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Spring sunshine glows over the patchwork of tilled rice fields across the Kanto plain, northwest of Tokyo. A tall chimney juts up from a dense cluster of buildings in the town of Hanyu, known for both udon noodles and indigo cloth. During the Meiji period (late 19th to early 20th century) this region was known as Bushu and there were around 200 separate cloth-making businesses, making the most of the rich soil where both indigo and cotton plants could be raised. Today only four companies remain. Most specialise in embroidery, with Kojima Senshoku the sole survivor of the traditional ‘Bushu-sho-indigo’ industry. Since its foundation in 1872, Kojima has dyed and woven indigo cotton fabrics, which for a long period were used for agricultural work-wear. The dark blue doesn’t readily show signs of daily toil while natural indigo, with its distinctive smell (even after washing), is somewhat insect repellent, making it ideal for outdoor clothing. Early bast-fibre (plant stem) textiles, and later cotton (cultivated from the 1500s), were easily coloured in the indigo vat, which once prepared could be used for many weeks. Patterning was also easy as resist dyeing of threads or cloth, together with undyed and tonal shades, could deliver variety and serve vernacular traditions or fashionable tastes. As such, indigo made a perfect dyestuff for the once large-scale cottage industry. The popularity of this daily wear continued beyond the Second World War; but advancing modernisation in the 1950s brought new forms of organised work – and factory uniforms – and the demand for traditional work clothes fell rapidly. Kojima’s cloth, however, already revered for its high density, durability, and deep colour, cornered a then growing market for ‘gi’ or garments for kendo, the ancient art of Japanese swordsmanship. Increased westernisation had prompted a desire in Japan to preserve traditions; and the Japanese martial art of Kendo grew in popularity. The gi was an essential element, and the iki (refined aesthetic sensibility) of Japanese dress equally important. High-grade cloth in rich blue, that held the deep pleats of the hakama culottes, and the stitching of layered linings in undergarments, jackets and hoods, was required and Kojima seized the market. In the decades that followed they have never relinquished it. Hideyuki Kojima is the fifth | generation incumbent of this indigo empire. After his father died at an early age, he decided to continue the line. Though he does remember a time when, after leaving the countryside for the urban thrills of university life in Tokyo, he had felt release from the smells and sounds of the dye houses. But he was instinctively drawn back by sweet childhood memories of the factory family, and the confidence in something understood, something ingrained, much as the tell-tale blue in his fingernails. This passion is true of the whole ‘family’ at Kojima. The fifty or so workers share an obvious joy and pride in the Japanese blue that they make and sell. The company is conscious of the need to sustain such a dedicated workforce, and takes on a couple of apprentices a year, some local and some from further afield, all keen to become part of this special industry. The training reflects the established teaching of arts and making practices in Japan. Ten years of rigorous and reflective ‘learning-by-doing’ is considered necessary to acquire independent skills. Kojima passionately supports traditional practice and regularly nominates individuals for the prestigious Dentou Kougei Shi or Traditional Craftsmanship Award, with two workers currently holding titles. This both contributes to preservation of the crafts and provides good brand recognition. The factory complex itself is typical of many textile mills, and numerous buildings have striking nokogiri-yane or ‘saw-toothed’ roofs. The jagged elevations bringing light deep into the factory. The mill carries out every process except spinning, with its mainly cotton yarn shipped in (as far as possible) from domestic supply, but also from Pakistan and India. Traditional dying methods are key and while natural indigo dye (from Tokushima) continues to be used for a good deal of the production, ‘indigo pure’ or chemical indigo is also expertly employed. The yarn dyeing vat itself is rich with indigo, the cracked surface telling of the anaerobic alchemy below. A semi-mechanised process here is an ingenious modification of traditional Japanese yarn dyeing. Skeins hung and gently tensioned from a set of large hooks are lowered into the deep vat, rested a minute or two, and raised up again. The greenish indigo liquor drains away and the skeins are mechanically twisted, the hooks above rotating against fixed bars below, wringing them out in a reversed and repeated action, just as one would do by hand. Dyers then open them up so that air can penetrate to the core, and oxygen can work its magic, turning the cotton blue. This is repeated around 10-15 times, depending on the desired depth of colour. The yarn is then washed 15 times in fresh water, dipped in a root starch solution ensuring the yarn strength and ease in weaving, and dried naturally in