Visit To Blythe House

Blythe House is part of the Victoria and Albert Museum and contains archives of artists and companies in decorative arts (not only textiles).

The archives are mainly British based and from the 20's century. they are to be found on the national art line catalog on the V&A website, with all the description needed.

I took some notes of what I liked or what caught my attention and made me want to come back or research further on.

On the first spot, the exposed archives were from Heal a company founded in 1810 whose head quarters were in Tottenham Court Road. there were pretty popular.

The second spot was Ambassador Magasine it is a textiles magasine founded in 1933 it was edited first in Amsterdam and then London (due to 2ND World War, Amsterdam and London editors lost contact and once the war finished London editors had continued publishing).

The third one was Presage a fashion and textile forecast magasine published in Paris in 1961.

I really liked that one because of the way the presented the magasine and how it is just full of samples and colours and drawings.I enjoyed looking at the 60's fashion design.

The fourth one is was W.Gordon Hunton who was a calico printer in the 40's and invented this device, glass curved in a way that the drawing would repeat and create a pattern. I admire the drawings a lot because they were simply beautiful made.

The fifth spot was Samuel Courtaulds which was more of a furnishing textile company, it was the 1940's biggest textile manufacturer.

we also had the opportunity to look at Oberkampf samples (1830-1860 -French printed )and as well as Lyon collection of silk (19th century - French) and Morton Sundour textiles sample ( 20th century:20's,30's and 50's) in big, old book that smelt moist.

I took rough notes of the things that caught my attention and that I would like to find out about a bit more:

The company Reichenbach and Co from St-Gall Switzerland

I would like to learn more about Swiss textiles

The colour combination sheet

the way they presented it with an A4 page with lines of coloured circle and over it an A4 page with 5 holes and depending and how the page moves it gives different colour palette (Presage)

W. Gordon Hunton drawing of little characters in a graphic style

I liked the modernity, it is comic book like

Drawing on Frieze paper

Tricel?

I found amazing the quality of the work presented in term of its conservation.

Desconocida: Unknown by Lise Bjorne Linnert

This exhibition was on at the Gallery UCA Epsom from February,10th until March, 22nd 2009.

I have read about it in MAGAZINE NAME , it caught my attention because I felt it has a meaning, a message to it.

The Norwegian artist, Lise Bjorne Linnert, research and based her exhibition about the Maquilladoras in Cuidad Juarez in Mexico.

the Maquilladoras job consists in working for Western companies that employs Mexican worker on low wages to do mostly, night shifts. The majority of the workers are women and they are prone to kidnapping, rape and torture.

"It is the cruel picture of the dark side of globalization, corruption and in-balance between the people of power and money and the huge population of poor in desperate need of jobs."

Lise Bjorne Linnert used sound, film and thread to represent this injustice. she created workshops where all the participants create name tags by stitch the victims name on pieces of fabric, some of them called:"unknown" as they are many of them that are not recognized.

http://www.lisebjorne.com/

MAKE SENSIBLE FABRIC - Ethical Fashion Forum - Lecture

I really liked the lecture on EFF, after learning about all the ethical companies at the forum, I think it was a great complement. The lecturer was great, very motivating and "hope-giving"

the definition of ethical fashion that we were given was: MINIMISES IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT WHILE MAXIMUMS BENEFITS FOR PEOPLE.

The point that I think I will always remember from that lecture is the RRR principle.

Reduce, reuse, recycle

The aims of EFF apply these principles:

• reduce poverty
• create sustainable livelihoods
• reduce environmental impact of the fashion industry

The RRR approach is very interesting as those three actions are easy to apply , even for a student! ( you don't need to be a powerful business woman!)

MAKE SENSIBLE CHOICES

If we all do small changes, it will be a big difference.

The problems:

The world is in deficit- human beings are digging deep in the world resources

1% of the fashion business is ethical fashion

"People are trained by the media to be perfect consumers of mass manufactured rubbish" V.Westwood

What we can do:

Make sensible choices, make sensible fabric

Make ethical fashion look better

Build network

Ask questions

As textile designers we can make a difference our work is limitless.

Our project should have a message, make a little difference not change the whole world!

Our career is difficult as we are required to be creative as well as intelligent! That's a challenge!

