Remember your old cassette tapes? They get transformed into beautiful accessories
If yous grew up between the 1970s and 1990s, you would remember listening to cassette tapes. You might even have recorded your favourite songs on the radio, or made your ain mixtapes – the equivalent of today'south Spotify playlists.
Cassettes were phased out by the 2000s. Only for Jessica "JJ" Chuan, the 32-year-old Malaysia-born, Singapore-based founder of rehyphen, they served a purpose then and continue to serve a purpose now.
When she was 17, her good friend moved to Australia to further her studies. To keep in affect, they would record what they wanted to say on cassette tapes, and mail them to each other. Chuan would besides send over recordings of her piano compositions for her friend to critique.
In 2016, after working in business development in Shanghai for a number of years, the Parsons School of Design, New York alumnus striking upon the idea to requite these forgotten – simply still love – relics of her by a new lease of life.
"I found some quondam cassettes and decided to take the tape out and weave it into a fabric," she told CNA Lifestyle. She experimented with diverse techniques to fashion the material, including embroidery and knitting, but none worked. That was until she stumbled upon felting needles. Mimicking a traditional basket weave, Chuan produced what would come to be known every bit MusicCloth.
"I sent this textile to the Material Connectedness library (in New York), where my textile lecturer used to bring u.s., and the library accepted my material. They even asked me to send them 20 more pieces to display in their libraries worldwide," she said.
Since then, Chuan has handmade totes, notebooks, dresses and scarves using MusicCloth. In Singapore, these items are retailed at lifestyle shops such as Kapok, Supermama and Books Really. Kapok's 2 locations in Hong Kong also conduct rehyphen designs.
The items range in price from S$ten for a Tweet Tape – cassettes with 140-character greetings – to S$iii,900 for a fix of 3 portraits of Michael Jackson, made using the late vocaliser's former cassettes.
MusicCloth has also received critical acclaim, having exhibited at a TEDx event in Johor Bahru last October as an "idea worth spreading" as well as beingness role of Reddish Dot 21'due south World Of Blueprint.
A LABOUR OF LOVE
Weaving MusicCloth is labour intensive, so Chuan enlists the help of her mum. The pair works from their home in Bukit Panjang. Small items like EZ-Link card backings take around 20 minutes to consummate; more complex designs, such as totes, crave 2 to 3 days' work. The well-nigh elaborate of all are the scarves, which take months to finish.
"We need fourth dimension to collect the patterns and match the colours. There'due south probably almost five or six different shades of brown. And then, there'due south the terminate tape. Mostly, they come up in white, but sometimes, they come in neon pink, neon blue or neon yellow," said Chuan.
To supplement her income – she earns about S$two,000 a calendar month from wholesaling to Kapok, her biggest retail client – Chuan conducts workshops for corporate companies and government bodies. By clients include the Aliwal Arts Centre, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR), Singapore Fine art Museum (SAM) and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH).
Chuan also runs a Prepare, Cassette, Go! workshop for Airbnb Experiences, charging S$68 per person for a two-hour session. Then far, the response has been positive, with a four.93/5 rating from 29 reviews.
BECOMING A FRIEND OF CORUM
On Aug 16, Chuan added another feather to her cap when luxury Swiss watch label Corum officially announced her as a Friend Of The Make. "What she's doing is so unique, and we're nearly crafting your dreams, then we thought we could be a pillar of support for her," Corum Marketing Manager Selina Ang told CNA Lifestyle.
In line with the brand's support for women entrepreneurs like Chuan, Corum is also the official timepiece for the Women Entrepreneur Awards (WEA), having invested a five-figure sum in the initiative, and sponsoring iv timepieces for the winners.
Would Corum characteristic MusicCloth in a futurity picket collaboration? Already, Chuan sports a Bubble 47 Mona Lisa at public events and on her social media platforms. "Selfishly, yes! Nosotros could do a musician (themed) collection. Music connects people, regardless of who you are or where yous are," said Ang.
The Bubble 47 Mona Lisa has a dial designed by Italian-Canadian artist Elisabetta Fantone. It is ane of the 62 watches in the Bubble collection notable for its fun, whimsical designs, and collaboration with artists.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/lifestyle/rehyphen-corum-jessica-chuan-cassette-tapes-bags-upcycle-238231
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