Τhe PORE top breathes new life into burgundy leather scraps originally acquired in 2012 for a university project – a custom carrying case for my sewing machine. A decade later, this archived material is transformed into a corset top, complemented by a matching tie crafted from the remaining offcuts. The design highlights intricate hand-perforated details adorned with silver-tone eyelets, through which delicate leather cords weave to create an adjustable lace-up back for a tailored fit. Most materials do not spoil or expire; we simply haven’t found the way to guide them into their second, third, or next lifecycle yet. Under the consumerist culture shaped by the capitalist system, human emotional attachment to objects splits into two distinct paths. On one hand lies disposal, driven either by the convenience of quick replacement or by the sheer lack of time and space to reimagine an object’s purpose (a lack of time that does not pertain to laziness, but constitutes the very currency of our era. On the other hand lies accumulation, rooted either in a conscious desire to preserve materials or in an identification with our possessions, where personal worth becomes entangled with material ownership, making detachment feel impossible. Through the lens of material ethnography, physical objects are not inert matter, but active storytellers. Long before we articulate our identity in words, human culture, daily routines, and lived experiences are embedded within the physical environment, recorded in the textures, wear and tear, and quiet histories of the things we hold. Objects exist in dynamic, relational networks with us, acting as repositories of memory, care, and emotional truth. Yet, as social beings, this connection does not have to remain bound to private ownership or individual identity. By tracing the material afterlives of our belongings – how they transform, wear down, and migrate – we unlock a collective dimension. We can leave a fraction of our personal history embedded within an object while simultaneously liberating it, allowing its non-linguistic story to belong to a broader community, evolve through new hands, and exist far beyond ourselves. This piece is 1/1 and handmade in our studio in Athens.
