What If the Future is Made of SALT?

This speculative design project explores unconventional material futures by growing salt crystals as textile components. Starting with the question of how to make salt grow, the work developed into a fragile, porous garment that challenges assumptions about value and material possibility. The investigation connects overlooked materials like salt with the environmental crisis of discarded fishing nets devastating ocean ecosystems. Rather than offering solutions, the project opens material horizons, using speculation to expand imagination around textile futures. The final unisex garment, created in nuanced greens, integrates knitted panels with salt crystals grown in various formations. Its inherent fragility questions durability as a design imperative, exploring how temporary materials might reshape our relationship with clothing and consumption. This speculative approach demonstrates how conceptual questioning leads to unexpected material discoveries, pushing beyond conventional manufacturing to imagine alternative futures for textile production while inviting reflection on what we value, discard, and the untapped potential in materials traditionally seen as worthless.