Imagine

going through your late grandmother’s closet. Each piece of clothing you find reveals something new about her and her life – not just as an elderly woman, but as a child, a young girl, a mother, and an entrepreneur. In ECHOES, you step into the shoes of Febe, a granddaughter who embarks on a journey to explore her grandmother Clara’s wardrobe. Febe’s initial search for “cool vintage treasures” leads to uncovering hidden stories about her late grandmother and her own roots along the way.

When Nimmerland meets Poppins & Wayne

ECHOES is an artistic narrative-driven game built entirely with discarded clothes. A co-production between Nimmerland Studio and Poppins & Wayne, ECHOES seamlessly blends both studio’s skills, ranging from art and cinematography to story and technology.
The project is currently in development, with support from the Flemish Audiovisual Fund.

When creativity meets sustainability

Each year, the average person discards about 16 kilos of textile. That’s a lot of waste, and with it, a lot of untold stories. Fast fashion may be a trend of the moment, but what about the stories that each discarded item holds? With ECHOES, we’re reimagining these forgotten fabrics, upcycling them into a mesmerizing virtual universe that honors both their past and future.

From wardrobe to sculpture to digital asset (and back)

The creation process behind Echoes is as much about sustainability as it is about innovation. Take, for example, this 1.3-meter-high pillar made out of 4 pairs of second-hand jeans. The denim resources were carefully constructed into this sculpture, which -after 3D scanning and optimizing- became a digital asset in the game. The glue used in the sculpting process is water-soluble, meaning the clothes used can be worn again after having served their purpose for the game.

Reviving textiles and stories for future generations

Beyond the theme of sustainable fashion, Echoes also invites us to reflect about cross-generational relationships and how to (better) care for the oldest branches of our family trees and society.

ECHOES loosely draws its narrative from the handwritten memoirs – rescued from the trash more than once – of a real-life Clara, a spirited woman from West Flanders. Through her clothes and the memories of her widower Jerome, Febe gets a glimpse of her late grandmother’s resilience, rebellion and strength, against the backdrop of Flemish war history.