the sunshine. It’s then wound down for warping and weaving on the wonderfully slow, solid shuttle looms, which deliver the durable cloth. Finishing happens on site too. In addition to centuriesold techniques, Kojima now boasts a portfolio of services that it sells to other cloth makers, bringing in new business and diversifica- tion. Kojima’s modern philosophy embraces both past and present. While it seeks to preserve the older techniques that deliver special character, it also adopts new technologies that increase volume and efficiency. Established materials are carefully married to the new, and machinery employed only so far as it doesn’t erode the need for handwork. This type of ‘hybrid practice’ is an increasingly popular take on the traditional paradigm. The company is expanding its range, seeking to to the international fashion industry. It is experimenting with new ideas which retain ‘a feel of the Edo period’ (an aesthetically rich era, 1603-1867), extending beyond kendo hakama and lining cloths to shirt fabrics, bag canvases and a range of indigo products, employing weaving, knitting and printing techniques. The company, and indeed town, now welcomes visitors to annual Aizome ichi ‘Indigo markets’, where the history, practice and products of the industry can be enjoyed. Cultural pragmatism, tenacity and selfawareness have secured Kojima’s longevity over 140 years, and it should continue to enjoy a bright, or appropriately ‘blue’, future. Tim Parry Williams fitted into channels formed by parallel, stitched lines and held in place by long, hand sewn stitches at the top and bottom of each channel. The front fastening system, or ‘busk’, consists of two strips of steel with, on one side, a series of tiny metal knobs and, on the other, corresponding loops that rather satisfyingly clip onto those knobs. This ‘divided’ busk fastening system came to be in general use around 1860 and did away with the need to completely or nearly unlace the corset before removal, a convenience that allowed women to get in and out of corsets without the need for assistance. Although the divided busk is generally handier to use, the clips often come undone when an ample person tries to stuff all the right bits into the right places, so ‘old fashioned’ single busks seem to be easier for some women to wear. However, the ‘divided’ busk allows for more extreme shaping of the waist and rounding of the hips and bust. Judging by Mrs Bryant’s corset, which shows that two sets of double godets were inserted to accommodate a generous bust and the swell of full hips, it is fair to say that she was a woman of some physical substance whose liberal proportions would have required serious buttressing. What was Previous page: Wedding corset, 1874, silk satin, lace Below: Wedding corset, 1884, embroidered silk satin, lace likely to have been Matilda Bryant’s fashionably small waist was, probably with assistance, squeezed tight and further reduced by hauling on a set of stout laces. Some fine corsetieres would, and do, use parallel channel stitching to decorate and add structure to corsets, and this can be seen on the example worn by the former Miss O’Shea on her wedding day in 1887. Although many of this corset’s bone channels are empty, each channel is finished with long hand-stitches, or ‘flossing’ as embellishment. These design features may have been personal preference or a way to cut costs by using fewer steel bones. And because it provided an extra layer of protection, flossing also served to prolong the life of the corset. A blue wedding corset from 1884 shows decorative and functional flossing. The cream silk flossing matches the channel stitching and embroidered edging. Also in Chicago History Museum’s corsets collection of is what’s prettily known as a ‘ribbon’ corset from 1901. This under bust style corset is, as it says on the tin, fashioned from lengths of ribbon: but don’t be fooled by visions of insubstantiality. Granted, female tennis players and other athletes would wear ribbon corsets that allowed their bodies a fraction more ease of movement: but these corsets were still armoured with steel busks and bones. Ribbon corsets were favoured by younger, or active women who had begun to resist the strict bodily confinement of full, heavily boned corsets from the Victorian era, which by 1901, the year of Queen Victoria’s death, were considered terribly staid and old fashioned. /Getty Images istory Museum icago H ll Photos by Ch A few years later in 1909, Mrs Wyatt of New York wore an incredible confection beneath her wedding gown. Her full corset, complete with a set of elastic and stainless steel suspenders, was constructed to force her body into the bow fronted, sway backed ‘S’ bend shape fashionable at the time. Whatever the torturous effects of this sciatica inducing garment were, it is, as an aesthetic object, beautiful. The substrate is composed of the usual suspects i.e. strong cotton twill, or coutil, steel A P52/53 Wedding corset, 1887, cotton twill, silk thread embroidery bones and busk, firm stitching and unyielding, long line lacing. This structural foundation work gives the corset its shape and enabled it to jut the bust and backside outwards in opposite