Final project presentations at UCF

After seeing all the work in progress images over the last few months, we were really excited to be hopping on a train back to Falmouth to see the final work presentations and meet the students involved with the Sandur x Falmouth project.
We managed to pick a gorgeous weekend to be in Cornwall, and even though, on the Monday morning as we caught the bus up to Tremough the heavens opened, our spirits could not be dampened.. we couldn't wait to see the students' work!

And we were blown away by the fantastic response from all involved, not only in terms of the work produced but by the enthusiasm and interest shown by all for the project and the story behind it.
It was so exciting to see such a range of ideas and creativity emerge from our original brief. The new lines of exploration the students came up with when asked to use the current SKKK products and traditional Lambani work as starting points for a sample collection relevant to the Western market were exciting and relevant.

We were pleased to hear that many of the students found it interesting and thought provoking to learn more about the women embroiderers at SKKK, their work and lifestyle and, and that it led them to consider their own work,  not only in terms of visual creativity but also in respect of their working environment and social circle. It was this link that we were hoping to spark as part of the initiative; to incubate an idea of understanding and appreciation of skill and circumstances between two groups separated geographically but linked by their understanding of technique and textiles.

The innovative and diverse routes taken in the work has generated new avenues of thought and opportunity that we hope will create ideas within SKKK and show them the appreciation the students at UCF have for their skilled work and history.

We hope the students have enjoyed exploring the traditional stitches of the Lambani, adding them to their bank of knowledge to use in their own work. And that the research of producers and market have provided interesting starting points for thinking about the effects and potential of production for their future work roles.

Thanks again to all involved, this was quite an experimental project and we are so pleased with the outcome. We hope to build on it in the future and would really love to hear any feedback, as would the students involved.

Thanks again, and enjoy the work!

Isolde and Josie

All works shown are copyright to their designer (c) 2012

Emily Dawson

We were immediately struck by Emily's subtle sense of colour, very different from the traditional Lambani work, but current to the Western market aspect of the brief and something we felt could be very successful. Through this muted palette Emily focussed attention of the quality and intricacy of the traditional stitches, combining them with some of her own ideas.

Emily told us that she had taken on board the 'local' idea of the traditional Lambani work, looking at her own environment and social group as inspiration. She decided to incorporate the recycled element also through using offcuts of fabrics and trims she already had, much in the same way that the Lambani work would have done in the past. It was great to hear that she had engaged, not only with the visual aspect of the brief, but with the ideas and history of the Lambani and we found her final cushion products to be highly successful.

Charlotte Green

We felt that Charlotte had really taken on board the aspect of the brief that dealt with generating potential new products for SKKK with her creative samples. She kept the materials used, cotton base fabrics and threads, the same but chose to focus on creating designs which could be practically made by SKKK now. We thought her idea of creating laptop cases was really exciting and relevant.

 

Whilst Charlotte kept to the materials that the embroiderers are used to using, she pared down the designs to pick out a few key stitches as she felt this style would be more relevant to the Western market. She also introduced quilting to the design. Charlotte had obviously engaged with the nature of SKKK's work and understood the pracicalities of the project to create a creative outcome.

 

Charlotte Buller

Charlotte used a rich colour palette and lifted her designs with the use of metallics and beads which were reminiscent of the coins and shells used in the traditional Lambani work.

 

 We really liked the delicacy of Charlotte's designs which picked out traditional stitches and developed them through experimentation of scale and shape.

Emma Lidstone

Following on from Emma's initial samples we were really interested to see how she took it forward into her production piece. Emma was inspired to use her samples to create a range of designs for childrens wear as she felt that this is a growing area of the industry and one where parents are likely to want to invest inethically made products from companies with a strong story, and she felt this could be an interesting area for SKKK to investigate.

Emma had thoroughly researched the market, looking at companies producing similar products, and the traditional stitches, which she clearly enjoyed learning and playing around with. We loved the idea for childrens wear and the strong interest Emma showed in the brief to create a fun, viable and well styled collection.

Hannah Johnson

Rachel Blount

 

It was clear from Rachel's work that she'd really enjoyed learning and experimenting with the new stitches. We really enjoyed Rachel's presentation and she talked really clearly about how her project and ideas had developed.

 

Rachel placed an emphasis on the fabric and threads used in her samples for interior furnishings, and was keen to introduce texture to the Lambani work. Using wools she created a very different and tactile nature to the traditional stitches, we also enjoyed the way the samples explore a larger scale.

 

Her use of styling in the visualisations was also important, as she saw the colourful nature of the Lmabani work as an accent, keeping it's intricate nature but ensuring it wasn't lost amongst excessive pattern.