What’s the story behind the "Lumpen"?

This bachelor thesis explores the textile recycling industry in Prato (Italy), a region with a long and significant tradition in textile production. Particular attention is paid to mechanical recycling, in which old clothes are first sorted into rags and then shredded into fibres, which are used to produce new yarn. This process has its roots in Prato and today focuses on issues such as fast fashion, resource scarcity and sustainability.

The starting point for the thesis is an internship at a small local textile manufacturer, which provided personal insights into craft processes, industrial workflows and the people behind production. Encounters with local actors impressively demonstrated the diversity of approaches to responding to current developments – between preserving traditional techniques and introducing innovative processes.

The work is intended as an artistic exploration with the aim of not only documenting industrial reality in terms of content, but above all making it tangible through an insightful aesthetic observation. The result of this investigation is a documentary book with a focus on photography. In keeping with the objective aesthetics of industrial photography, the processes are captured in a clear and neutral way, yet visually sophisticated, in order to highlight the material transformation in particular. Interviews and essays form a secondary layer of text, adding an informative touch to the publication.

The aim is to develop a multi-faceted insight into Prato‘s textile recycling industry and to highlight the potential, areas of tension and contradictions within this sector.