directions, while the extended lacing also restricted the length of stride to little steps. Most museums offer the chance to experience a ‘handling session’ whereby archive items can be closely inspected. Since corsets are intricate and exquisite yet deceptively well-built items, this way of encountering them is especially rewarding. And, for those who want to know how a corset feels, the Fashion Museum in Bath has replicas in the museum galleries for visitors to do just this. Breathe in! Chicago History Museum, www.chicago-his- tory.org 19th Century Corset Making. This summer renowned costumier Luca Costigliolo will host a residential Selvedge Sewing School at the Chateau Dumas in France. Students will learn to make an 1880s corset from an original pattern using period sewing techniques and materials, 9th16th August 2014, for details visit www.selvedge.org P38/39 Kate Cavendish hears Injiri’s textile folk tale S T I T CH I NG S T OR I E S Every stitch, gather and selvedge in Chinar Farooqui’s designs for Injiri tell a story. Farooqui sees her textiles as text, a hand-crafted tale that’s shaped by artisans and weavers across India. With influences from folk clothing and local dressing styles, complemented by a deep respect for process, Injiri writes a compelling aesthetic narrative. The first chapter of Farooqui’s story had a coauthor, Aneeth Arora see issue 47. Together the designers launched ‘Gaba’, a label inspired by regional dress – Gaba is a Marwari word meaning ‘clothing’. The venture lasted several seasons before independence beckoned and Farooqui set up Injiri. If storytelling looks back to folk traditions, so does Farooqui. She has a Masters in Textiles from India’s National Institute of Design, but can often be found continuing her education at museums, where she studies vintage folk garments. In these Farooqui finds both beauty and comfort: “I think there’s a classicism and also spontaneity” she says. Farooqui embraces this ‘spontaneous’ element in her own designs. “The textile suggests the shape and kind of garment I would like to make from it,” she says. “When I design the textile, I am not aware of where its elements will be used on a garment. Only when I have the textile ready in my hand do I start to work with it in a manner that allows me to bring out its beauty in the best possible way. My clothes are like little stories of the textiles.” Even the etymology of ‘Injiri’ tells a tale. A colloquial pronunciation of ‘India’, Injiri comes from a Kalibari word that references the highly prized fabrics that were exported to West Africa from South India in the early 20th century. Farooqui continues this tradition of producing heirloom-quality textiles from which she fashions her garments. Central to her collections are chaukadi, or checks, which she pairs in blue and white. Her blue is a ‘glass blue’ that comes from vintage blue pottery and ceramics, a hue that’s often seen on the lungis (similar to sarongs) worn by men in different parts of India. Farooqui’s textiles also include a compelling use SELVEDGE 78 of detail, including smocking on a blouse, tassels on a scarf, and hand-beaten metal buttons. But the designer assures that her details are not superficial. “There are no surface embellishments in my garments at all,” she states. “For me the beauty lies in the process of making. I emphasize the details of stitching or quilting through the colour of the thread to create a line drawing along the seams, or through the gathers and pleats where I need volume. All these add interest to the garment and also reflect the process that a garment goes through by its maker.” The construction of the garment, then, becomes its most important design detail. This process is inspired by local dress, which Farooqui appreciates not only for its ‘boldness and effortlessness’, but also for its strong link between textile techniques and geographical location. She notes how the kurta, with its precisely scaled panels and gussets, derives its shape from its design elements. Although there are regional variations that change the drape of the kurta, the integrity of its architecture remains. “The garment is so beautiful in its construction that while designing I like to enhance the existing features rather than add complexities,” Farooqui explains. So she might reimagine an English farmer’s voluminous smock, its gathers and pleats historically designed to withstand abrasion from working in the fields, in a lightweight weave. Farooqui also incorporates textiles made in different parts of India into one garment – sleeves of jamdani cotton (a woven design typically found on saris) made in West Bengal, front panels of chanderi cotton woven in Madhya Pradesh (central India), with stitching and finishing done in Injiri’s Jaipur workshop. The common thread among all these influences and techniques is Farooqui’s ‘hand-made’ approach to design. This time-honoured method, used from folk to couture, serves as the foundation for the philosophy, aesthetic and process behind Injiri. Injiri will be part of the Selvedge Fashion Fair, 10 May, The Octagon at Milsom Place, Bath, BA1 1DG, www.selvedge.org. SELVEDGE 79 P78/79 F I V E S TAR ACCOMMODATION Craft company Cinq