The workshop explores how human hair, a material that usually ends up in landfills and can take centuries to decompose, can be transformed into a useful resource for creating biotextiles. Instead of being seen as waste, hair is reimagined as a renewable raw material that can help reduce environmental impact and challenge social perceptions. 

Participants will be introduced to biomaterials and craft-based production processes and have the chance to experiment in practice with this alternative material and explore new ways of working with it. Through material research, experimentation, and ethical reflection, the project proposes a new perspective on hair: a resource capable of generating value, reducing waste, and inspiring circular design solutions. The aim is to show how what we consider “waste” can be transformed and open pathways for new sustainable material approaches. 

Samples require controlled conditions and approximately 7 days to dry. 
Participants may collect them during the following week.

This project investigates the potential of human hair as a raw material for biomaterials. Commonly treated as waste and discarded after haircuts or grooming routines, human hair is reconsidered here as a renewable and locally available material with structural qualities that can be explored through design.

The project develops a series of experimental textile samples produced through manual and craft-based processes. By combining hair with natural binders and low-tech fabrication methods, the work examines alternative ways of transforming organic by-products into material applications.

Alongside its material exploration, the project also reflects on the cultural and social perceptions associated with human hair. Often connected to ideas of discomfort, contamination, or intimacy, hair becomes a medium to question material hierarchies and the boundaries between waste and resource.

The resulting pieces function as material studies that explore alternative approaches to sustainability, circularity, and small-scale production within contemporary design practices.

Laura Oliveira is an independent designer with a background in Product Design and Fashion Design. With a strong interest in manual and craft-based practices, she explores the intersection of material processes and know-how, developing solutions that highlight experimentation, handcrafted knowledge, and material expression.