Poly Styrene tribute and recycled plastic fashion clothes and jewellery idea

Poly Styrene was a singer-songwriter who fronted the short-lived but very successful punk band X-Ray Spex. With her pioneering attitude towards the music industry and very distinctive style of performance and writing Poly Styrene became an icon of the Punk Rock and New Wave era. 

Tragically though Poly Styrene died young at the age of just 53 on 25 April, 2011, after suffering from cancer. She was famous for speaking out in her lyrics and actions against what she saw as wrong in the world but often in a humorous way. Her flamboyant DayGlo dress-sense made her unconventional and appealing at the same time. Songs like "Oh Bondage, Up Yours", "The Day the World Turned Day-Glo", "Germ Free Adolescents", and "Highly Inflammable" were statements against the consumerist, capitalist modern world.

Further to my work in supporting environmentalist and adventurer David de Rothschild and his campaign to draw the world's attention to the dangers of pollution of the oceans from plastic, I have come up with an idea that will help this cause further. I think that it would get a lot of public attention if clothing and jewellery were made from discarded plastic and items made could carry slogans such as "Refuse plastic and save Turtles!" Or "6 bits of plastic to 1 of Plankton?"

My good friends Cynthia De Moss of Duke and Dutchess Creations and Faylinn, who is the designer and artist behind Madame Mazuni designs, would help me get this project really happening. At time of writing this, we are all "buzzing" with creative ideas.

The whole project could be focused as a tribute too to Poly Styrene. Her songs and videos of her performances could be combined with a public exhibition or event to display the clothes and designs we have come up with using recycled plastic.

Poly Styrene has a song entitled Plastic Bag that fits with the theme of it all too. She was commenting on how the world is being destroyed and manipulated by consumerism and capitalism in a plastic world. We would be seeking solutions to a big problem the world faces, namely that of the waste of our finite resources and the destruction of the environment and its wildlife.

As David de Rothschild has shown, plastic can be recycled and reused to make incredibly useful things we need. In his case he had a boat made up of 12,550 plastic bottles designed and created and named The Plastiki. Aboard this pioneering craft, he and his crew voyaged across the Pacific Ocean last year making news headlines and showing what can be done.

At the same time The Plastiki called the world's attention to the plastic that is filling our oceans with poisonous trash, killing millions of sea-birds and animals each year and entering the food chain.

The solution to the problem of plastic pollution is to reduce our use of the material, to refuse it as much as possible, to recycle as much as we can, and to rethink how we use it! Creating innovative and fashionable clothing made from plastic is an example of recycling, reusing and rethinking what we can do with the material.

The new musical and fashion genre of Steampunk could be combined with designs for clothing and jewellery made from recycled plastic too. Steampunk combines elements of a Victorian very high-class and romantic look along with modern kitsch and sci-fi images as well as with elements of the Punk Rock and New Wave era. 

Recycled plastic would work well in Steampunk fashions and often has bright colours that catch the eye and draw attention to the messages we are aiming to convey with our art and designs.

It is possible that big exhibitions could be staged in several parts of the world and that we could then get the media's attention and coverage of our shows.

Copyright © 2011 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.