Jane Bowler's Fusion

Jane Bowler’s avant-garde raincoats, Sculpted from recycled and reappropriated plastics, including shower curtains, Bowler’s “Fusion” collection marries the poles-apart aesthetic of the traditional Japanese straw coat and the classic British macintosh. The Royal College of Art graduate’s process is completely stitch-free, a combination of industrial techniques such as heat-forming and ultrasonic welding. (The latter method involves high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations to bind materials together.)

"Fusion is designed to make plastic fantastic for longer,” she says. “And to create a garment that the owner will be reluctant to throw away.”

Fusion will be on display at the Royal College of Art’s Upper Gulbenkian Gallery, as part ofLondon Design Week, from September 23 to October 7.