Tyvek Design Photos from MIO

Recently this Tyvek Innovative Uses blog feature the work of Philadelphia design firm MIO. Thanks to the folks at MIO for allowing us to use photos of their products made with Tyvek on our blog.

The first photo is MIO's Loop By the Yard MoireDot Pattern. Loop By the Yard is Tyvek that can be used for many projects and is available in the 3 colors/patterns shown in this photo: orange-red, green-grey, and pink-purple.


The second photo illustrates one of the MIO products made with the Loop By the Yard Tyvek material. This is just one of many and varied innovative uses for this Tyvek material.



The third photo illustrates the MIO product called the In + Out Bag. This bag is also made with Tyvek and is available in two sizes and the 3 color combinations.

All photos provided by MIO and used with permission.

Fashionable Tyvek material for DIY projects from MIO

MIO is a Philadelphia design firm specializing in green design for products like wallpaper, lighting, seating, tables, shelving and accessories. Among the accessories is a line of printed Tyvek® material called Loop by the Yard for use in decorating, covering, or making anything that would be nicely done with a printed material with the qualities that Tyvek® brings - strong, lightweight, breathable and water resistant. Also available is a line of bags called In + Out Bags in the same print patterns as the Loop by the Yard Tyvek® material.

The green element is that MIO offers a postage pre-paid envelope to recycle the Tyvek® material when the purchaser is done with it, or scraps from the project work.

MIO offers downloadable instructions on various do-it-yourself (DIY) projects that can be done with Tyvek®, including:

• Table coverings
• Book covers
• Pillows
• Pouches
• Curtains
• Ponchos
• Kites
• Tents
• And an Ideas sheet with more suggestions

The material is offered in 3 patterned colors: green-grey, orange-red, and pink-purple.

Here is an interesting article about MIO and their products.

Upcyling Tyvek into Tyvek Totes

Etsy Labs in Brooklyn, NY‎ is having Craft Night with Betz White on Upcyling Tyvek into Tyvek Totes on Monday April 20, 2009. If you can't be in Brooklyn, join in via their Virtual Labs.

Betz White, author of the book Sewing Green, will be leading the activities to create totes from used Tyvek mailing envelopes.

Of course, it's good to recycle, but if you want new and unprinted Tyvek or the very cool new Black Tyvek, you could always order Tyvek directly from Material Concepts.

Tyvek Fashion: Tyvek Bags, or are they Tyvek Handbags?

Tyvek® is now being used in high fashion. A new collection of bags called Papier, which is French for paper, designed by Stefan Diez for his wife Saskia Diez, a jewelery designer. The are made from Tyvek® material, most likely what we call hard structure Tyvek®, which many call Tyvek® paper.

We contacted the designer Stefan Diez. He provided permission to use the photos and provided this description of the Tyvek® Papier bags:

PAPIER
In her designs Saskia Diez always takes up the familiar, gives it further thought and adds something new. In the design process these shifts of context interest her above and beyond the jewelry. As such “Papier”, the new collection of cases, is a typical product of the Munich-based label. They were designed by Stefan Diez for Saskia Diez. The different-size traveling bags are made of Tyvek, a synthetic paper that is extremely light but at the same time extremely robust. The project is noteworthy in many respects, not only on account of the material’s enormous durability, but also because of the high-end finish given to what is actually a banal material. A silk-screen printing technique gives the material a particularly attractive look. A totally different aspect of the series is also remarkable: Classic traveling bags are for the most part made of leather; the use of paper here represents a shift in typology, which reflects a new definition of the traditional idea of luxury. Like all designs by Saskia Diez the “Papier” bag collection has a striking label: A sterling silver flake with an engraved diamond.

These Tyvek "Papier" bags will be available for sale shortly from the Stefan Diez online store.

Also of interest are the black and yellow Tyvek Papier bags:













Here are some photos of the preparation and assembly process:



























Papier bags were very hot in the blogosphere, discussed on these blogs that we found:
Style Salvage, Wired Gadget Lab, Today and Tomorrow, Design Boom, SteezToday, and Hypebeast.

Tyvek Fashion - Tyvek Wedding Dress!

A couple of news stories from the UK describe fashion designer Christina McIntosh using Tyvek® to create a wedding dress.

You can view a video of the design, creation and modeling of the Tyvek® dress. STV.tv says:

A paper wedding dress designed by a student at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen is to dawn the catwalk at a prestigious bridal awards ceremony.

Christina McIntosh's eco-friendly design has been shortlisted in the 2009 Bridal Buyer Awards.

The event is regarded as Europe's top bridal awards ceremony.

According to the March 3, 2009 story in The Press and Journal (Aberdeen, Scotland, UK) titled "Eye-catching wedding dresses make the cut":

Students at an Aberdeen art school have reached the final of a top bridal fashion award.

Christina McIntosh and Magdalena Zareba, both fashion students at Gray’s School of Art, have been shortlisted for this year’s Bridal Buyer awards for their wedding dress designs, including one which looks like it has been made from paper.

Miss McIntosh, 20, from Aberdeen, designed her paper-style dress to promote eco-friendly fashion. She used a material, Tyvek, which is more durable but just as recyclable as paper. She said: “I am thrilled to have been shortlisted and to have such a high-profile platform on which to promote eco-friendly fashion.”

The stories refer to Tyvek® as paper.  Of course, Tyvek® is not exactly paper, though we often hear it referred to as Tyvek® paper, particularly hard Tyvek® styles.  Tyvek® does have a paper-like texture.  But it certainly would make a more durable wedding dress than paper, and would be much easier to sew. In addition to paper-like Tyvek, there are also several fabric-like Tyvek styles available. These have a softer hand, excellent drapeability, and soften like leather over time. Fabric-like styles of Tyvek are also very easy to dye using RIT dye. The more paper-like styles take acrylic paint with ease, and acrylic paint seems to accentuate the interesting patterns of the Tyvek fibers.

So if you are a designer looking for innovative materials, or you are getting married and want to make your own Tyvek® wedding dress, give us a call to request a Tyvek sample packet so you can see and feel all the differnt Tyvek styles available from Material Concepts. Material Concepts would be happy to be your Tyvek® supplier!