Pondering the existence of diamond-shaped wood chips on a workshop floor at London’s Kingston University helped fashion master’s student Stefanie Nieuwenjuys to think different. That’s why she is featured in our renamed Apple Valley channel.

Scooping up the wooden chips, Stephanie remembered the secondhand snakeskin bag she once owned. And then she had a vision of reptilian scales made of wood chips.

In fashion speak, Stefanie employed the principles of biomimicry to create a ‘biometric’ collection of corsets, floor-length evening dresses, trousers and neckpieces that combine her couturier’s precision with modern laser-cutting techniques.

Working with bio-waste firm InCrops Enterprise Hub in Norwich, England to obtain discarded pieces of plywood, she then had then laser-cut into precise forms. Gluing the scales onto unbleached organic cotton, the brown-and-ecru “scales” created a “simulacra of nature, without discarding nature’s inherent harmonies,” the designer told Ecouterre.

Nieuwenhuys believes in creating designs that are not only timeless but also keep traditional craftsmanship alive. “I believe in using what you have available and letting nothing go to waste,” she says.