Enzo, a young designer and artist based in Amsterdam, used deteriorated jeans from the Veerkracht soil FashionLab at the Ca dei Conti biological vineyards in Tregnago, Italy as the inspiration for his exhibition artwork.

The Veerkracht team tested the biodegradability of several sustainable denim fabrics and the results were intriguing. In 3 months, most of the denim was completely deteriorated by the soil organisms, and the denim became part of nature’s circle.

This was my starting point. Inspired by the wabi sabi mindset, I wanted to recreate the deterioration process and freeze it in time. Appreciating the ageing in life. The small and large details created by withering and the natural life cycle of organic things. The natural way for freezing the deterioration was using clay, which has been storing nature’s history since the beginning of time, so it was a perfect fit. Aesthetically and practically. The work of microbes, bacteria and fungi, eating the denim, encapsulated in clay, organically creating the personality that the jeans did not have before. I used zero chemicals in my process and only scrap or 100% recycled denim and sustainable Royo DryIndigo fabric. Enzo Faber