Fashion during the High and Late European Renaissance was a true lesson in opulence, with exaggerated silhouettes that accentuated the human form, along with indulgent, luxurious fabrics adorned with sequins, embroidery and precious stones. Italy led the way during the early 16th century, shaping and influencing much of what was worn throughout Europe, leading to…
Category Archives: TEXTILES
Buying fabric online can be overwhelming. You can’t feel the texture, see how it drapes, or know if it will work for your project until it arrives. I’ve been there—staring at endless fabric choices, wondering if I’m making the right decision. That’s why I want to help you visualize IL019 All-Purpose Midweight linen so you…
The great flourishing of arts and culture that took place during the European Renaissance inevitably made its way into the realms of fashion and textiles, shaping and informing the way people across Europe would dress for centuries to come. But with few surviving artefacts of clothing from this era, art has much to tell us…
The airy, breezy shade of LIGHT BLUE fabric made its way into many of Claude Monet’s most celebrated paintings, describing the soaring, luminescent skies of spring and summer in his native France. In particular, the colour came to play a key role in Monet’s famed ‘Poplars’ series, made from spring to autumn 1891. In total…
First things first: Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez is a white-knuckle read. Written with gusto, providing a blizzard of data which whip across the page. You are almost snow-blind (with rage) at the end of Part 1: Daily Life. The book is divided into 6 parts. Each explores an area where data and design…
Today, as we become more engaged with the things we use and wear, one of the joys of design are the many histories published on the subject. Design’s past has opened up before us experientially. Mining the cultural and technical elements which inform the things we collect in our homes and museums. In The Golden…
Whether abstract, figurative, or somewhere in between, the epic, shimmering and painterly fabric installations made by African-born artist Abdoulaye Konaté reflect on Africa’s great history with textiles, and the political implications bound into every single stitched layer. Currently living and working in Bamako, he says, “My works witness and speak of power struggles which have…
In the hands of contemporary artist Faig Ahmed, traditional Azerbaijani rugs are given a fantastically surreal twist, with elements that seem to warp, melt, and dissolve into puddles on the gallery floor. An intricate fusion of high quality, traditional weaving techniques and digital design, his visually arresting artworks speak of a need to keep ancient…
From vast, cascading curtains of silk to hand-woven fishing nets, contemporary artist Carolina Caycedo has worked with a wide range of fabrics and textiles, deftly interweaving their tactile properties into her conceptual practice. Her most recent art is an examination into the social divisions and oppressions surrounding the privatization of water, working closely with communities…
History and memory are bound into the textile art of contemporary artist Ibrahim Mahama, who works with found, archival fabrics that have associations with Ghanian history, colonialism, and post-colonialism. It is worth noting that fabric is just one strand of his multifarious practice, which involves sourcing and transforming vast collections of similar found objects and…
As a sewist, you’ve probably heard the term “deadstock” circulating in fashion and sewing circles, but it’s not just another buzzword—it’s the coveted material for DIY enthusiasts and eco-conscious designers alike. But what exactly is deadstock fabric, and why is it on the radar of home sewists? Deadstock fabric is like a rare jewel of…
The French Fauvist painter Andre Derain made paintings of France that were charged with electrifyingly bolts of colour, including the blazing shade of ochre seen in YELLOW Linen. Along with Henri Matisse and Maurice de Vlaminck (among others) they spearheaded a new brand of painting that moved beyond the real world into the realms of…
The soft sculptures of Maria A. Guzmán Capron depict larger-than-life curvy, vibrant characters whose joyful effervescence reflects the rich complexity of Capron’s multicultural identity, which spans Europe, South America and the United States. She says, “I need a variety of sources, because that is the only way I will approximate the complexity of a self…
Last fall, my family and I relocated to a small rural town south of Phoenix, Arizona—a stark contrast to our previous urban lifestyle just minutes from downtown LA. One of the things I knew I would miss was the easy access to the Fabric District, where I could find endless bolts of deadstock fabrics. As…
Chilean arpilleras might at first look like playful, whimsical patchworks, featuring brightly coloured houses, scattered children and blazing suns. But closer inspection reveal that they are a potent, emotionally raw form of resistance and rebellion, one that emerged during the brutalist regime of Augusto Pinochet from 1973-1989. While women were forced into submissive silence by…
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