it. But are the alternatives to plastic much better? Let’s look at one example – fizzy drinks....
Do you know what “biodegradable”, “compostable” and “organic” mean?
Do you know what the differences are between the terms “biodegradable’, “compostable” and “organic” are, and what they mean for packaging? These terms are generally thought to be universally good for the planet. Yet, they simply describe a material’s property,...
Q&A: Ceramicist Lungiswa Joe channels her heritage through clay
Lungiswa Joe is a Cape Town ceramicist and the founder of the Inxwala Slow Market. While working at the Craft Design Institute, she was exposed to various creative mediums. It was the ancient medium of clay that captivated her. Lungiswa...
The festive season gift guide with a difference
It’s been two years since our last sustainable (anti-)gift guide was published, so we thought it well overdue to give it a refresh. This year it may be more important than ever, as COVID-19 has threatened the survival of our...
How can we design wellbeing?
In anticipation of the Open Design Afrika festival, director of design education Fatima Cassim has penned her thoughts on how to design to innovate, educate and build resilient communities. The Open Design Afrika festival enables design-enabled social change and promotes...
Q&A with Jinae Heyns on how Matsidiso shoes take sustainable steps
Founded in 2017 on a calculated whim, Jinae Heyns left her marketing career to co-found the ethical shoe brand, Matsidiso. Jinae had approached her mother-in-law about the family’s struggling dance-shoe factory which Jinae believed she could turn around. What makes...
Thankyou flips the system in a bid to change the world
Have you heard about the Australian company called Thankyou? Not yet? You will soon. This company has come up with an audacious business model to “flip consumerism and change the world.” When co-founder and managing director of Thankyou, Daniel Flynn...