étoiles creates harmony in the home Frank Lloyd Wright’s career was underpinned by the principles of ‘organic architecture’. Among them was the desire to create buildings that existed in harmony with their surroundings, using natural colours and safeguarding the integrity of chosen materials; or as Professor Kimberly Elman Zarecor puts it: “you don’t twist steel into a flower.” It’s no surprise that he gave his seal of approval to Villa Sebastian in Hammamet, Tunisia, calling it “the most beautiful house he knew of”. In the 1920s, Hammamet was a fashionable location amongst the elite, who were drawn to the area for its unspoilt scenery, simple square white houses set against a clear blue sky, Mediterranean climate, local produce and handcrafts. Today, the villa, now known as the International Cultural Centre, is used for galleries and receptions and is one of Hammamet’s most popular attractions. And it makes the villa the perfect location for Gokalp Hamurcu, a young Turkish photographer based in Paris, to capture the work of Cinq étoiles, or Five Star, a Tunisian company established to promote and distribute local handicrafts. Cinq étoiles is a company that, on a small scale, adheres to the same principles as Frank Lloyd Wright almost instinctively. Take their ‘foutas’: these multi-functional cloths adapt to their surroundings beautifully. Originally used as towels in the hammams (steam rooms) of Tunisia they transcended this original purpose to become elegant lifestyle accessories – bath towel, beach sarong, tablecloth or throw. Faiza Khaled, founder of the company, lends a master hand and an eye to the aesthetics of all the products. Whether wood, linen, wool, cotton, ceramics, glass or willow, collections are born of an alliance between traditional skill and a response to the needs of contemporary life. Underpinned by a passion for authenticity, Cinq étoiles has no mission other than a desire for quality and quality of life for its employees. Skilled craftsmen and designers team up to establish the essence of indigenous materials from each region of Tunisia and offer them a new look and new uses. All materials are natural and the products are handmade which positions them in an economically and socially ecological sphere. It allows a substantial number of craftspeople, from north to south of Tunisia, to earn a sustainable living. By establishing collaborations between designers like Nelson Sepulveda and local artisans, with periodic associations with organisations who promote crafts and cultural heritage such as KERKENATISS and Hirfa, Cinq étoiles offers high quality products for export. In addition, it offers to the consumer objects that echo their place of origin and add grace to their new environment. Mme Faiza KHALED 44, rue de l'Eglantier, 2070 La-Marsa - Tunisia, design-5etoiles.com SELVEDGE 54 SELVEDGE 55 P54/55 INDUSTRY from craft to commerce 62 BROAD CLOTH At Hainsworth June Hill discovers a textile history that touches everything from biscuits to battle blues We visit a centuries-old vertical mill in West Yorkshire 64 DUAL ASPECT The two strands of weaver Andrea Donnelly Catherine Harris unpicks the complex work of this American artist and weaver 72 SITTING COMFORTABLY Maison Drucker have been making the quintessential bistro chairs since 1885 Anne Laure Camilleri looks at the traditional canework seen in the cafés of Paris ANECDOTE textiles that touch our lives 76 STUDY GROUP In the second of our series celebrating the opening of the V&A’s Clothworkers’ Centre, Lead Curator Edwina Ehrman looks in detail at a wedding outfit from Liberty of London 96 FABRIC SWATCH No 19: Shweshwe Lynette Douglas reveals the background of this fine fabric, first documented in the 16th century. Illustrated by Katrin Coetzer WIN 83 PRIZES THIS ISSUE A chance to win a scarf by Little Fool, an outfit from Heartwear and a pair of lace edged bloomers by Magnolia Pearl. Visit www.selvedge.org to enter INFORM the latest news, reviews and exhibition listings 03 BIAS /CONTRIBUTORS A letter from the founder and comments from our contributors 06 EVENTS The Selvedge Fashion Fair 10th May 07 NEWS Fortnum & Mason, Ally Cappellino, WHOLE, Re Rag Rug, Llaine Alexis, Clothes Tell Stories and Tinsmiths 09 NEEDLE’S EYE 06: Satin Stitch 80 SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS This issue every new subscriber and renewal will receive a tote bag kit from Check and Stripe worth £19 82 BACK ISSUES Complete your Selvedge collection while you still can! Many issues are now sold out or have limited stock 84 LISTINGS Exhibitions, fairs and events taking place around the world in May & June 86 READ Silk & Cotton: Textiles from the Central Asia that Was, Susan Meller, by Phillipa Watkins. Cashmere: a French Passion 1800-1880, Monique Levi-Strauss, by Sonia Ashmore 88 VIEW Crysalis Project Lace Effects 1, by Nicola Donovan. In Air: Cut Works by Piper Shepherd, by Carol Quarini. From Geisha to Diva: The Kimonos of Ichimaru, by Meaghan Collins. 95 COMING NEXT The Folk Issue: Textiles of the people, by the people and for the people SELVEDGE ('selnid3 ) n. 1. finished di fferently 2. the non-fraying edge of a length of woven fabric. [: from SELF + EDGE] SELVEDGE 5

