Ballad of the Little Red Dot
and the Hues it Brought Forth
Part of “Singapore: A Design Thesis in the Making”
for Singapore Design Week 2025
Life from the Loom is am.gabrie’s All Seasons 2025 textile series on Biodegradable Textiles, rooted in the dialogue between nature and human, capturing the beauty of decay and nature’s reclamation as a concept—an imprint of life woven into its fibres.
Inspired by Yogyakarta’s Candi Sewu, where time and nature intertwine, these textiles reflect human-touched surfaces softened by nature—not through physical deterioration, but through intricate embroidery, layered textures, bioplastics, and natural dyes that embody organic rhythms. By blending durability with biodegradability, this project reimagines textiles as living materials, designed to be cherished, repaired, and ultimately returning to nature—honoring the cycle of creation and decay, an invitation to rethink materiality and consumption where fabric is not lost to time, but gently reclaimed by the earth.
Upon the isle where rivers gleam,
And ordered trees take root,
A garden city shaped its dream
Yet nature bore the fruit.
But gardens planned are gardens still,
Their roots know how to roam;
Curated paths can teach us still
How nature makes a home.
The people’s care, the planter’s hand,
Made shaded streets and air;
And in return, the grateful land
Gave colours rich and rare.
Each shade will fade, each leaf will fall,
Yet meaning lingers deep;
In cloth, in soil, in hands of all,
The memory we keep.
With quiet hands I draw these hues,
From bark, from leaf, from stone;
A gift returned, both old and new
The city and its own.
Concept
Nature Reclaiming – the quiet takeover of human-made structures by organic elements
Decay & Texture – organic growth, weathered surfaces, and the beauty of transformation
Craftsmanship & Textile Techniques embroidery, layering, resist dyeing, fabric manipulation
Material Innovation – orange fibre fabric, bioplastics