Some artists, designers and companies examples:

TERRA PLANA

http://www.terraplana.com/terraplana.php

They aim to minimize waste and toxin use by selling a variety of non generic products supporting ideas of sustainability: lightness, anatomic design, disassembly and durability.

they used mainly eco-friendly materials and stitched construction to minimize the use of glue, the is a recycled element in every product construction.

FROM SOMEWHERE

http://www.fromsomewhere.co.uk/

Orsola de Castro and Filippo Ricci recycle luxury designer pre-consumer waste from 1997.

they use all kind of waste such as proofs, swatches, production off-end cuts and end fashion and textiles surplus.

each piece as its unique side.

(the website is really well made!)

And other names:

Panchachuli's women

http://www.panchachuli.com/

Myriam Morgensten

http://il.linkedin.com/pub/myriam-morgenstern/9/661/326

This lecture really talked to me and made me think a lot about where the world is and the difference I want to make!!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Ethical Fashion Forum - 20th November

MORAL FIBRE VS THE WEST COAST WEAVING ESTABLISHMENT (WESCOTEX)

Local materials and production VS globalised production

Both companies are based in India, they both sell cotton items among others: bed linen , cushion and cotton fabrics.

Moral Fibre offers hand spun and handwoven cotton, dyed with only natural dyes that are harmless to people's health and the environment. They sell fabrics, a feel-well fashion range and a furnishing range.

Some historical facts are interesting to understand the motivation behind Moral Fibre's cause.

In the early 18Th century, India had a very powerful influence in the textiles business, so much that it started to badly affect the British wool and silk imports.

In 1970s, the British, to restore their status, end the concurrence and benefit from the Indian market, instored an import duty on East Indian Fabrics. India lost his place as a supplier to the world of fabrics (...).

America and England became business partners and create the Trading Triangle between the USA, England and Africa. Great fortunes were made for a few, on the backs of the poors.

The textile industry in India did not break down totally and small quantities of textiles were still produced.

Between the 1920s and 1960s, the invention of man made fibres changed everything in the textiles world, cotton was not No 1 anymore. the consummation generation started here and cheap clothes were available to everyone. Behind the label of a cosy fleece lie some uncomfortable truths.

Pesticides and other chemicals to grow cotton have also invaded the textile world, as cotton is prone to insect attacks. The cotton farmers have to handle dangerous chemicals and pesticide which harm their health and damage the land. as well as the pesticides and chemicals issue, genetically modified cotton has appeared on the market It is also a threat for the environment and for the people whose lives depend on the growth and trade of cotton.

In 2007, consumers worldwide spent over US $1 trillion on clothes. Yet the garment industry remains one of the worlds most exploitative sectors, against people and the environment.

Moral Fibre has two aims:

• to develop environmentally friendly fabrics


• to make the process of fabric making socio-economically sustainable

Moral Fibre wants ethical clothing; inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and the hand work of many fabric producers in India; Moral fibre provides work and places to live for their workers and hand spun and hand woven fabrics which means it is almost zero carbon foot print.

http://www.moralfibre-fabrics.com/

I chose to compare Moral Fibre to The West coast Weaving Establishment (Wescotex)

As mentioned above, both companies sell similar type of products and are both based in India.

While Moral Fibre principles are all about ethics and sustainability, Wescostex's ones are all about exporting to as many countries as possible and growing bigger!

The company was created almost 100 years ago, in 1916. With its team of more than 2000 employees (nothing about how they are considered, paid or recognised...) it has now obtained the status of Export House recognised by the government of India and have been awarded the Government of India gold medal for excellence in export performance ( fast.. but is it eco-friendly?)

Even though the company claims to use eco-friendly dyeing and azo-free dyestuff, they are proud to promote vibrant hues, weaves and designs.

Even though my opinion can be seen as slightly too subjective, I am not able to see ethics and sustainability as Wescotex values, they might have use some bits of eco-friendly materials but it is clearly not their first aim, their website and company description is all about the prestige, they money and massive production!

I have been charmed by Moral fibre's values for they are very ethical, they see the human being behind the clothes. They care about the planet and the people trying to survive in the material and consummation world we live in. Their aim is undoubtedly to conserve and value the beauty of Indian clothes maker work and help them have a better life out of it.

http://www.wescotex.in/

An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.

