HEY JUTE

Alexander Marinus is a designer based in Brussels.

His project Hey Jute looks at how we can work with, instead of against, the natural quality of jute to create a high-quality sensitive product; it illustrates the qualities of a forgotten natural material. Jute is normally used ‘behind the scenes’ and never as aesthetic material, despite it being the second-most cultivated (and one of the fastest-growing) textile fibre on Earth. Hey Jute is a collection of fabrics, made by dry-felting raw jute fibre. The end result is a strong and light felt that maintains the unique quality of these fibres as they remain two-to-five-metres in length (whereas in most cases, jute fibres are cut short). The process and material have potential within the design world as well as on a larger, industrial scale.