Daniel Razum’s Living Garments cultivates connection and sustainability through biogarmentry
- Written byS Cheevers
- Published date 04 November 2025
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Daniel Razum, MA Fashion Design Management, explores the intersection of sustainability, behaviour, and design by examining how living plants can be integrated into fashion in his final project, Living Garments. Part of LCF’s Postgraduate Class of 2025: Fashion Business School Exhibition, the educational manual considers how care and maintenance can deepen the relationship between wearer and garment, and the possibilities of biogarmentry, an evolving field that imagines fashion as a living system.
Can you tell us a bit about your project and how it will work? What made you focus on a manual rather than a physical product?
My study focused on how living plants could be incorporated into garments to influence consumer behavior. I created a biogarment, or jacket with plants stitched on, and gave it to 6 Gen Z participants to record their experiences. This data, alongside interviews with industry professionals, formed a manual that aimed to educate and inspire on the topic of biogarmentry.
I chose to form a manual rather than a physical product to influence and inspire multiple individuals, rather than having one garment that only one person could wear. The goal was to go beyond this project and have a real-world, lasting effect.
What inspired you to explore biogarments?
One of the last research papers I wrote during my undergraduate studies focused on sustainable fashion, and from this topic, I learned about regenerative fashion. This is an idea proposed by Dian-Jen Lin in the article “Micro and macro approaches to sustainability in fashion and design,” published in 2018. Lin described how a garment can be made with microalgae embedded into the fabric, which then requires proper watering and sunlight to survive. Lin proposed how this care may help create a deeper connection between the owner and the garment. This always fascinated me, and I had kept this in the back of my mind while working in industry for a few years after graduating. Then, when the time came to decide what my master's study should focus on, I knew I wanted to delve deeper into this topic and explore the benefits of biogarmentry further.
What problem or gap in the fashion or sustainability world does your work aim to address?
Biogarmentry is proposed as a counter to fast fashion and overconsumerism. The heart of the targeted issue is waste and waste management specifically. It has become commonplace to buy new clothes for an event, wear them once, and discard them after use. This behavior creates significant waste and uses up numerous raw materials.
Since biogarments have living plans attached, more dedicated care is needed, surpassing what a normal pair of jeans or a jacket requires. For example, biogarments need specific levels of sunlight and water to photosynthesise. This extra care encourages a deeper bond between the owner and the garment, as maintaining it requires greater thought and attention. Through this connection, the owner may become more mindful of the clothing’s lifecycle and feel inspired to make changes if they realise they aren’t using their clothes to their fullest potential.
What kind of research went into developing your manual? Who did you collaborate with to reach the final product?
Both primary and secondary research helped to inspire the final edition of the manual.
Secondary research provided foundational research, used as a jumping-off point.
Primary research began when I started building the garment and handstitching the plants to it. This research helped me provide a first-hand account of what it's like to build a biogarment and the steps I learned along the way. The primary research also included participants' diary responses to focus on their pain points and address them throughout the manual.
The last step was collaborating with two industry professionals, gaining their insights, and using this to build a more effective manual. The first professional was a researcher who focused on biogarmentry, lending an invaluable perspective on the growth and process of developing the plant aspect of the biogarment. The second professional's field of expertise was on sustainability and consumer behavior. This perspective was significant in helping build a manual that was worded correctly, and the methods proposed were safe for the plant and the garment.
The insights gained from these various research methods contributed to the development of the final product.
How has your understanding of sustainability or design evolved through this work?
The main factor I considered for this was my own interpretation of clothing and the relationship I have with my garments. Seeing how others interacted with the jacket used in this study (an upcycled garment from my own closet) made me consider how I wear and preserve clothing. I've discovered I take much better care of garments that I spend more money on because I see them as more ‘precious,’ a perspective I would like to have for all my clothing.
I have learned to value my clothing more and to improve my own sense of sustainability in my shopping behaviors, focusing on what I truly need rather than what I want.
Visit Daniel’s work at LCF Postgraduate Class of 2025: Fashion Business School Exhibition, open until 8 November 2025 at LCF’s East Bank campus.
