On November 6, RCR KHOMENKO launched a project where everyone can send a sweatshirt to the team for customization and decorate it with abstract prints. This is a continuation of the brand’s limited October upcycling drop, which includes 12 sweatshirts with prints created from scraps of Samoprints from previous collections. DTF Magazine spoke to the brand’s founder Yasia Khomenko and tells you more about ‘zero waste printing’
About the idea of creating prints based om remains
According to Yasia, the brand’s team has long been collecting parts and scraps of Samoprints, which were used for various collections and projects: from collaboration with the MOT art space to merch for residents of the Polish centre for contemporary art Ujazdowski Castle. The idea to use the remains for clothing design was suggested by Maksym Robotom, a media artist and now a military man.
‘He saw how many unused materials of bizarre shapes we had and said it was time to launch ‘drop from scraps’. And indeed — it’s a great idea of zero waste printing, which helps to reanimate old items even with an existing print, giving it a new rhythm and color’, Yasia explained.
The first series of these sweatshirts were created using secondhand items, ‘replicating RCR KHOMENKO epochal vibe of 2016, when all sweatshirts were secondhand’.
‘Now we want to reanimate and customize the things of our customers and subscribers: under this sheeting carpet you can hide a stain, a hole, an inappropriate print or a material defect’.
About the purpose of the project
In this way, RCR KHOMENKO wants to ‘encourage the community to look in their closet’ and give some items a second chance.
‘Working with existing clothes and brand customization are an important part of permanence, — Khomenko says. — The idea is similar to our Samoprint project, where people buy a sticker pack and can reanimate their clothes at home. But here I am already acting as an artist and restorer’.
How the printing process
Yasia makes the print on each item by herself, and it takes several hours to print one of them. She puts the print on randomly with a heat press because, according to Yasia, it’s ‘almost impossible’ to fix it with an iron because of the size.
‘It’s actually a very painstaking and laborious process, because a lot of the scraps have super-fine details and elements. A lot of the details are just twisted and I have to place them with tweezers and fix them with special tape. I print them on my own because the best therapy for me right now is manual labor. I really like the randomness of this process, how the details tell me where to place them on the sweatshirt. Sometimes I think I started this idea purely for my own pleasure, that’s how much I enjoy this work’.
How to give a sweatshirt for customization
The initiative runs from Nov. 6 through Nov. 12.
For printing, the RCR KHOMENKO team takes sweatshirts, raglan shirts or hoodies without pockets. You can send them by post or bring them to the brand’s studio. You can send a Direct Message on Instagram to get detailed information.
It costs $80 to make prints on a sweatshirt, raglan shirt or hoodie.
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Ukrainian designer Yasia Khomenko launched her brand RCR KHOMENKO in 2011. The leading motifs of Yasia’s brand are upcycling and conscious fashion, as well as gender-neutral clothing.
In 2019, the designer presented a second brand — XOMEHKO.
