11. Implications and applications¶
WHAT DO I WANT TO CREATE?¶
I want to create garments inspired by life, respecting nature while including new technologies. The beauty of nature has always fascinated me, and this is especially true for reefs, because of its multitude of colors and shapes. In this project, I would like to draw inspiration from coral reefs, an ecosystem full of beauty and unfortunately threatened by climate warming.
It is not a question of creating clothes, but of demonstrating that innovation, fashion and ecology are not necessarily incompatible.
For this project I would like to create a jacket, because it is the clothing we need to protect ourselves from the weather, just as coastal regions need reefs to protect them from the waves.
WHY THIS PROJECT¶
I always thought I was made to live on an island or in a tropical country, like my father and my great mother. I like to feel the heat on my skin, to feel myself floating in the ocean and above all I like the colors that these warm countries offer us. Unfortunately climate warming threatens many islands like Bali, the island of reunion or Mayotte. Indeed the coasts are protected by one of the many wonders of nature: the coral reefs, they protect the coasts of the waves, but are also essential for the underwater ecosystems. Although this ecosystem covers only 0.1 percent of the surface of the ocean floor, it is home to 25% of known marine species, some of which feed millions of people. It is considered that 1 km square of tropical reefs contains more species than can be found on the whole European coast.
1- What are corals?¶
Corals are small animals called polyps living in symbiosis with micro algae, which provide them with most of their food and confer their colors, it is also a natural coastal protection able to attenuate 90 percent of the energy and height of the waves. Thus, the death of coral in some islands of the Pacific following a bleaching episode between 2015 and 2017 was followed by a doubling of the power of the waves reaching the real coast a dramatic erosion.
In addition, at least 30 million people depend directly on the coasts and in island communities, where they provide the bulk of food production income and livelihoods. The disappearance of coral reefs is likely to lead to a fall in fish populations, and consequently have an impact on the diet and health of people living in coastal regions. The fishing in the reefs generate about 6 million employees and have in some place a central role for tourism. Although this ecosystem covers only 0.1 percent of the surface of the ocean floor, it is home to 25% of known marine species, some of which feed millions of people. It is considered that 1 km square of tropical reefs contains more species than can be found on the whole European coast.
And yet, it is the most endangered ecosystem at present with 50 percent of reefs that have disappeared since 1980 on a planetary scale, and it goes up to 80 percent in some places as in the Caribbean.
Corals Artefact par Tess Larquemin