Thread

thread SUMMER 2014

INSIDE THE LOTUS COLLECTION HOW TO TIE A SARONG TRIBAL AND TEXTILE ARTS

TRIBAL AND TEXTILES ARTS SHOW THIS SPRING

we were treated to the fantastic experience

of touring the Tribal and Textile Arts Show at Fort Mason in San Francisco. While there, we saw countless textiles from the world over, met knowledgable and friendly collectors and craftspeople and were able to touch and admire beautiful works of art. The show featured “100 renowned Tribal art experts from Europe, North America, Australia, Asia and Africa, each showcasing the best examples of arts from tribal societies across the globe.�

The highlight of the show for me was listening to the man pictured at right speak passionately and articulately about his wares: carefully and exquisitely crafted Burmese Sazigyo binding ribbon.

THREAD MAGAZINE

SUMMER 2014

ABSOLUTELY EXQUISITE A man at the Tribal and Textiles Arts show exhibiting Burmese Sazigyo binding ribbon. He estimated that just one ribbon takes about 60-80 hours to craft.

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THREAD MAGAZINE

SUMMER 2014

NEARLY UNIMAGINABLE Another wonder of the Tribal and Textile Arts show: tiny handcrafted boots from the days of Chinese foot binding. These shoes are for adult women!

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INSIDE THE LOTUS COLLECTION THE LOTUS COLLECTION

in San Francisco is “the leading

source for decorative antique textiles in the United States”, offering “high quality antique European, Asian, and Ethnic textiles including tapestries and other wall hangings, pillows, table covers and general textiles.”

We were lucky enough to pay a visit to Kathleen Taylor and marvel over the delicious textiles she pulled for us.

Seeing textiles, tapestries and wall hangings that are hundreds of years old was incredible. The class pored over the fine embroidery work and stunning details in the pieces that Taylor brought out. I’m thankful I was able to admire the centuries-old artists’ handiwork and appreciate it’s beauty and delicacy in person.

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HOW TO TIE A SARONG We were treated to a sarong-tying demonstration at the Tribal and Textile Arts show. Enjoy!

kapa

In 1989, the construction of a hotel in Honokahua in Kapalua, Maui disturbed an an ancient gravesite.

The remains of 1,118 people were removed from their site. However, it was decided that the remains would be repatriated by wrapping them in Kapa cloth.

But what is Kapa cloth and how is it made? Kapa cloth is a native Hawaiian fabric made from the bark of a mulberry tree. The cloth is used for many types of clothing as well as items such as blankets. However, the Kapa has become a sort of a lost art.

Like many other precious textiles, only a handful of people know how to properly make the cloth. The art of the Kapa cloth resurfaced only until recently in the 1970’s when the Hawaiian people sought to connect back to their roots.

The art of the Kapa is one that takes skill and hours of hard work. The tool used in creating Kapa production includes a wooden beater, about a foot long and 2-4 inches in diameter. Kapa beaters usually have grooves of various widths on their surfaces for widening and thinning out the bark.

After the mulberry has been stripped, the Kapa artist begins to pound the bark. It is a slow process that requires patience and dedication.

Kapa is capable of nearing sizes of blankets and yet show no seams where multiple pieces have been joined. The kapa is laid out to dry after the first beating process.

After the beating process, the Kapa was decorated with color and patterns. Color was painted on or immersed in dyes. Patterns were hand-painted or stamped with pieces of bamboo.

The patterns of kapa are mostly geometric and based on textures found in markings of natural materials. Stamps made with bamboo sticks show patterns that reference other objects found in nature such as the bird feathers, shark teeth, or fish bones.

In some Kapa, the design itself is pounded into the cloth. Instead of applying dye onto the surface, dye is beaten away and the mark of the mark of the wooden beater is embossed into the fabric.

Kapa cloth and its production reflects the culture of Hawaiian people.

They are able to use a local and natural resource to make everyday objects.

Through the Kapa, the Hawaiian people are able to keep in touch with nature, using their hands to transform the bark it into a beautiful textile.

