W-Women Globally

 On one of the naked winter trees, near the Søerne – lakes in the centre of Copenhagen, there is hanging a mannequin dressed up in a spectacular outfit. The people passing by look puzzled, study the phenomenon, and stop for a while to take a closer look.
This is Julie Wind’s bachelor project: a dress made out of 221 pieces of recycled materials. The print on the top half of the dress symbolizes the cotton plants sprayed with pesticides, the bottom half of the dress – the groundwater.

Where is this idea coming from? What is the purpose?

Julie Wind: ‘I got the idea when I had to make a final project for my bachelor exam in Textile crafts and Communication (from Haandarbejdets Fremmes Seminarium in Copenhagen). During my studies I’ve become more and more aware of the environmental effects of textile production, and I feel like I have a responsibility of not becoming one more contributor to these problems.
Did you know that about 30 % of the world’s pesticide usage is due to the cotton production? These pesticides leave extremely much land barren and according to the WHO, 20.000 people die every year after being in contact with these pesticides through plucking the cotton or drinking water from the polluted ground!

Anyway… I’ve always been fascinated with fabrics, and never been able to throw any old clothes away… All my friends know this, so they give me all their old, worn-out clothes they do not use any more. My plan is to make new treasures out of other people’s trash. In line with the project-dress, I love making beautiful things out of old clothes. I’m inspired by old crafts such as patchwork and embroidery, and I add a bit of textile print and sculptural, modern shapes. I love mixing colors, prints, textures and styles. I love street art.
And this project, I suppose, is a mix of all these things. I hope that by hanging up my dress in an urban outdoor space, it will make people stop for a second or two and smile, wonder or think a bit…’

Recently graduated, Julie Wind has also a passion for travelling. She used to visit many countries and was living in Argentina and England. And she is also a mom of 3 small children.
Together with 9 other creative women – graphic designers and artists, she has started a workshop in Copenhagen called “Found On Corner” (address: Sankelmarksgade 1, 1721 Copenhagen V ) which idea is to run it like a shop and a place for courses, exhibitions, events etc.

The famous dress will be a part of an exhibition in the Castle of Kronborg in Helsingør (Elsinore) from the 15th of January to the 15th of February. Julie is planning a bigger exhibition next year during the G9 in Copenhagen to add the attention towards the environment during the conference.

‘I can see myself doing projects like this one in the future: textile, street-art inspired exhibitions but I would also like to make unique pieces of clothing, bags, accessories and things for the house… All in re-used or organic materials of course’…