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Maria Fernanda Varney

Loughborough University

Material - Led Designer My current work revolves around bioplastics and improving their materiality in my graduate project 'Material Rehabilitation' . To do this i have looked towards longstanding fashion materials such as leather and denim for transferrable aesthetics and processes. Previous project 'Wear Your Campus' encourages students to wear bioplastic accessories that are made in part from the campus itself. Natural dyes are created from harvestable plants grown on the Loughborough Campus from the University Fruit Routes scheme, but are harvested beyond seasonality as to not compete with food resources. I like to encourage people to feel my projects and experience bioplastics first hand to better social readiness for bioplastic within the UK clothing manufacture industry.

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Material Rehabilitation

Category: Apparel

Competitions: Fashion Competition 2025

WELCOME TO THE MATERIAL RECOVERY PROGRAMME. I'm Staging an Intervention. Material Rehabilitation challenges what we consider to be viable fashion materials. Current materials, both natural and synthetic, have been heavily documented regarding waterway pollution. These findings raise crucial questions about what properties we should be imbuing in our materials and advocates for a reassessment of longstanding material choices. There is a clear consensus that for the prioritisation of biodegradability, and this shift has sparked growing interest as bioplastics as a potential solution. This project consciously designs with bioplastics in aims to better improve the receptiveness of bioplastics beyond a novelty and continue to the conversation around consciously designing. Stop and think about how we want materials to behave. This work is underpinned by research into popular materials, denim and leather, investigating factors that have attributed to their popularity and apply transferrable principles such as : physical properties, processes and aesthetics, to inform bioplastic development. Familiarity is used as a design tool, to present the resulting bioplastics as something not entirely new. Here is your invitation to rethink and experience different material possibilities. Discover your favourite denim and leather jackets reinterpreted, including ' I can't believe its not leather jacket' and blends such as 'Deather'.

In association with Arts Thread

Working with our partners at Arts Thread to develop lifelong learning and career opportunities for students of fashion and design. Our partnership provides the opportunity to compete on a world stage, participate in industry led workshops, set up an outstanding portfolio and gain access to the resources that will kickstart careers in fashion and design.