Charles Horton Cooley

Textiles Futures Research Group Co-Design

Very hard to understand for me, very fragmented notes but interesting theme.

Jennifer Ballie



"Co- Design is a term that contains participatory design, meta design, social design and other design processes that requires participation"



Different aspects of Co-Design:

• Design Activism


• Customise


• Fashion Systems and Service ( share and play)


• Fun and functional Fashion Crowd sourcing


• Crowd sourcing


• Transformation design( Berber soepboek, assembling pattern)

The reason behind Co-Design:
"Design is only reaching 10% of the population" ( the wealthiest)

Main Message

Human centered design

Hear - Create - Deliver

Customers as co-designers concept

Some interesting co-design work:

Vivienne Westwood, DO IT YOURSELF

http://ethicalstyle.com/2008/10/vivienne-westwood-do-it-yourself/

Hacking Couture

http://hacking-couture.com/


Customers as Co-Designers, a framework for open innovation, Piller F.C. Schaller and D Walcher (2004)

Textiles and Culture

Lectures of 30Th October and 13Th November and V&A Visit

As human being part of a certain culture, society and upbringing, how important is textile to our life?

It is very interesting to look at textile in the context of human activities; textiles are quite central to our lives.
The most straight forward example is the one of our birth; in probably every culture, the new born baby is wrapped in a piece of cloth. It represents security, warmth, protection.


Textiles and clothes are very fragile as it cannot survive the damage of time as much as wood or bronze can, therefore there is not many dated pieces for our records.
With the pieces that survived, because of the way they were looked after and conserved, whole new debates take place: Mass Production VS Craft

How is Textiles perceived?

We came out with the idea that it depends on the function it has been created for.

In the Middle Ages, embroidery was prolific in England , there was no authorship, no one was owning the respect for making embroidered garments; even though it was made using one's hands and skills, it was made in a more mass production way.

In 19Th century, William Morris, an architect, furniture, textile artist as well as a writer, was a major name in the Art and Craft movement, which reformed the way decorative art and craft were conceived and made. Textile was no longer exclusively associated with mass production but was also associated with craft.

The context influences a lot the perception of textiles.

The time and the place are very important factors in the identification process of textiles.

There are many examples of textiles pieces or objects that that could influence either point of view.
One that I particularly liked is the Arbadil Carpet, a famous Persian carpet made in the mid 16Th century. It was a request from the Shah Tahmasp I for a mosque. The carpet is considered s one of the biggest carpet ever woven (10.51m x 5.34m); the design is extremely meticulous and beautifully done.

The carpet is exposed at the Islamic Art section at the V&A; it is lit every half an hour for ten minutes, so it prevents it from losing his colour.
I think it is a magnificent piece of textile and I admire the exceptionally precise work, the patience and the time put into it.
And even if it might be senseless after arguing about craft and mass production the feeling I had in front of the Arbadil carpet was: do I really care if any of those beautifully made textile pieces are craft or mass production? No, I just would like to enjoy what I have in front of my eyes .

Another interesting discussion about textiles is its function.
I would say that the purpose of textile defines its function.
Consequently, there can be many functions/ aspects to it.

The first and most evident one is to have something to put on ourselves, we need clothes. As mentioned in the introduction, our very first contact with fabric is at our birth. Our clothes more than a protection, can also be a way to express ourselves it has become a huge business sometimes very far from it first function, protection.

The second aspect is textiles as objects.

Here is a short list:

-Tee Pees made out of animal skin
-Parachute or hot air balloon, a piece of cloth that can break the fall.
-The samurai armours, different colours represent the ranks in the hierarchy
-BMW mock-up car made out of coated Lycra, it saves from waste Seat and belts of any car, made out of resistant fabrics
And many more, textiles are everywhere!

The third aspect is Fine Art. So many artists have used textiles in their work.
Here are some of them:

-Louise Bourgeois, knitted bodies, embracing bodies
-Christo Runningfence, a fence 5.5 meters high and 39.4 kilometres long made out of heavy woven white nylon fabric
-Tracey Emins, embroided blankets
-Michael Raedecker line-up, using stitches and thread in his composition.