Reweaving Absence A Modular Leather Garment System for Repair, Replacement and Long-Term Wear
Category: Apparel
Competitions: International
Reweaving Absence begins with a personal experience of physical loss. After an accident, I lost one of my front teeth. A tooth is small, almost hidden, yet it protects, absorbs impact, and carries intimate memories of the body. This absence led me to think about loss not as an empty ending, but as a space that can be remembered, repaired and transformed. Through research into dental X-rays, the layered structure of teeth, and Buddhist ideas of impermanence, I developed a garment language around the idea of replacement. Instead of simply covering a missing part, I wanted to build a system in which absence becomes part of the construction. The garment is developed through modular laser-cut cattle leather units, woven together to form a flexible surface that sits close to the body like a protective second skin. Leather is not used as decoration, but as the structural core of the design. Its strength, flexibility, edge stability and ability to age with the wearer make it suitable for a modular system intended to last. By changing the length, width, density and arrangement of each laser-cut unit, the same construction can generate different textures, patterns and levels of protection. The submitted look is therefore not only one garment, but a demonstration of a repeatable leather language. When one part of the garment becomes worn, damaged, or no longer suits the wearer, it does not need to be discarded. Selected leather modules can be removed, replaced, repaired or re-woven. New patterns can also be introduced into the same base structure, allowing the garment to evolve with the wearer over time. This creates an alternative to fast fashion: rather than buying something new, the wearer can renew what they already own. This project proposes clothing as a living object — one that holds memory, accepts change, and continues to accompany the body. Through modular leather construction, Reweaving Absence turns loss into continuity, and repair into a form of personal expression.
