Elisa van Joolen—visual artist, Programme Director of the BA Fashion Department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam and member of the critical fashion platform Warehouse—will present the project Our Rags Magazine.
Our Rags Magazine (ORM) is a fashion magazine that turns discarded garments into paper. Each handmade issue is a speculative proposal for a magazine set 400 years in the future—a time when transformation and reuse are no longer ethical choices, but absolute necessities. The pages do not just depict clothing; they are clothing.
ORM is a collaborative project by artist Aimée Zito Lema, Elisa van Joolen, and graphic designer Elisabeth Klement, all based in Amsterdam. Launched in 2021, the magazine is made entirely—both in content and form—from recycled clothing, exploring the transformation of discarded textiles into experimental paper. It challenges established norms within the fashion industry while demystifying production processes.
Bringing together artists, fashion professionals, writers, students, and schoolchildren, ORM explores transformation, collective making, and the creative potential of reuse. The transformation of materials and ideas runs throughout the project: how can centuries-old paper craft techniques, shared knowledge, and alternative production methods respond to a world where natural resources are depleted and reuse becomes the only option?
