SPEEDO COLLABORATES WITH STUDENTS TO ‘UPCYCLE’ SUPERSEEDED LZR RACER SUITS
The Speedo LZR RACER worn by swimmers at the 2008 Olympic Games was the most technologically advanced performance swimsuit ever produced. With its ultra lightweight woven nylon elastane fabric, ultra thin low drag panels, and ultrasonically welded seams it delivered the optimum streamlined shape.
Due to FINA’s changes in rules for competition swimsuits in 2010 the LZR RACER has been banned. Rather than discard the obsolete suits Speedo Australia invited fashion students at Macquarie Fields College TAFE SWSI to UPcycle the swimsuits and their zip fabric packaging, transforming them into designer garments.
Following the completion of the project, eight winning designs have been chosen to participate in an exhibition of the completed garments at Sydney’s PowerHouse Museum of Science and Design currated by Glynis Jones, Fashion Curator at the museum, from late October through December this year.
The Speedo UPcycle collaboration forms part of a series of creative art and design projects commissioned by Speedo created from unsold stock and surplus pieces of the revolutionary Speedo LZR Racer suit. As part of a wide project to explore new ways of utilising excess stock and a more responsible solution than sending the obsolete product to landfill; Speedo opted to write a new chapter in the history of the Speedo LZR Racer suit by providing the suits to a series of artistic and creative groups and institutions to use in a series of collaborative projects, ensure that the suit will continue to make waves despite no longer being used in competitive swimming.
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