Rubber “fruit” bags: fashion accessories with latex from Thailand
Like totems of resistence, the rubber bags appear as symbols of an utopic fashion that shall save the world
During one of my trips to Thailand, maybe in 2018 or 2019, I saw some bags made of rubber, extremely well-done. They were available in an art museum in Siam.
As we know, Thailand, as well as Malasya, feed the world with latex with the monoculture from rubber trees. The latex becomes rubber then tires for cars, components for machines, etc. Even the recent rubber agroforestry plantations in the South of Asia are destined to companies like Timberland (starting to produce ‘sustainable shoes’) and Einhorn (produces condoms with native latex). Thus, there is not so much room for the alternative rubber production, used for artisanal production, for arts and crafts, like fashion accessories.
I was particularly surprised by the high quality of the handmade rubber bags here, very different from what I research in the Amazon rainforest for my PhD. The note below together with the object says: “The concept of the designer sees the value of using rubber to create a bag in order to remaining rubber”. I understand that it is a bit naïve to assume that small production of fashion, ephemeral products, can mantain or remain rubber trees, in the sense of supporting its production. History has shown that are the big corporations and their large scale that have the power to keep up with the latex production. Anyway, we dream that our products are symbols of change. Maybe they are.
