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.

Claire Morris

 

Claire was inspired by the patterns and density of the traditional Lambani work and to explore this element she opted to strip the bright colors and create a sophisticated tonal look of blue/greys.

 

  

We were really interested to see the way Claire explored circuit board and geometric line imagery as starting points for her sample collection.

 

By incorporating beading in the traditional stitches, Claire has created a really interesting feel which references the origins but takes it forward to a new setting.

After initally looking at creating samples for home furnishings, Claire decided to create a fashion piece for her production project. We were interested that she used silk as a base fabric and thought it was very successful.

Rosie Barnes

 We were looking forward to seeing Rosie's use of neon after seeing images of her work in progress ealier on in the project, it's a really interesting take on the bright colours used by the Lambani and relevant to current trends. The use of white as a base makes for a fresh and contemporary feel.

Olivia Kennedy

Olivia told us she was already interested in exploring 'tribal' imagery in her work before she started the project so really enjoyed getting to grips with the new stitches. She saw a link between patterns of stitch and reptile scales and played on this theme to create her samples.

We really liked the richness of the colour palette and the real sense that Olivia has taken inspiration from the traditonal Lambani work and incorporated this within her own style and proportion to create a well rounded sample collection.

Work in Progress

A little update of some inspiration boards and sampling created by the some of the students during the project. We are going to be at UCF on 14th May to catch up with the students and all the lovely work they created during the project, so we'll be posting more images after that - we can't wait!!

Emily Dawson:

 

Olivia Kennedy:

Rachel Blount:

It's brilliant to see such a range of different ideas coming out of the one original brief. We really hoping that we would see a variety of angles and outcomes so this is really exciting.

Work in Progress: Emma Lidstone

We were really excited to see more work from Emma Lidstone this week when she sent us links to her blog.

Continuing the Sandur x Falmouth Project into a production unit, Emma is developing her initial inspiration into a childrenswear piece, using the Lambani stitches as a starting point

We like the way she has incorporated the traditional Lambani stiches into her embroidery and the fresh feel to the colour palette, which has been inspired by fruit.

Looking forward to seeing the finished dress, very cute!!
Thanks Emma

Hacking Design

Otto von Busch is a self styled 'Fashion Hacktivist', the Swedish designer, theorist and researcher focuses on the ways we design and consume fashion and looks to explore how we can dynamically change and 'hack' into the observed norms.

 

I first saw him give a version of this talk at an FEI conference. He draws on a wealth of knowledge and pulls together a wide range of ideas in an energetic explosion of thinking. Enjoy!

Work in Progress: Rachel Blount

Rachel has clearly drawn strong influence from the clothes of the Lambani women. The garments are spectacular and incredibly detailed, Rachel is picking up the effect of texture from the stitching and colour combinations, we look forward to seeing more.

image (c) Rachel Blount

A truly international project

We chose to create this blog (in London) so that the participating students, in Falmouth, and the employees at Kushala Kala Kendra, in Sandur, could follow the project's progress, so we were thrilled when Praveen, head of merchandising and production at SKKK, sent us this lovely message:

"Really glad and happy to see your project with students. Our people at Kendra have appreciated the snaps sent by you. Have seen the blog and it's amazing considering it is only at an early stage. Please bear some more time with us to revert back you with more feed back and ideas!

 

For now i can say it's truly one of the great moment for Kendra's people and artisans to see students and budding designers from a country like UK taking their traditional craft - Lambani hand embroidery to greater level of design and creating awareness internationally.

Thank you so much for your commitment and appreciate for your lovely work.

Wishing great success to the students, god bless!"

 

Thank you Praveen, we are so excited about the way this is moving forward..stay tuned for more work and let us know what you think

Isolde and Josie

Maiyet : pioneers of luxury fashion

Maiyet is a fresh luxury label for whom social entrepreneurship and the promotion of traditional craft go hand in hand with contemporary design. Maiyet work with artisan block printers, weavers, embroiderers and jewellery workers in India and Kenya to create beautiful womenswear using the wealth of skill they have identified in their craftspeople.

 image @ Maiyet

Currently stocked by Barneys in New York, Maiyet look to capture the opportunities provided by the high end of the market to faciliate growth and development within their artisan communities through fair wages and investment. And thereby providing their clients with an exquisite product in both style and provenance.

 

image @ Maiyet

Their website seems a bit temperamental but the blog has a wealth of imagery and information.

Awamaki Lab: Season 2

We've mentionned Awamaki in previous posts as a US organisation who work with textile cooperative members in Peru to produce quality, design led and contemporary products. As part of their work they run Awamaki Lab, an incubation unit for young US designers to work in Peru for several months and produce a design collection.

image @ ecco*eco

The second of these Lab collections was launched recently at the Textile Arts Center in New York.

Parsons graduates Andria Crescioni and Courtney Cedarholm collaborated with the women to produce a beautifully earthy collection, which captures the spirit of the traditional Peruvian fabrics but brings them to date with a subtle and sensitive hand.

 Check out ecco*eco's report of the launch night for some more lovely images

Work in progress: Rosie Barnes

Rosie has taken the bright colours that the lambani women wear and made them neon! The women wear lots of bright colours- but traditional ones. The neon gives the stitches a completely different look.

The shapes and motifs that she has taken inspiration from are a nice mixture of organic and architectural - all which are very prominent in the Indian landscape. This with the neon colours is going to create a wonderful juxtaposition!

Work in progress: Claire Morris

Exploring stitches and a cooler, more monochrome colour palette than the Lambani products currently have

Detail of stitch development, evolving Lambani stitches and introducing beaded elements

 Pattern development

The colours and geometric patterns developing here are a new take on the traditional Lambani work. It is a fresh approach which, inspired by the traditional stitches, feels very contemporary and relevant to the Western market. We're really looking forward to seeing how this develops.

Work in progress: Iris Pederson

Iris Pederson has experimented with a much darker background than is normally used by the Lambani women, with their fabrics often comprising of reds, oranges and yellows. I think this is a very interesting way to approach it as the colours of the yarns really stand out. They would have to use less threads to get a bigger impact, this way they could spend more on quality materials and still attract the western market. I can't wait to see more images Iris!

I also love the detial of the stiching in the centers of the motifs.