Reused jeans for upholstery of Jepara chairs-A design thinking towards a sustainable creative industry

Abstract

The chair is one type of furniture that well-known in Jepara. Jepara is famous for its chair industry internationally. In Jepara, chairs use hardwood, such as Teak and Mahony, for its material and combination with textile for its upholstery. The idea of this research is to up-cycle reused jeans as upholstery for Jepara chairs. Denim is a fabric used to make jeans. Denim is one type of fabric whose manufacturing process is woven and uses blue cotton fiber. The use of reused jeans as the Jepara chair material is to create a different approach to design, help reduce the waste of unused jeans, and create a sustainable creative industry. This research aims to open the possibilities of using reused jeans as upholstery for the Jepara chair. By using the design thinking method and qualitative methodology on collecting data, this research will give a creative approach of collaborating reused jeans and Jepara carving skills. The result is the type of chair that looks casual and unique. It will be developed as a proposition for the young generation to consider the Jepara chair as their preferences.