2022

STUDIO HILO BERLIN: PROTOTYPING INNOVATION – THE FUTURE OF TEXTILE TECHNOLOGIES

What will circular textile manufacturing look like in future? How will spinning change textile production? Why do new technologies need traditional crafts and open-source models?

Studio HILO is a Berlin-based studio for textile innovation exploring the possibilities of open-source tools for textile innovation. Established in 2018 by the founding partners Sara Diaz and Natalija Krasnoperova, they rethink textile manufacturing by offering open-source tools, training and consultancy for small-scale production environments. Their open-source projects challenge the process of textile production in the same way 3-D printers revolutionised manufacturing. In 2015, they developed the first open-source spinning machine – ever.

The HILO Spinning Machine allows you to produce your own customised yarn. The HILO Software helps you to design the yarn properties. You choose your raw fibres from almost any material. You can use the HILO Spinning Machine and Software to spin small amounts of new fibres from recycled or regional materials. Existing yarns can be twisted into new designs and integrate new functions, such as elasticity through overtwist. Moreover, you can develop yarn samples and rapidly test different material qualities for new textile application fields.

Studio HILO’s mission is to create playgrounds for independent yarn production. By sharing their knowledge, they empower designers, researchers and producers to redefine their manufacturing processes from material choice to textile construction and production facilities. The HILO system is a great tool for educational, creative and business purposes. New open-source textile technologies form the basis of Studio HILO’s work. They are in constant development of innovative tools to extend their training of open-source machines to provide more circular textile manufacturing environments. Studio HILO will present selected case studies and collaborations to open up the spectrum of textile technologies for prototyping textile innovation.

Natalija Krasnoperova is a lecturer for human-centered design, innovation coach and co-founder of Studio HILO (www.studiohilo.com) in Berlin. She holds a M.A. in Communications in Social and Economic Contexts from the University of Arts Berlin and a Design Thinking coach certificate from Hasso-Plattner-Institut Potsdam. In 2018, she co-founded Studio HILO with textile designer Sara Diaz to develop open-source technologies for a more circular and participatory textile industry. Since then, they developed multiple open-source spinning machines and software to allow designers and researchers the creation of digital yarn.