Tenderness

Does MUD Jeans collaborate with other organisations to boost sustainability?

We work with B Corp, a non-profit network that harnesses the power of commerce to do good. It is also a very human relationship and understanding of each other. MUD Jeans signed a declaration of Interdependence in 2015 as a certified B Corp, formally enriching the company’s objective to produce economic, social, and environmental value in its status.

Do you find social media effective to communicate sustainability?

Since we have money on production, we have to be clever and see how we can make things without so much money. In terms of influencers I do think we do have those who are sustainable and we do want to go out more in public. Instagram has grown more organically.

We are transparent on Instagram and we do promote our programme. We want to be bigger than a jeans company, and we want to collaborate with more people and followers. Our newsletters are always how we solve problems, interviews with people who do jeans and we try to do a whole package with regards to social media. What design process strategy does MUD Jeans apply?

We try to stick to mono-material whenever it is possible. We are looking into other buttons, that we can reproduce again. Apart from that, we always try our best to use cotton as a fabric rather than other fabric.

Does MUD Jeans consider being apart of the metaverse in the future?

It really does seem as the future but for a lot of people it is still an abstract. I do think we have to launch our first metaverse of jeans. In Macedonia, they think that the first focus should be in this world and then in the digital world but that is where we are going, towards metaverse in fashion because of the technology that keeps advancing.

Left: MUD Jeans, Raw Pixel Right: MUD Jeans 91

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The Art of Weaving

with Marvit Saliba

SWEAR Magazine interviewed a weaver from Gozo, Marvit Saliba, where she explained how she started the craft, and how such artisan techniques are getting lost over time. This brief interview is supported by images of her work in different weaving techniques and colour combinations.

When did you start weaving?

I have been doing it as a hobby for 9 years. I learnt this because it’s a different hand technique compared to other traditional ones that exist in Malta.

What are the influences or the passion that encourages your work?

I experimented a lot from different sources, and I used a lot of different mathematic combinations to involve the design of the pattern especially to put the yarn in sequence. What is the process of threading the machine and how did you learn this technique?

To thread the machine, you would need at least 3 people, using different combs to hold the thread and turn it around the handle and to tighten and loosen it. The yarn is fully filled, and it is threaded on the front side finishing off by putting in the heddles at the centre.

What inspires your creative ability?

It takes years to perfect such craft so I am still evolving but as a challenge there’s different methods and forms for different things such as clothes, rugs, or accessories. Do different designs require different techniques?

There are different techniques within weaving and the patterns are created by changing the construction of the machine and a pattern can change if you move one or two of the heddles in the machine. A disadvantage that one must face in weaving is that once a mistake is done on the threading of the machine, you won’t notice the pattern coming out wrongly until you have worked on it for a while to see the mistake.

How does the brainstorm process transform to create such unique and creative patterns?

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Left: Marvit Saliba Right: Marvit Saliba

It is all about trial and error to see what colours work more together. It takes time to understand it and see what you are working with. There are also different techniques that you include such as knitting or crochet into the weaving process so it is all about experimentation and the certainty of having a correct pattern weaved in the loom for the technique to be executed correctly. How do you recommend to revive the weaving craft within the local market? How can weaving be sustained in younger generations?

This work is being hidden and will be lost sooner or later. There aren’t enough people to teach it and younger generations will not be able to see such work in the future. It is also a hardworking job as it takes 2 days to change the thread of a weaving machine so people might not try to pursue such craft because of it. There needs to be more awareness for this craft to be continued however there also should be more people to teach it in schools. The product is very unique and there aren’t a lot of people that do it in the market so there could be a need for it if people talked about it more.

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96 Across

1. Type of drink. 3. A term used to disassociate from other sexes. 6. An old dyeing technique. 7. Contains records of transactions as part of the metaverse. 8. A digital form of art. Down 2. Sometimes considered as a plant and sometimes is considered as ‘protist’. 4. A representation of leaves, use of natural pigments and acids. 5. The use of both masculine and feminine characteristics.

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