Paper is for drawing, wrapping, wiping, absorbing, sketching, crumpling, covering, tearing, soaking up, writing, throwing away.
But paper can be a beautiful and radical material for clothing; in longstanding cultural histories throughout Asia and the West and as a tool to critique the disposability of fashion.
This practice explores all the things that paper can offer as a material for design at the intersections of history, aesthetics, and function.
Based in Melbourne, Australia, DNJ PAPER is a collaborative research project and micro-label that uses handmade Japanese paper (washi), made from the bark of the Paper Mulberry tree in small studios across Japan. Each sheet comes with exhaustive information on the conditions of production.
DNJ PAPER uses washi in traditional and nontraditional ways to make paper clothing and accessories in response to pressing social, aesthetic, and conceptual questions emerging from contemporary fashion practice.
Our pieces are never “finished” and will change over time—let them wear, then be repaired.
Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran (PhD)
website: www.d-mvp.com
email: daphne.mohajer.va.pesaran@rmit.edu.au
social: @daphne_mvp & @_paper_clothes_
Designer, lecturer. I am the Program Manager of the bachelor of Textiles (Design) and lecture in fashion design and research in The
School of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. I spent ten years living and working in
Tokyo, where I learned about many traditional crafts practices. I like collaborating and am interested in what
materials and relationships can emerge in communities of human and nonhuman people. In my research and design
practice I work with handmade Japanese paper and garments/products made from paper. I also work in storytelling
and documentation in various formats including film, drawing, text, audio, etc. and am currently undertaking research
fellowships for the British Museum and the Australian Museum to research the use of paper for clothing in Japan and
the Pacific Islands.
Jake Nakashima-Edwards
email: jake.naka@gmail.com
social: @smiling.at.dogs
Designer. I am a recent graduate of the Fashion Design program at RMIT University, based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. I
am interested in how fashion intersects with politics, capital, and the environment. My current practice
is centred around washi paper as a textile, and the connections this material has with people, culture, and nature.
Everything we sell is designed and made in our studio in Naarm (colonial name Melbourne, Australia). We acknowldege that the land on which we work and learn was never ceded from it’s traditional custodians, the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the Eastern Kulin Nations.
2022
Creative Victoria Creators Fund Grantee
Makers-in-Residence + Satellite Program ︎︎︎ Craft Contemporary program, Craft Victoria
2021
“Stationary/Stationery: A Paper Clothes Making Workshop” ︎︎︎ Mpavilion (With artist Beatrice Wharldall)
“Against Durability: A Wardrobe Made of Paper” ︎︎︎ IFFTI Conference
Finalist, Fashion Design Category ︎︎︎ Victorian Premier Design Awards
Artisans-in-residence ︎︎︎ STHBNK by Beulah
2020
“Coat of Theseus” ︎︎︎ Future Prototyping Exhibition
“Kamiko Bomber” ︎︎︎ Contemporary Fashion Practices
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Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran (PhD)
website: www.d-mvp.com
email: daphne.mohajer.va.pesaran@rmit.edu.au
social: @daphne_mvp & @_paper_clothes_
Designer, lecturer. I am the Program Manager of the bachelor of Textiles (Design) and lecture in fashion design and research in The School of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. I spent ten years living and working in Tokyo, where I learned about many traditional crafts practices. I like collaborating and am interested in what materials and relationships can emerge in communities of human and nonhuman people. In my research and design practice I work with handmade Japanese paper and garments/products made from paper. I also work in storytelling and documentation in various formats including film, drawing, text, audio, etc. and am currently undertaking research fellowships for the British Museum and the Australian Museum to research the use of paper for clothing in Japan and the Pacific Islands.
website: www.d-mvp.com
email: daphne.mohajer.va.pesaran@rmit.edu.au
social: @daphne_mvp & @_paper_clothes_
Designer, lecturer. I am the Program Manager of the bachelor of Textiles (Design) and lecture in fashion design and research in The School of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. I spent ten years living and working in Tokyo, where I learned about many traditional crafts practices. I like collaborating and am interested in what materials and relationships can emerge in communities of human and nonhuman people. In my research and design practice I work with handmade Japanese paper and garments/products made from paper. I also work in storytelling and documentation in various formats including film, drawing, text, audio, etc. and am currently undertaking research fellowships for the British Museum and the Australian Museum to research the use of paper for clothing in Japan and the Pacific Islands.
Jake Nakashima-Edwards
email: jake.naka@gmail.com
social: @smiling.at.dogs
Designer. I am a recent graduate of the Fashion Design program at RMIT University, based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. I am interested in how fashion intersects with politics, capital, and the environment. My current practice is centred around washi paper as a textile, and the connections this material has with people, culture, and nature.
Everything we sell is designed and made in our studio in Naarm (colonial name Melbourne, Australia). We acknowldege that the land on which we work and learn was never ceded from it’s traditional custodians, the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the Eastern Kulin Nations.
email: jake.naka@gmail.com
social: @smiling.at.dogs
Designer. I am a recent graduate of the Fashion Design program at RMIT University, based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. I am interested in how fashion intersects with politics, capital, and the environment. My current practice is centred around washi paper as a textile, and the connections this material has with people, culture, and nature.
Everything we sell is designed and made in our studio in Naarm (colonial name Melbourne, Australia). We acknowldege that the land on which we work and learn was never ceded from it’s traditional custodians, the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the Eastern Kulin Nations.
