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their respective capabilities. Remote monitoring is being introduced so that sensors are incorporated into structures: the structures can then be checked for fatigue or for attack by rodents at a level that may not be visible.
Above ground Hortisynthetics are a group of fabrics designed to protect plants from predators or the climate. As the pressure to grow crops in increasingly inhospitable and exposed regions increases, these materials perform an essen-
tial function offering protection from intense heat during the day and a corresponding drop in the temperature at night. Commonly knit or woven from polyethylene or polyester fibre they are designed to protect young plants in particular against drying out in the heat. Colour plays an important role in their functionality with black yarn used to absorb the sun’s heat during the day and reduce heat loss at night. A white knitted shade cloth will absorb and reflect the white scattered light from the environment. This leaves the plants cooler than if they were covered by a black shade cloth. The use of flat tape rather than a round yarn offers increased cover. Often aluminium finely coats the synthetic core reducing weight and cost. The metal reflects sunlight away from plants. Coastal erosion, ocean pollution and damage to seabeds are serious challenges to marine life. Textiles in the form of geotextiles and geogrids act as barriers to combat coastal erosion and protect shorelines. Geosynthetics can be used in the form of small sand-filled geotextile bags that can be stacked along the shore, or as larger mega containers that are made to order for reef and breakwater protection. Elcorock Mega containers have been used in the construction of Narrowneck Reef in Australia. The reef measures 450m x 250m and required 400 containers filled with sand. A heavy grade of Elcomax, a geotextile, has been used to prevent stress concentrations and to withstand storms Monitored for their impact on marine life, within weeks seaweed was found growing on the containers helping to attract sea life to the area.
Environmental disasters cause catastrophic and continuing damage on land and sea. Geotextiles are being used to protect against disasters and as a fast response in disaster zones. In 2010 a fire on board led to the sinking of BP’s Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig off the coast of New Orleans leading to the spilling of hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil over the Gulf of Mexico. The geosynthetics industry provided oil containment booms to form a floating barrier.
Food insecurity is a major world problem, particularly in developing nations. Feeding the global population is an achieveable goal yet the US government estimates that one in eight people suffer chronic hunger. Today the environmental challenge for textiles goes beyond water and energy use, beyond consumption, repair, recycling. We now have to ask what is the broader impact of textiles on food production? Our colleges and universities must invest in and promote this branch of textiles. Advances in sophisticated textile technologies will provide further innovative solutions to food problems on land and sea. They might not be pretty but practical textiles can change the world.
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is exemplary and whose colour sense is eye catching. So what was it that propelled Clarissa Hulse away from the pack? What qualities transformed her from talented student into a British textile brand with 20 years experience and an international following?
“I definitely have a head for business and a creative side,” she admits. “Both are essential – even if it does create tension. From my creativity I get job satisfaction but also a need for perfection – I sometimes wonder if it slows me down. If I had a pure business brain would I be a millionaire by now?” High standards also have a role to play in her success. From the moment she began commercial production Clarissa has insisted on the most beautiful fabrics, prefering to use tiny amounts of fine silk than masses of a less expensive substitute. “I did venture into bigger meterage once, but the volume limited the colours and designs. The collection was flat and dull. So I never did that again. I realised my collections must have a magpie quality. My designs are quite minimal, they evolve organically and I don’t like to overwork or make them appear contrived. I balance this simplicity with masses of colour – there must be pinks and greens but also red, blue and gold – colour for everyone!”
This chromatic democracy has been a constant element throughout her career evolution. Clarissa began as an accessory designer in the mid 1990s – a time when demand for scarves was booming on both sides of the Atlantic: “I sold to Barneys and gallery-like boutiques in New York and Liberty of London.” But a few years later the market was starkly different – even the Liberty scarf hall closed temporarily. These changes led Clarissa to try clothing but the relentless treadmill of fashion was no fun at all; so the search for the perfect vehicle for her designs continued. “With scarves I always looked for fabrics with beautiful drape, handle was everything. For that reason I was wary of interior textiles, I wasn’t sure I could adapt.” Yet the moment she screen printed onto silk dupion she knew her fears were unfounded: “I’d found my fabric.”
Others agreed, for at her first trade show in 2001 orders for hand printed cushions and lampshades flooded in from Heals, Conran and Liberty. It was the springboard for bigger business decisions as it wasn’t long before larger companies sought out Clarissa to license her designs. “Licensing means a third party buys your designs, manufactures them and pays royalties,” explains Clarissa, “It should be the golden goose of textile design but getting it to lay takes more time and energy than you imagine. Up to two years of discussion, designing, sampling – and sometimes nothing comes of it.” The successes include fabric and wallpapers for Harlequin, towels for Christy and new collections of rugs and bedlinen which launch in John Lewis this month. Unusually, in all these diverse projects, Clarissa’s distinctive designs are never diluted – her hand is recognisable from a hundred paces.
Clarissa’s new design studio and shop in Islington is probably the only place you can see her full range of products in one place, from recently reintroduced scarves and tiny cloth dolls (fashioned from scraps by Laura Long) to cushions and bags. All those sumptuous silks, the contrasting patterns, the glowing colours; they could send you into poetic raptures. But, glorious as they are, it’s creating a successful textile company from scratch that is truly sublime. Subscribe to Selvedge with this issue and receive a Clarissa Hulse silk wash bag worth £19.00, see pg 88 for details, clarissahulse.com
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L AD I E S I N R E D
Iain Stewart visits Northern Vietnam, Hanoi and the Hill Tribes
Hanoi, one of Asia’s most graceful and manageable capitals, is the gateway to Northern Vietnam. The city is easy on the eye, with tree-lined boulevards and grand state buildings from French colonial times, and is dotted with lakes and parks – though prepare yourself for 21st century curses including the pollution from three million motorbikes. Hanoi is also easy on the pocket, from pavement beer gardens where a glass of draught Bia hoi costs pennies to gourmet Vietnamese restaurants where fine dining is a fraction of what it is in the West.
