Clothes for Chairs Workshop
Presented by Future Archive
DETAILS
Ticketed
Linen Room
Abbotsford Convent, Saint Heliers Street, Abbotsford VIC, Australia
How might discarded clothing be used to restore function and value to an otherwise unusable object?
Working with reclaimed chair frames and post-consumer clothing, participants in this one-day design workshop led by Future Archive will experiment with sewing, hand
stitching, weaving, knotting, and upholstery techniques — applying garment-based thinking to functional object design.
The workshop is structured around material exploration and collaborative problem-solving. There are no expected finished products, only processes worth following.
Guided making sessions throughout the day will introduce practical skills in textile reuse, while dedicated time for material exploration gives participants space to develop their own approach to transforming waste materials into new seating surfaces and structures.
Workshop outcomes will be shown as part of the Clothes for Chairs exhibition at Abbotsford Convent, 21–24 May, alongside resolved chair works by Melbourne designers
and artists working across fashion, textile art, and material research. Participants will receive a project publication after the exhibition.
Clothes for Chairs is presented by Future Archive as part of an ongoing investigation into textile waste, garment afterlives, and circular material systems.
Participants
Future Archive
Future Archive is a Melbourne/Naarm-based research and making practice investigating textile waste, garment afterlives and circular material systems. Working across fashion and object-based design, the practice centres deconstruction and reconstruction processes that reposition post-consumer clothing as a viable material resource. Recent work has explored techniques including reconstruction and the felting of shredded textile waste to generate new textile surfaces. Through collaborative projects, Future Archive tests how discarded garments can be re-engineered into functional objects, contributing to broader conversations around material value, reuse and design-led waste intervention.
After
After is an award-winning circular economy start-up that recovers and recycles unwearable textiles, transforming them into new possibilities. They service both households and businesses, offering convenient doorstep pick-ups and tailored recovery solutions. To date, they've diverted over 100,000kg of textiles from landfill, partnering with leading brands across corporate, retail and manufacturing. By bridging innovation with global and local recycling expertise, After is driving real change in how textiles are valued and used.