Spring sunshine glows over the patchwork of tilled rice fields across the Kanto plain, northwest of Tokyo. A tall chimney juts up from a dense cluster of buildings in the town of Hanyu, known for both udon noodles and indigo cloth.

During the Meiji period (late 19th to early 20th century) this region was known as Bushu and there were around 200 separate cloth-making businesses, making the most of the rich soil where both indigo and cotton plants could be raised. Today only four companies remain. Most specialise in embroidery, with Kojima Senshoku the sole survivor of the traditional ‘Bushu-sho-indigo’ industry.

Since its foundation in 1872, Kojima has dyed and woven indigo cotton fabrics, which for a long period were used for agricultural work-wear. The dark blue doesn’t readily show signs of daily toil while natural indigo, with its distinctive smell (even after washing), is somewhat insect repellent, making it ideal for outdoor clothing. Early bast-fibre (plant stem) textiles, and later cotton (cultivated from the 1500s), were easily coloured in the indigo vat, which once prepared could be used for many weeks. Patterning was also easy as resist dyeing of threads or cloth, together with undyed and tonal shades, could deliver variety and serve vernacular traditions or fashionable tastes. As such, indigo made a perfect dyestuff for the once large-scale cottage industry.

The popularity of this daily wear continued beyond the Second World War; but advancing modernisation in the 1950s brought new forms of organised work – and factory uniforms – and the demand for traditional work clothes fell rapidly. Kojima’s cloth, however, already revered for its high density, durability, and deep colour, cornered a then growing market for ‘gi’ or garments for kendo, the ancient art of Japanese swordsmanship.

Increased westernisation had prompted a desire in Japan to preserve traditions; and the Japanese martial art of Kendo grew in popularity. The gi was an essential element, and the iki (refined aesthetic sensibility) of Japanese dress equally important. High-grade cloth in rich blue, that held the deep pleats of the hakama culottes, and the stitching of layered linings in undergarments, jackets and hoods, was required and Kojima seized the market.

In the decades that followed they have never relinquished it. Hideyuki Kojima is the fifth | generation incumbent of this indigo empire. After his father died at an early age, he decided to continue the line. Though he does remember a time when, after leaving the countryside for the urban thrills of university life in Tokyo, he had felt release from the smells and sounds of the dye houses. But he was instinctively drawn back by sweet childhood memories of the factory family, and the confidence in something understood, something ingrained, much as the tell-tale blue in his fingernails.

This passion is true of the whole ‘family’ at Kojima. The fifty or so workers share an obvious joy and pride in the Japanese blue that they make and sell. The company is conscious of the need to sustain such a dedicated workforce, and takes on a couple of apprentices a year, some local and some from further afield, all keen to become part of this special industry. The training reflects the established teaching of arts and making practices in Japan. Ten years of rigorous and reflective ‘learning-by-doing’ is considered necessary to acquire independent skills. Kojima passionately supports traditional practice and regularly nominates individuals for the prestigious Dentou Kougei Shi or Traditional Craftsmanship Award, with two workers currently holding titles. This both contributes to preservation of the crafts and provides good brand recognition.

The factory complex itself is typical of many textile mills, and numerous buildings have striking nokogiri-yane or ‘saw-toothed’ roofs. The jagged elevations bringing light deep into the factory. The mill carries out every process except spinning, with its mainly cotton yarn shipped in (as far as possible) from domestic supply, but also from Pakistan and India. Traditional dying methods are key and while natural indigo dye (from Tokushima) continues to be used for a good deal of the production, ‘indigo pure’ or chemical indigo is also expertly employed.

The yarn dyeing vat itself is rich with indigo, the cracked surface telling of the anaerobic alchemy below. A semi-mechanised process here is an ingenious modification of traditional Japanese yarn dyeing. Skeins hung and gently tensioned from a set of large hooks are lowered into the deep vat, rested a minute or two, and raised up again. The greenish indigo liquor drains away and the skeins are mechanically twisted, the hooks above rotating against fixed bars below, wringing them out in a reversed and repeated action, just as one would do by hand. Dyers then open them up so that air can penetrate to the core, and oxygen can work its magic, turning the cotton blue. This is repeated around 10-15 times, depending on the desired depth of colour.

The yarn is then washed 15 times in fresh water, dipped in a root starch solution ensuring the yarn strength and ease in weaving, and dried naturally in the sunshine. It’s then wound down for warping and weaving on the wonderfully slow, solid shuttle looms, which deliver the durable cloth. Finishing happens on site too.

