{"id":6575,"date":"2026-05-29T07:39:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=6575"},"modified":"2026-05-29T07:39:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:39:49","slug":"this-wood-fiber-dress-was-made-from-a-17th-century-shipwreck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=6575","title":{"rendered":"This Wood-Fiber Dress Was Made from a 17th-Century Shipwreck"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This<\/p>\n

Some of the most exciting designs emerging from the world of sustainable fashion are those utilizing uncommon materials. There are gowns sculpted with grass roots<\/a>, sequins<\/a> made from algae, and electrical wires<\/a> woven into lace. Now, researchers and designers at Aalto University<\/a> can add another unusual substance to that list: the remains of a 300-year-old wooden shipwreck.<\/p>\n

In 2019, a hotel in the Finnish city of Oulu undertook renovations that uncovered a 17th-century vessel buried beneath a parking lot. Called the Hahtiper\u00e4 wreck, the finding was the oldest of its kind in this region, prompting conservators to raise the seven-by-20-meter ship for preservation. A few fragments remained, though, and researchers from Aalto\u2019s Bioinnovation Center seized the opportunity to save these bits from the trash.<\/p>\n

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According to UNESCO, wrecks can be raised and conserved for justified reasons. The Hahtiper\u00e4 wreck was conserved because it is the oldest shipwreck discovered in Northern Finland. Photo by Minna Koivikko\/Finnish Heritage Agency<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After removing the outer layers, designers shredded and dissolved the wood into pulp. They then utilized their trademarked Ioncell process\u2014developed in collaboration with Helsinki University\u2014which recycles materials like paper, straw, and other textile waste into silky fibers. <\/p>\n

Lecturer Anna-Mari Leppisaari was responsible for machine-knitting the undyed yarn into a pair of seamless dresses, one of which is on display at Oulu Art Museum<\/a> for an exhibition about the future of fashion. A sleek A-line shape, the garment\u2019s marbled pattern mimics that of wood grain. It weights less than a pound.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, a shipwreck is an exceptional case, but it\u2019s also a story that makes people pause and appreciate materials in a new way,\u201d lead designer Pirjo K\u00e4\u00e4ri\u00e4inen says. \u201cIf something this beautiful can be made from centuries-old wood, why do we keep throwing away materials that could still be circulated and reused?\u201d<\/p>\n

The second dress will be on view in September for the university\u2019s Designs for a Cooler Planet<\/a><\/em> exhibition. (via The History Blog<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"a<\/figure>\n
\"a
Shipwreck materials. Photo by Esa Kapila<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Anna Mari Leppisaari knitting the dress. Photo by Anna Berg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a<\/figure>\n
\"a<\/figure>\n
\"a
Inge Schlapp making the fiber. Photo by Anna Berg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"large
The preserved section was about seven meters wide and around twenty meters long. The part visible in the picture will be conserved and put on display in an exhibition at the Oulu Museum in the new museum and science center, Tiima. Phot by Minna Koivikko<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article This Wood-Fiber Dress Was Made from a 17th-Century Shipwreck<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of the most exciting designs emerging from the world of sustainable fashion are those utilizing uncommon materials. There are gowns sculpted with grass roots, sequins made from algae, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6575\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}