Meet The Designer Fighting 5G Through Fashion

Designer Fighting 5G Through Fashion

Meet the international fashion designer fighting 5G through her work: Ekaterina Tkachenko

By Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

As more people learn about 5G, they realise it poses a serious risk to not only our health, but to wildlife, too. Some are concerned that 5G radiation may cause cancer. The FCC so far has said that there aren’t any problems or concerns with 5G radiation, but they have also said they still need to do much, more research before they can be sure of that.

The truth is that science has already proven that 5G emits dangerous “ultra high frequencies” from millimetre wave radiation. The higher the frequency, the shorter the length of each wave. This means more waves hit our bodies in the same amount of time. Previous cellular generations emitted from 1 to 6 GHz frequencies. 5G cell towers may emit frequencies as high as 300 GHz.

But that’s not all.

5G technology also requires “ultra high intensity” frequencies. Since the shorter length millimeter waves (MMV) used in 5G do not travel as far (and get obstructed easier), with our current number of cell towers, the cell signal will not be reliable. To compensate, 5G cell towers will have to emit the lower 3G and 4G waves as well, and we will need to have many more mini cell towers that will have to be installed much closer to our homes. In fact, it is estimated that they will need a mini cell tower every 2 to 8 houses! All of this combined will greatly increase our RF Radiation exposure.

With RF Radiation, how close the source is to our physical bodies is more important than the power level (or wattage) of the radiation. RF Radiation dissipates with distance. In other words, a low powered exposure right next to someone is far more dangerous than a more powerful exposure a long ways away. And the longer the exposure time is, the more dangerous it is. So 5G towers very close to our homes, schools, and offices? Not a good idea.

This radiation is harmful to all living organisms, but the smaller the being, the worse the effects are. Which means insects, birds and small animals such as cats and dogs will suffer even more than humans. No wonder so many scientists are warning against it! 5G is a highly risky technology, and the fact that much information about it is being censored means we can’t even make informed decisions about using it.

So what can we do?

One designer, Ekaterina Tkachenko, is trying to raise some awareness of the dangers of 5G, through fashion. Here’s how.

Meet The Designer Fighting 5G Through Fashion

Ekaterina Tkachenko

Ekaterina Tkachenko was born in Russia in 1985, where she began her studies in economics and financial analysis. In 2011, she arrived in Italy to study Fashion Design at the prestigious POLIMODA Institute in Florence.

Here, she was immediately placed in the 2nd year of the three-year degree course thanks to her previous experience in the fashion industry in Russia. Her shocking experience at MIFUR fair in Milan and SAGA FURS in Copenhagen forged her pledge to develop vegan fur garments. By 2014, she was already taking her first steps at the Iris van Herpen haute-couture atelier in Amsterdam, where she participated in the creation of haute-couture clothes for the likes of Bjork and Tilda Swinton.

The same year, Ekaterina Tkachenko was a finalist in London at the fashion design contest of the Fashion Culture Project and, later was a finalist at the Taiwan Fashion Design Awards. In 2015 Tkachenko launched her first independent collection, Nebula, and she has created her own line of sustainable fashion ever since.

Over the past three years, Ekaterina has dedicated her work to developing arty, ethical, hand-embroidered T-shirts, including her “LOVE 5G” Lockdown Project. Taking its name from the infamous 5G stations that have been associated with the transmission of dangerous waves and viruses, LOVE 5G is designed to spread positive vibes to overcome hectic times.

In this Exclusive Interview, Ekaterina Tkachenko shares her latest collection and creative vision.

Ekaterina Tkachenko

What first made you concerned about the effects of 5G?

I first heard about this issue in March 2020 during lockdown in Italy. In that period when we were completely closed in our homes I used to read a lot about the ecological issues, and the new information I received made me extremely upset.

The collection is lovely, but it doesn’t really spell out the dangers of 5G. Do you have plans to be more concise in your campaign, in terms of educating the public on the dangers of millimetre waves?

My collection is called “LOVE 5G”, the name stands for “Love of the New (the 5th) generation”. This is a metaphor and I aimed to say that first of all we should upgrade our positive sides and make love grow inside us, and become the better versions of ourselves – instead of multiplying technologies that can possibly create chaos on the planet!

I’m not against technical progress, but at the same time I am convinced it has to follow the concept of sustainable development, but not contradict it for the sake of money or power.

My collection Love 5G was made to spread positive vibes to overcome the hectic times we are living in now.  And of course one of my aims is to motivate the public to get more information on important ecological issues (such as the effects of 5G), and to make the right choices as well!

Ekaterina Tkachenko

Have you been active in any other anti-5G activities so far?

My activity is to find as much information on the issue as I can, and share it with the public on my Instagram and other social media. I am a pacifist and I probably wouldn’t go and burn the stations as they did in England, but I completely understand the fear of people for their lives and health, and their urge to protect it!

The millimetre waves from 5G are a serious immediate threat to our health and the health of all living things, but it seems more fashion brands are focused on stopping climate change. Why do you think that is? 

Stopping climate change is a long-term project that was supposed to be launched “the day before yesterday”, but it wasn’t. The fashion industry just seems to be fast, but in fact it takes a lot of time for a big corporation to make some decisions or to change any single procedure, as the mechanism is too big and inflexible. Maybe this can explain why big companies seem to react more on less urgent issues.

Why was it important to you that the collection be sustainable? 

In my opinion, being sustainable is not a choice anymore. What’s been happening lately has shown us that we are on the edge of an ecological crisis and moving towards it with velocity. On the other hand, human nature is to create, and the process of creation means modification of the physical objects, and that inevitably creates some waste.

The issue is that we as humankind now have to a) reduce waste, b) recycle waste. Otherwise the waste will kill us, literally. Every single person in this world now has to think how to reduce harm to the planet.

Tell us a bit about the sustainability and ethics behind your other Ekaterina Tkachenko collections

I am very much concerned about sustainability, and for me it is important to reduce or eliminate our harmful effects on the planet. So I decided to reduce the quantity of the items produced in my collections. I don’t want to create mass production which inevitably creates dead stock. I have been working in the fashion industry for many years, and I know that unsold pieces get violently destroyed after several seasons in stock. This situation I find atrocious! So my idea is to reduce the quantity I make to the amount consumers are ready to purchase.

Secondly, I put a stake on high quality materials to make the garments that would serve for years, not just one or two seasons. This also means creating a Style, not just copying the current trends, which come and go. I very much like the idea of the garments that are given to daughters or granddaughters.

Another very important issue for me is upcycling. In my collection Love 5G, I started to use vintage Italian crochet doilies as decoration for the items. I am going to follow the upcycling path in the future as well, and reuse the textile pieces that are now considered to be useless. I also use deadstock fabrics for my collections, and eco-fur, preferably wool-based. In my collections I almost never use acetate or polyester.

Finally, how do you see the role of fashion in activism?

I believe the mission of fashion, as a mirror of social life, is to attract more attention to serious ecological problems. Fashion brands should definitely rethink the way they run the businesses and make serious changes. But also the final consumers should be more careful and thoughtful, and informed in their purchases.

Unfortunately large industries are very slow in changing their ways, but every person can do a small part. Ecological issues are everyone’s business now. Go Green!

For more info on Ekaterina Tkachenko, please click here.

Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
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