In addition to centuriesold techniques, Kojima now boasts a portfolio of services that it sells to other cloth makers,

bringing in new business and diversifica-

tion.

Kojima’s modern philosophy embraces both past and present. While it seeks to preserve the older techniques that deliver special character, it also adopts new technologies that increase volume and efficiency. Established materials are carefully married to the new, and machinery employed only so far as it doesn’t erode the need for handwork. This type of ‘hybrid practice’ is an increasingly popular take on the traditional paradigm.

The company is expanding its range, seeking to to the international fashion industry. It is experimenting with new ideas which retain ‘a feel of the Edo period’ (an aesthetically rich era, 1603-1867), extending beyond kendo hakama and lining cloths to shirt fabrics, bag canvases and a range of indigo products, employing weaving, knitting and printing techniques. The company, and indeed town, now welcomes visitors to annual Aizome ichi ‘Indigo markets’, where the history, practice and products of the industry can be enjoyed.

Cultural pragmatism, tenacity and selfawareness have secured Kojima’s longevity over 140 years, and it should continue to enjoy a bright, or appropriately ‘blue’,

future. Tim Parry Williams fitted into channels formed by parallel, stitched lines and held in place by long, hand sewn stitches at the top and bottom of each channel. The front fastening system, or ‘busk’, consists of two strips of steel with, on one side, a series of tiny metal knobs and, on the other, corresponding loops that rather satisfyingly clip onto those knobs. This ‘divided’ busk fastening system came to be in general use around 1860 and did away with the need to completely or nearly unlace the corset before removal, a convenience that allowed women to get in and out of corsets without the need for assistance.

Although the divided busk is generally handier to use, the clips often come undone when an ample person tries to stuff all the right bits into the right places, so ‘old fashioned’ single busks seem to be easier for some women to wear. However, the ‘divided’ busk allows for more extreme shaping of the waist and rounding of the hips and bust. Judging by Mrs Bryant’s corset, which shows that two sets of double godets were inserted to accommodate a generous bust and the swell of full hips, it is fair to say that she was a woman of some physical substance whose liberal proportions would have required serious buttressing. What was

Previous page: Wedding corset, 1874, silk satin, lace Below: Wedding corset, 1884, embroidered silk satin, lace likely to have been Matilda Bryant’s fashionably small waist was,

probably with assistance,

squeezed tight and further reduced by hauling on a set of stout laces.

Some fine corsetieres would, and do, use parallel channel stitching to decorate and add structure to corsets, and this can be seen on the example worn by the former Miss O’Shea on her wedding day in 1887. Although many of this corset’s bone channels are empty, each channel is finished with long hand-stitches, or ‘flossing’ as embellishment. These design features may have been personal preference or a way to cut costs by using fewer steel bones. And because it provided an extra layer of protection, flossing also served to prolong the life of the corset. A

blue wedding corset from 1884

shows decorative and functional flossing. The cream silk flossing matches the channel stitching and embroidered edging.

Also in Chicago History Museum’s corsets collection of is what’s prettily known as a

‘ribbon’ corset from 1901. This under bust style corset is, as it says on the tin, fashioned from lengths of ribbon: but don’t be fooled by visions of insubstantiality. Granted, female tennis players and other athletes would wear ribbon corsets that allowed their bodies a fraction more ease of movement: but these corsets were still armoured with steel busks and bones. Ribbon corsets were favoured by younger, or active women who had begun to resist the strict bodily confinement of full, heavily boned corsets from the Victorian era, which by 1901, the year of Queen Victoria’s death, were considered terribly staid and old fashioned.

/Getty Images istory Museum icago H

ll Photos by Ch

A few years later in 1909, Mrs Wyatt of New York wore an incredible confection beneath her wedding gown. Her full corset, complete with a set of elastic and stainless steel suspenders, was constructed to force her body into the bow fronted, sway backed ‘S’ bend shape fashionable at the time. Whatever the torturous effects of this sciatica inducing garment were, it is, as an aesthetic object, beautiful. The substrate is composed of the usual suspects i.e. strong cotton twill, or coutil, steel A

P52/53

Wedding corset, 1887, cotton twill, silk thread embroidery bones and busk, firm stitching and unyielding, long line lacing. This structural foundation work gives the corset its shape and enabled it to jut the bust and backside outwards in opposite directions, while the extended lacing also restricted the length of stride to little steps.

Most museums offer the chance to experience a ‘handling session’ whereby archive items can be closely inspected. Since corsets are intricate and exquisite yet deceptively well-built items, this way of encountering them is especially rewarding. And, for those who want to know how a corset feels, the Fashion Museum in Bath has replicas in the museum galleries for visitors to do just this. Breathe in! Chicago History Museum, www.chicago-his-

tory.org 19th Century Corset Making.