The city has several outstanding sights, including the striking Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, the last resting place of the father of the modern Vietnamese nation. His body lies in state inside an imposing structure (when it’s not in Moscow for some annual TLC treatment to keep it in good shape.)
For textile enthusiasts the outstanding Museum of Ethnology is a mustsee, the perfect primer for jaunts to the hilltribe villages of the far north. Scattered around the museum grounds are dozens of traditional homes including a remarkable Tay stilt house and a striking Ede longhouse.
On display there are also traditional textiles belonging to ethnic groups including the Tai (look out for the silk and cotton ceremonial dress, and blouses with decorative silver buttons.) Lu women use hand-spun cotton for their blouses of deep indigo and wear skirts that boast intricate embroidery, plus dazzling silver necklaces and turbans. Red Dzao (also
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called Red H’mong) wear clothing that most prominently features an (appropriately) scarlet headdress, a length of fabric which is folded and placed on the head. You’re sure to come across the dazzling attire of this minority again if you head to Sapa, the main settlement in the mountainous north.
After a couple of days in Hanoi, the obvious route is aboard the railway to the town of Lao Cai close to the Chinese border. Nightly sleeper carriages are the way to go; by letting the train take the strain you’ll arrive fresh and ready to explore the spectacular northern peaks – mountains the French called the Tonkinese Alps. Instead of heading for Sapa, consider a side trip to the far-less visited town of Bac Ha, a two-hour drive northeast of Lao Cai. More an overgrown village, Bac Ha’s easy-going atmosphere and location close to some fascinating hilltribe villages and hiking trails has lead to an increase in visitor numbers and an improving choice of hotels.
Be sure to try to time your arrival carefully in Bac Ha – the legendary Sunday market simply can’t be missed. An assault on the senses, trading is quite compartmentalized. On one side is a muddy field is devoted to animals (some of the dogs on a string for sale are kept as village guard dogs, others are destined for the cooking pot). Pigs are present too, both black-skinned Vietnamese pot-bellied and their pinky cousins, as teeth are inspected and the protesting porkers squeal with indignation. Water buffalo are given more deference, and less manhandling. The market’s4
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SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Kasia Roguszczak visits Casa Clementine, a Garden of Eden for natural dyers
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Sissi Castellano and Stefano Panconesi met in India at a world conference on natural colour and discovered that they shared a passion – a desire to rescue textile techniques from the verge of oblivion and to safeguard them by teaching others. Their home, Casa Clementina, is dedicated to these aims.
Born in Florence, Stefano Panconesi is an Economics graduate who wrote his thesis on the marketing of dye plants, while Sissi Castellano is a Milanese-born architect. Between them, they could count on many friends to help realise their dream to establish a centre for the preservation and propagation of natural dye. The welcoming atmosphere in the house is significant – from the very beginning it has been the site of exchanges and experiences that go beyond the textile industry.
Casa Clementina is in Pettinengo near Biella (called “the balcony of Biella” for its scenic location 700 metres above sea level). The 19th century house belonged to Clementina Corte, an eccentric photographer and director but, abandoned for years, it had fallen into disrepair. When Sissi and Stefano arrived they began a detailed restoration. The deterioration of painted ceilings and ancient tapestries was halted and they filled the house with meaningful objects and treasured collections; such as Sissy’s miniature kitchen utensils which stand in their green and copper kitchen.
Sissi’s workshop is a work in progress, housing a growing library of fibres, small woven objects, yarns and looms. Stefano’s office is filled with cabinets fashioned from old windows which are stacked with books on natural dyes. Elsewhere his passion for vintage cameras and stereoscopic photography is in evidence – only a wall used for 4
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Crochet vegatables by Jung Jung, see pg 8
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38 WATER OFF A DUCK’S BACK The history of waterproof fabric Outdoor clothing experts Mike Parsons and Mary Rose detail the lengths companies go to to keep us warm and dry
ATTIRE critical reporting of fashion trends 30 ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH Ptolemy Mann meets Carole Waller, India Flint and Nancy Traugott, three designers whose work is saturated with colour
CONCEPT textiles in fine art 45 CLOUD WATCHING Liz Hoggard finds things are looking up for Ismini Samindou We discover the inspirations behind Ismini’s weaves. Portrait by Richard Nicholson
WIN 83 PRIZES THIS ISSUE A chance to win one of three knitting kits from Purl Soho, a cotton scarf by Épice and one of eight copies of Blue Alchemy, Mary Lance’s documentary about Indigo dyeing
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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 Spring Fair 4th and 5th April, Selvedge Fashion Fair 10th May 07 NEWS Jung Jung, Eleven Design Studio, Waddesdon Manor, Teenytini, BACSAC 09 NEED TO KNOW Buttonhole Stitch 80 SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS This issue every new subscriber and renewal will receive a stylish Clarissa Hulse silk wash bag 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 March and April 86 READ The invention of
Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries by David Weir. Renaissance Velvets by Ruth Singer 88 VIEW Hannah Hoch by Corinne Julius, Artist Textiles – Picasso to Warhol by Amanda Bright, Metamorphosis: Clothing & Identity by JoAnne Stabb 95 COMING NEXT The Blue and White Issue: A fresh look at pattern and texture
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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