Summer Lovin’
In 1910-2, Erte or Romain de Tirtoff (his real name), moved to Paris to pursue a career as a designer.
He was 20.
He made this decision despite strong objections from his father who wanted Romain to continue the family tradition and become a naval officer.
Romain assumed his pseudonym to avoid disgracing the family.
Erte, Paris, c.1929.In 1915, he secured his first substantial contract with Harper’s Bazaar. Between 1915 and 1937, he designed over 200 covers for the magazine and his illustrations would also appear in Illustrated London News, Cosmopolitan, Ladies’ Home Journal and Vogue.
No prizes for guessing this week’s weather forecast on these very British isles.
Thank heavens for pattern and colour!
Thank heavens for pattern and colour!
New Re-use Models for Waste Plastic Packaging
Emma Lundgren, Royal College of Art, 2011.
There is a growing generation of young women designers presenting innovative yet accessible ideas for reusing plastic waste materials as textile.
Employing an array of polymers, from nylon to HDPE, these creations offer exciting new models for re-use, the slowing of disposable materials’ metabolisms, localisation and inspiration.
The samples below become all the more significant when we consider the ecological impact of disposable plastics on the environment.
Suzie Crisfield, Chelsea College of Art & Design, UAL, 2008.
Designer Suzie Crisfield mixes virgin silicon with waste plastic materials to create fluid and versatile fabrics.
Suzie Crisfield, Chelsea College of Art & Design, UAL, 2008.
Suzie Crisfield, Chelsea College of Art & Design, UAL, 2008.
In these samples, Suzie offers ideas for combining waste plastic with selvedge and fabric, reinvigorating the work of Luisa Cervese and passing it on another generation.
Suzie Crisfield, Chelsea College of Art & Design, UAL, 2008.
Suzie Crisfield, Chelsea College of Art & Design, UAL, 2008.
Tope Tijani, also a graduate of Chelsea College of Art & Design, takes similar techniques a step further by applying heat-printed plastic to contemporary jewellery.
Her work can re-use plastics and combine it with digital print technology to create ‘hybrid’ commercial yet coveted pieces:
Tope Tijani, Chelsea College of Art & Design, UAL, 2009.
Tope Tijani, Chelsea College of Art & Design, UAL, 2009.
Look out for Tope’s bags that should be stocked at Collette,
in our humble opinion!
Royal College of Art graduate, Jane Bowler, pares down sheet plastic into silhouettes that recall the exotic glamour of Isabella Blow, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano and Antonio Berardi.
Jane Bowler, Royal College of Art, 2010.
Jane Bowler, Royal College of Art, 2010.
Recent Royal College of Art graduate, Jungeun Lee, moulds plastic around a wooden form to create garments that echo the voluminous work of Issey Miyake and Maria Blaisse:
Jungeun Lee, Royal College of Art, 2011.
Using similar techniques to those in Tom Dixon’s Fresh Fat Plastic series and Richard Liddle ‘s RD4 chair, this evocative technique can employ any percentage of recycled plastic in its mix:
Jungeun Lee, Royal College of Art, 2011.
These young designers build upon the previous generations’ work with plastics recycling (see Colin Williamson, Jane Atfield and Emma Neuberg) and bring us closer to interventionist styles of working/making that elevate waste plastic to treasured, even bespoke, artefact.
Our Next Workshop at the V&A
Eclectic prints by Emma Lundgren, Royal College of Art, 2011.
Eclecticism, postmodernism and engineered prints are working their way into our exciting new plans for the next Slow Textiles/makeitdigital textile design course.
Due to take place exclusively at the V&A, this cutting edge course, Born To Be Wild (and open to everyone), is designed in tandem with the forthcoming blockbuster,
Watch this space.
Techno inspired prints by Emma Lundgren, RCA, 2011.
Engineered prints by Lauren Barfoot, RCA, 2011.
The Politics of Fashion
The first lady of politics and fashion to catch the Earth Day surge of 1970s environmentalism and dress receives an CBE from the Queen today celebrating 30 years of pro-ecological and sustainable fashion/textiles activity.
slowtextiles.org 