This summer renowned costumier

Luca Costigliolo will host a residential Selvedge Sewing

School at the Chateau Dumas in France. Students will learn to make an 1880s corset from an original pattern using period sewing techniques and materials, 9th16th August 2014, for details visit www.selvedge.org

P38/39

Kate Cavendish hears Injiri’s textile folk tale S T I T CH I NG S T OR I E S

Every stitch, gather and selvedge in Chinar Farooqui’s designs for Injiri tell a story. Farooqui sees her textiles as text, a hand-crafted tale that’s shaped by artisans and weavers across India. With influences from folk clothing and local dressing styles, complemented by a deep respect for process, Injiri writes a compelling aesthetic narrative.

The first chapter of Farooqui’s story had a coauthor, Aneeth Arora see issue 47. Together the designers launched ‘Gaba’, a label inspired by regional dress – Gaba is a Marwari word meaning ‘clothing’. The venture lasted several seasons before independence beckoned and Farooqui set up Injiri.

If storytelling looks back to folk traditions, so does

Farooqui. She has a Masters in Textiles from India’s National Institute of Design, but can often be found continuing her education at museums, where she studies vintage folk garments. In these Farooqui finds both beauty and comfort: “I think there’s a classicism and also spontaneity” she says.

Farooqui embraces this ‘spontaneous’ element in her own designs. “The textile suggests the shape and kind of garment I would like to make from it,” she says. “When I design the textile, I am not aware of where its elements will be used on a garment. Only when I have the textile ready in my hand do I start to work with it in a manner that allows me to bring out its beauty in the best possible way. My clothes are like little stories of the textiles.”

Even the etymology of ‘Injiri’ tells a tale. A colloquial pronunciation of ‘India’, Injiri comes from a Kalibari word that references the highly prized fabrics that were exported to West Africa from South India in the early 20th century. Farooqui continues this tradition of producing heirloom-quality textiles from which she fashions her garments. Central to her collections are chaukadi, or checks, which she pairs in blue and white. Her blue is a ‘glass blue’ that comes from vintage blue pottery and ceramics, a hue that’s often seen on the lungis (similar to sarongs) worn by men in different parts of India.

Farooqui’s textiles also include a compelling use

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of detail, including smocking on a blouse, tassels on a scarf, and hand-beaten metal buttons. But the designer assures that her details are not superficial. “There are no surface embellishments in my garments at all,” she states. “For me the beauty lies in the process of making. I emphasize the details of stitching or quilting through the colour of the thread to create a line drawing along the seams, or through the gathers and pleats where I need volume. All these add interest to the garment and also reflect the process that a garment goes through by its maker.”

The construction of the garment, then, becomes its most important design detail. This process is inspired by local dress, which Farooqui appreciates not only for its ‘boldness and effortlessness’, but also for its strong link between textile techniques and geographical location. She notes how the kurta, with its precisely scaled panels and gussets, derives its shape from its design elements. Although there are regional variations that change the drape of the kurta, the integrity of its architecture remains. “The garment is so beautiful in its construction that while designing I like to enhance the existing features rather than add complexities,” Farooqui explains.

So she might reimagine an English farmer’s voluminous smock, its gathers and pleats historically designed to withstand abrasion from working in the fields, in a lightweight weave. Farooqui also incorporates textiles made in different parts of India into one garment – sleeves of jamdani cotton (a woven design typically found on saris) made in West Bengal, front panels of chanderi cotton woven in Madhya Pradesh (central India), with stitching and finishing done in Injiri’s Jaipur workshop.

The common thread among all these influences and techniques is Farooqui’s ‘hand-made’ approach to design. This time-honoured method, used from folk to couture, serves as the foundation for the philosophy, aesthetic and process behind Injiri. Injiri will be part of the Selvedge Fashion Fair, 10 May, The Octagon at Milsom Place, Bath, BA1 1DG, www.selvedge.org.

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F I V E S TAR ACCOMMODATION Craft company Cinq étoiles creates harmony in the home

Frank Lloyd Wright’s career was underpinned by the principles of ‘organic architecture’. Among them was the desire to create buildings that existed in harmony with their surroundings, using natural colours and safeguarding the integrity of chosen materials; or as Professor Kimberly Elman Zarecor puts it: “you don’t twist steel into a flower.” It’s no surprise that he gave his seal of approval to Villa Sebastian in Hammamet, Tunisia, calling it “the most beautiful house he knew of”. In the 1920s, Hammamet was a fashionable location amongst the elite, who were drawn to the area for its unspoilt scenery, simple square white houses set against a clear blue sky, Mediterranean climate, local produce and handcrafts. Today, the villa, now known as the International Cultural Centre, is used for galleries and receptions and is one of Hammamet’s most popular attractions.