Ethnic Style in Fashion Edited by Wenxin Zheng

Ethnic fashion in History "For me, exoticism is the elsewhere, the other, the difference. It is generally associated with distant countries. But for me, it is rather everything that reroutes us from the ordinary … from our habits, our certainties and from the everyday to plunge us into a world that is amazing, hospitable and warm."

----Dries van Noten

For many Western designers, non-Western aesthetics have shown a important influence. Fashion designers such as Christian Lacroix, Dries van Noten, John Galliano, Kenzo and many others have been inspired by Asian, African, Native American and other aesthetic styles and created syncretic styles. We have selected some important designs with ethnic style in the history.

John Galliano for Christian Dior, Spring 2007 Couture

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai, ca. 1830–32

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai is a well-known prints from the Edo Period. The wood block print is a method also used to print textiles. This print work shows Mount Fuji in the back is hidden by tremendous wave. A mountain in troditional Japanese culture presents as a compositional focus.

For Christian Dior’s Spring 2007 couture show, John Galliano's collection could be seen as contemporary Japonisme. Inspired by “Pinkerton’s affair with Cio-Cio San, Madame Butterfly,” Galliano incorporated this famous print onto the hem of a gown.

Bjork, “Homogenic” Art Direction: Alexander McQueen

Padaung woman

McQueen designed the iconic, Japanese-inspired ensemble Björk wore for the cover of her 1997 opus Homogenic. During that time, Alexander Mcqueen graduated from St. Martin's College and started work with Givenchy, Bjork asked him to design clothes for Homogenic's cover; during the shoot, he let Bjork wearing about 20 pounds of hair on her head. The garment he designer is totally Japanese Kimino style.

The neck coil she worn is like the brass wires worn by the Padaung women along the Thai and Burmese border.

This is the collection for celebrating Kenzo 40 years.

The clothes were a multi-cultural representation of faraway lands and soaring imagination.

Ethnic Chic in 2014 Fashion Weeks Ethnic chic refers to the meeting of old and new, it is a dressing way that use traditional craftsmanship in a modern way. We have selected designers that showcase ethnic trends for Spring/Fall 2014.

2014 pre-fall Emilio Pucci

This is Peter Dundas's pre-fall collection for Pucci. The designer absorbed traditional ethnic ikat, carpet and paisley motifs from the style of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan folk costumes. Ikats embroidered for a 3-D effect brought the whole collection a luxurious level. The silhouettes of some pieces also morphed with traditional Uzbekistan costumes.

2014 Fall Balmain

Olivier rusting is the designer of this collection. All of his design among this season can declare his identity as a young black French. As he said: "I’m screaming it loud. It’s all about ethnicity and freedom, I am 28 years old. I’m proud of having Rihanna as my friend. I’m proud of having all those girls of different cultures modeling for me. Sometimes, it’s not necessary to go to Miami or Vegas, or the fifties or sixties for inspiration—you can just look around you. I’m showing that this is me. I’m part of my generation."leopard spots and zebra stripes, leather latticed with gold chain and pops of red and yellow lamb's fur, all showed diverse African style.

2014 Spring Valentino

For this collection, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli were inspired by opera.

They adopted elements more worldly that come up with lots of craftsmanship from multiple areas.

It seems that they combined inspiration from folk costumes from Balkan, somewhere in North Africa and indigenous dress altogether. Some Egyptian style pattern also shown in collection.

New Ethnic Style of non-Western Designer

Recent years, lots of non-Western designers have been in markets in the United States. They have identified particular ethnic aesthetic that showcase multiculturalism. Vivienne Tam is a fashion designer that born in China, educated in Hong Kong and moved to New York City since the early 2000s. She adopted Chinese motifs in her fashion designs, but highly abstract, as a result, her clothes have included both Buddhist and Maoist imagery. Different from Western designers that tends to make ethnic styles be superficial, Tam's works with Chinese aesthetics led to a deeper involvement with cultural tradition that including spiritualism, architecture, medicine and performance.