2025 Galleries
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2025 Galleries // 2025 Spark: Fall/Winter Student // Understory Workwear
Understory Workwear
Winner - Bronze
Competition:
Spark: Fall/Winter Student
Designer:
Ari Feldman
Design Type:
Product & industrial ,
Company / Organization / School:
California College of the Arts
Team Members:
Ari Feldman
Understory Workwear is a design project by Ari Feldman, a graduate student in the MFA Design program at California College of the Arts. Inspired by the Bay Area’s wildfire history and the invasive eucalyptus trees that fuel it, the project explores how local biomaterials can be transformed into protective gear for forest workers.
Eucalyptus is both a hazard and a resource: growing in the wild it accelerates wildfires, while its oil naturally repels ticks. Feldman saw an opportunity in this paradox—what if the very trees being removed for fire prevention could be reimagined as protective workwear that guards against tick-borne disease?
From eucalyptus bark, leaves, and seed pods, Feldman developed Eucortex, a versatile, leather-like textile that is durable, flexible, and biodegradable. Eucortex can absorb eucalyptus oil for added protection and, at the end of its life, return safely to the soil.
The first prototype, a pair of gaiters, protects against ticks while withstanding rugged terrain. Future designs will expand into a full line of workwear and forestry tools, all crafted to close the loop between invasive biomass and ecological stewardship.
Understory Workwear reframes remediation waste as a regenerative design resource—protection born from the problem itself.
