The 1970s are trending in a big way lately and mainstream retail stores are awash with fringed and tasselled things; dark, ditsy, floral, bell-sleeved things; and mustard-and-brown, faux, furry things. Elaine Mulder, a young Durban designer, is aiming to resurrect one feature of the fashion era which the mass fashion industry cannot hope to replicate - the hand-painted denim jacket.Through her new label, KYPO, the qualified fashion designer has taken up melding art with thrift denim garments after quitting her nine-to-five job after a year-and-a-half. She had become disillusioned with her industry."While I learnt a lot about how to manufacture garments and I really did enjoy it for a while, I realised that ethically this was challenging me. At the company I worked, we made thousands of garments per month. I started doing some research and realised that our landfill sites are being filled to the brim with unwanted clothes that don't break down because the fabric has a high polyester content."I realised that producing more clothes is adding to the problem and I didn't want to be a part of the problem. So I had a mini meltdown - I had done a three-year diploma in fashion design only to realise this was not what I wanted to do."Mulder came up with the idea of working with visual artists to turn vintage jackets into wearable canvasses after a discussion with her boyfriend."We were sitting in the bath one day discussing possible job opportunities. He's a photo-journalist and comes from a family of incredible artists. I suggested I start thrifting again - at varsity I sold vintage jackets out the boot of my car. I feel I have a keen eye and I feel that incredible garments find me."He then suggested that we get graffiti artists to write their tags on the jackets to revive a trend that was huge in the 1970s. That was the beginning of KYPO."She has so far recruited fine art qualified street artist Mook Lion, fashion artist Steve Mandy and illustrator and conceptual artist Steven Leggo to her cause."I have been working on it for about just over a month. While I would like some jackets to have a graffiti or street art feel, I don't want to be constricted by this idea. I want to bring any art to the streets in an ethical manner that promotes the artist and their work within their own entity."She says that her concepts of creating wearable art and bringing art to the streets can't be separated - "as it is most defiantly both art and fashion".No mass production techniques are used in the making of fashion artworks."All jackets are one of a kind - the artist can do whatever he or she wants as long as the work is original. I have been asked if I will do screen-prints and the answer is 'no'. All work must be done by hand. I feel it is more authentic and adds value."Mulder's search for additional artists continues."I pay the artists for their work. Some artists prefer to be paid upfront and others have said they'd do it on a commission basis. Everyone has heard of the struggling artist and I want to give them work and a platform for their work to be seen ."KYPO operates via Instagram on @kypo_sa and through Facebook on www.facebook.com/KYPO. Mulder ships nationwide...