And it makes the villa the perfect location for Gokalp Hamurcu, a young Turkish photographer based in Paris, to capture the work of Cinq étoiles, or Five Star, a Tunisian company established to promote and distribute local handicrafts. Cinq étoiles is a company that, on a small scale, adheres to the same principles as Frank Lloyd Wright almost instinctively. Take their ‘foutas’: these multi-functional cloths adapt to their surroundings beautifully. Originally used as towels in the hammams (steam rooms) of Tunisia they transcended this original purpose to become elegant lifestyle accessories – bath towel, beach sarong, tablecloth or throw.

Faiza Khaled, founder of the company, lends a master hand and an eye to the aesthetics of all the products. Whether wood, linen, wool, cotton, ceramics, glass or willow, collections are born of an alliance between traditional skill and a response to the needs of contemporary life. Underpinned by a passion for authenticity, Cinq étoiles has no mission other than a desire for quality and quality of life for its employees. Skilled craftsmen and designers team up to establish the essence of indigenous materials from each region of Tunisia and offer them a new look and new uses. All materials are natural and the products are handmade which positions them in an economically and socially ecological sphere. It allows a substantial number of craftspeople, from north to south of Tunisia, to earn a sustainable living.

By establishing collaborations between designers like Nelson Sepulveda and local artisans, with periodic associations with organisations who promote crafts and cultural heritage such as KERKENATISS and Hirfa, Cinq étoiles offers high quality products for export. In addition, it offers to the consumer objects that echo their place of origin and add grace to their new environment. Mme Faiza KHALED 44, rue de l'Eglantier, 2070 La-Marsa - Tunisia, design-5etoiles.com

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INDUSTRY from craft to commerce 62 BROAD CLOTH At Hainsworth June Hill discovers a textile history that touches everything from biscuits to battle blues We visit a centuries-old vertical mill in West Yorkshire 64 DUAL ASPECT The two strands of weaver Andrea Donnelly Catherine Harris unpicks the complex work of this American artist and weaver 72 SITTING COMFORTABLY Maison Drucker have been making the quintessential bistro chairs since 1885 Anne Laure Camilleri looks at the traditional canework seen in the cafés of Paris

ANECDOTE textiles that touch our lives 76 STUDY GROUP In the second of our series celebrating the opening of the V&A’s Clothworkers’ Centre, Lead Curator Edwina Ehrman looks in detail at a wedding outfit from Liberty of London 96 FABRIC SWATCH No 19: Shweshwe Lynette Douglas reveals the background of this fine fabric, first documented in the 16th century. Illustrated by Katrin Coetzer

WIN 83 PRIZES THIS ISSUE A chance to win a scarf by Little Fool, an outfit from Heartwear and a pair of lace edged bloomers by Magnolia Pearl. Visit www.selvedge.org to enter

INFORM the latest news, reviews and exhibition listings

03 BIAS /CONTRIBUTORS A letter from the founder and comments from our contributors 06 EVENTS The Selvedge Fashion Fair 10th May 07 NEWS Fortnum & Mason, Ally Cappellino, WHOLE, Re Rag Rug, Llaine Alexis, Clothes Tell Stories and Tinsmiths 09 NEEDLE’S EYE 06: Satin Stitch 80 SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS This issue every new subscriber and renewal will receive a tote bag kit from Check and Stripe worth £19 82 BACK ISSUES Complete your Selvedge collection while you still can! Many issues are now sold out or have limited stock 84 LISTINGS Exhibitions, fairs and events taking place around the world in May & June 86 READ Silk & Cotton: Textiles from the Central Asia that Was, Susan Meller, by Phillipa

Watkins. Cashmere: a French Passion 1800-1880, Monique Levi-Strauss, by Sonia Ashmore 88 VIEW Crysalis Project Lace Effects 1, by Nicola Donovan. In Air: Cut Works by Piper Shepherd, by Carol Quarini. From Geisha to Diva: The Kimonos of Ichimaru, by Meaghan Collins. 95 COMING NEXT The Folk Issue: Textiles of the people, by the people and for the people

SELVEDGE ('selnid3 ) n. 1. finished di fferently 2. the non-fraying edge of a length of woven fabric. [: from SELF + EDGE]

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