Zero Waste Sculpted Bags
(Deliverance Series)
The Zero Waste Sculpture Bags are wearable studies in form, sustainability, and speculative design—anchored in the futuristic world of Deliverance, where humanity’s relationship to the body, technology, and environment has been radically redefined.
Inspired by Erwin Wurm’s “One Minute Sculptures”, the design process began with a series of object collages—fashion artifacts reimagined and recombined to evoke the emotional landscape of the Deliverance world. These initial two-dimensional explorations evolved through an act of conceptual “splicing,” referencing the mechanics of CRISPR genome editing. Just as genes are cleaved and rearranged, various fashion products were physically and digitally fused, generating new “Wearable DNA”—fragments of form and function that informed the final silhouettes.
The final bags take form as a series of modular leather sculptures, emphasizing craftsmanship, construction, and sustainable innovation. Using deadstock leather sourced from Marc Jacobs and donated to Parsons School of Design, each bag is carefully patterned to eliminate waste. The process begins by cutting the primary shoulder bag shape, designed with bold, architectural curves that suggest organic mutation. From the negative space left behind, smaller attachable pouches are then crafted—ensuring that every scrap of leather is purposefully integrated into the final design. The sculptural quality of each bag is achieved through strategic seaming, folding, and tensioned curves, allowing the soft leather to hold unexpected, voluminous forms that feel both alien and elegant. This leather construction technique not only honors sustainable practice, but also elevates material manipulation as a means of storytelling within the Deliveranceworld.
Both functional and sculptural, the Zero Waste Sculpture Bags embody the sustainability intitivate of Deliverance—modularity, circularity, and thoughtful transformation—while offering a critique and celebration of fashion’s evolving relationship with sustainability.
