September 2, 2017 – January 7, 2018
SCRAPS presents the work of three designers who have pioneered creative approaches to recycling textiles: Luisa Cevese of Riedizioni in Milan; Christina Kim of dosa in Los Angeles; and Reiko Sudo of Nuno in Tokyo.
REIMAGINING WASTE LUISA CEVESE “I love waste” is Luisa Cevese’s guiding principle. When she was head of research at the Centro Ricerche Mantero in Como, Italy’s silk-weaving center, Cevese became acutely aware of the large quantity of waste produced by the textile industry but was also drawn to the visual qualities of this leftover material. In 1996, she founded Riedizioni (re-editions) in Milan, Italy, and started to embed colorful silk selvedges into polyurethane to make a durable, waterproof material for totes, purses, and wallets. Selvedges—the fringes of weft ends cut from the sides of fabrics as they are woven— are still Cevese’s favored material. But she has expanded her industry partnerships and waste materials to include offcuts from knitting mills, damaged borders of saris, fishing nets, and bran hulls from a Parisian baker. She takes pleasure in expressing herself with what is available at the moment, but she is diligent about minimizing waste in the production process. This includes, Cevise says, “embracing imperfections, which are the mark of a hand-intensive process.”
Right: Spread textile (detail), designed 1996; designed by Luisa Cevese (Italian, b. 1955), produced by Riedizioni (Milan, Italy). Photo by Matt Flynn. © Smithsonian Institution. © Luisa Cevese Riedizioni.
RECONSIDERING MATERIALS REIKO SUDO Reiko Sudo has been transforming how we think about textiles for more than three decades. She is the principal designer and managing director of NUNO, founded in 1984 and known for combining Japanese handcraft tradition with advanced textile technologies to create extraordinary functional textiles. Always conscious of the impact textile production has on the environment, Sudo has recently explored the creative potential of silk waste. Since 2007, her primary focus has been kibiso—the outermost layer of the silk cocoon that protects the delicate silk fiber underneath. Retrieved before the silk reeling process, kibiso is too coarse for industrial weaving, but working in collaboration with the city of Tsuruoka, Sudo has converted kibiso into finer yarn that can be machine woven. During her kibiso experimentation, Sudo discovered another silk waste, ogarami choshi, a residue that sticks to the spinning shaft and has to be cut away. When the layers of the tightly curled material are peeled apart, they can be pressed together to create a translucent patchwork paper.
Right: Ogarami choshi panel (detail), 2016; designed by Reiko Sudo and Tsuruoka Fabric Industry Cooperative; courtesy of Reiko Sudo and Tsuruoka Fabric Industry Cooperative. Photo: Matt Flynn. © Smithsonian Institution. Below: Kibiso Tsugihagi (detail), 2016; designed by Reiko Sudo (Japanese, b. 1953), manufactured by NUNO Corporation (Tokyo, Japan). Photo by Sue McNab. © Susan McNab & NUNO Corporation.
REINVESTING IN HANDWORK CHRISTINA KIM Christina Kim, founder of the Los Angeles–based fashion brand dosa, has always drawn inspiration from traditional textile cultures around the world. Working with local artisans, she provides sustainable livelihoods by engaging in long-term collaborative relationships and paying fair wages. Her longstanding reverence for handwoven cloth led her fifteen years ago to jamdani: The gossamer cotton saris worn in Bengal, India, and Bangladesh became the fabric for her 2003 collection. Recognizing the cultural history and human creativity embedded in the cloth, Kim collected the cutting-room scraps and had them pieced and appliquéd into a whole cloth by skilled embroiderers in Gujarat, India. A second generation of clothing was cut from the re-engineered fabric in 2008, and the scraps gathered from this collection were made into tikdis, or small dots, appliquéd on silk scarves until all of the scraps were used. Equally important to Kim’s zero-waste approach is her intent “to help keep different traditions alive ... investing the human hand with more or as much value as the material itself.”
Above: Eungie skirt (detail), 2008 collection; designed by Christina Kim (American, b. South Korea 1957), produced by dosa inc. (Los Angeles, California). © dosa, inc. Right: Gee’s Bend tikdi textile (detail), 2009; designed by Christina Kim (American b. South Korea 1957), produced by dosa, inc. (Los Angeles, California). © dosa, inc.
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Textile Library Located on the museum’s fourth floor, the Arthur D. Jenkins Library is open Wed–Thu 1–4 PM and by appointment. Please contact the librarian before your visit at museumlibrary@gwu.edu.
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Cover image: Gee’s Bend tikdi textile (detail), 2009; designed by Christina Kim (American b. South Korea 1957), produced by dosa, inc. (Los Angeles, California). © dosa, inc. Above: Ogarami choshi panel (detail), 2016; designed by Reiko Sudo and Tsuruoka Fabric Industry Cooperative; Courtesy of Reiko Sudo and Tsuruoka Fabric Industry Cooperative. Photo: Matt Flynn. © Smithsonian Institution
Scraps: Fashion, Textiles, and Creative Reuse was organized by
Exhibition Program Highlights For a complete list of programs with descriptions, or to register for a program, visit museum.gwu.edu/programs or call 202-994-7394 Highlight Tours
WORKSHOP
Free tours of this exhibition are offered Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 PM. To schedule a private tour for a group of six to forty people, call 202-994-5578 at least four weeks in advance.
Scraps Patchwork Thursday, November 9, 11:30 AM Reiko Sudo, managing director, Nuno Fee: $125/museum members and GW students, faculty, and staff; $150/public.
Curator Tour Saturday, September 9 11 AM (members) and 12 PM (public) Camille Ann Brewer, curator of contemporary art. Free but advance registration is required.
FILM AND CONVERSATION
The Cost of Fashion and the Quest for Sustainable Solutions Thursday, September 21, 5 PM Janice Wallace, editor-in-chief, Façon Magazine FASHION SHOW
Scraps on the Runway Thursday, October 5, 6 PM Howard University Fashion Program Fee: $20/museum members and GW students, faculty, and staff; $25/public. Semi-formal attire. LIBRARY EVENT
Sustainable Fashion Research Fair Thursday, October 26, drop in 12-2 PM Howard University Fashion Design Program
LECTURE
Kibiso Silk: From Trash to Treasure Thursday, November 9, 6 PM Reiko Sudo, managing director, Nuno Fee: $10/museum members and GW students, faculty, and staff; $15/public. PANEL DISCUSSION
2% — The Poetics of Scrap Thursday, November 16, 6 PM Christina Kim, founder, dosa, and Timo Rissanen, assistant professor of fashion design and sustainability, Parsons School of Design, with moderator Camille Ann Brewer, curator of contemporary art. Fee: $10/museum members and GW students, faculty, and staff; $15/public. TRUNK SHOW
Innovation NUNO Friday, November 17–Sunday, November 19 WORKSHOP
Mending Saturday, December 2, 11 AM-4 PM Renate Maile-Moskowitz, international teacher and fiber expert. Fee: $35/museum members and GW students, faculty, and staff; $40/public.
Above: Table mat, metallic patched (detail), 2016. Designed by Luisa Cevese (Italian, b. 1955), manufactured by Luisa Cevese Riedizioni (Milan, Italy). Courtesy of Luisa Cevese Riedizioni.