Paper clothing

Paper clothing is garments and accessories made from paper or paper substitutes.

The earliest known paper clothing was made by the Chinese even before they used paper as a writing medium in the 2nd century CE. Paper clothing, usually made from washi paper, was developed by the Chinese through the centuries, the craft spreading through Asia, until it reached Japan. From the 10th century onwards, Japanese craftspeople produced paper garments called kamiko. Kamiko became a traditional Japanese craft of Shiroishi, Miyagi, carried out to a very high standard and skill during the Edo period. The practice began to die out in the late 19th century, before being revived in the mid-20th century. In the early 20th century, German and Austrian manufacturers began producing "ersatz" paper cloth and clothing in response to wool shortages caused by World War I. While there was a brief period of interest in paper suits and garments during the early 1920s, this did not catch on as despite paper's economic advantages, traditional woven cloth was widely preferred. However, some fancy dress costumes, hats, and fashionable accessories were made from crêpe paper during the early 20th century and in response to resource shortages before and during World War II.

In the late 1950s, manufacturers of disposable paper goods such as the Scott Paper Company developed cellulose-based bonded fiber textiles, which were intended to be used for laboratory and medical garments. Although these textiles are not true paper, they are widely known and marketed as being equivalent to paper. In 1966, Scott offered two paper dresses as a promotional giveaway to accompany a range of disposable tableware, which escalated into a widespread craze for paper dresses and garments that lasted until 1969. The paper dress craze saw many artists and fashion designers creating or inspiring paper garments, including Andy Warhol, Ossie Clark, and Bonnie Cashin. At its height, one American manufacturer produced up to 80,000 dresses in a week. During the 1968 United States presidential election campaigns, most of the candidates had paper dresses printed to support their campaigns. In 1969, the paper dress craze rapidly died out, mainly fuelled by changes in fashion but also by increasing awareness of the issues with disposable consumer goods. Functional single-use paper clothing for protective, medical, and/or traveling needs remained commercially viable.

In the 1990s, paper was revisited as a fashion material as part of a throwback to the '60s, with designers such as Sarah Caplan and Hussein Chalayan becoming known for their work in paper or non-woven paper substitutes such as Tyvek. A significant collection of paper fashion was built in the first decade of the 21st century by the ATOPOS cultural foundation in Athens. In the form of an internationally traveling museum and art gallery exhibition, it has raised awareness of the innovation of paper and paper-substitutes as a fashion and wearable art material over the last millennium.