0 WASTE superstar LIU

"Wasted material is a loss of profits and bad for the environment."

MARK LIU, a graduate of the Textile Futures course at Central St Martin, is a zero waste champion. His innovative approach to pattern cutting is revolutionary in that eliminates any possibility of offcuts.His mission was inspired by that shock of seeing 15% of all fabrics going to waste in the pattern cutting industry and by the challenge of pushing tailoring to its limits. 

By designing and cutting his patterns, like jigsaws from a single piece of fabric, without creating any waste, Liu produces new forms and details in his clothing that are totally distinctive, totally innovative. Not only is he challenging himself in terms of design, but Liu is motivated by a reason deeper than just style. 

Liu always down to innovate - with an amazing new dye technology called Permaset Aqua, a new water based pigment manufactured by Australian company ColormakerIndustries. The pigment's microscopic particles bond with the fabric obviating the need for toxic mordent chemicals. Love this! see images below. 

His winter collection 2010 was called 'Singularity Point', Liu stating "a system becomes aware of its own limitations and eventually rewrites its own rules to take control of its own destiny." Another past collection appropriately enough was entitled "On the Cutting Edge".


I Am impressed by the way Liu's work rewrites the rules, combining technology + creativity to showoff the future of fashion. Perhaps soon he too will embrace more eco-friendly textiles, such as organic cottons et al, to complete the picture....

best of show / laundry India

photos by Ondi McMaster

re:imagine with HARVEY

GARY HARVEY is not only a creative director extraordinaire but more simply a genius of recycling

42 pairs of levis, 18 trench coats, 21 camouflage army jackets, 26 discarded baseball jackets = avant glamour with an eco edge

GOTO re-wonder

AKI GOTO designs from discarded clothes given to her by friends. An old skirt becomes a She-Ra’s cape with a few folds and many stitches. In the meticulously derived imperfections, the avant is born. The gorgeous raw edges of each piece becomes human and her tongue-in-cheek sense of humor infuses the cloth with character as each piece has its own narrative that Aki weaves into the silhouette. By wearing her clothes you become one of her fantasies.

no apology necessary....

Iraqi Artist Adel Abidin

stairway to heaven

large object in question found in the Imam Imabara of Lucknow

do not sit

scraps chair by amy hunting

toasted

by minale maeda

from YUNNAN, land of eternal spring

Apron details from the Hmong/Miao in Yunnan Province, China are worn by women with festival costumes. These lively panels feature detailed brightly colored hand embroidered animals, birds,plant form varieties, fish and sacred graphics. A beaded fringe (of plastic beads) with a design and tassles. most are around 24" (including fringe) x 10.25" some available from tribaltrappings.com

heavy metal

.... as it looks, an Indian iron

the inspired works of Todd Knopke

TODD KNOPKE's art of fabric collage with stitching

collision

Portrait of Sculpture of Fountain of Freedom

head 1 - scarface

a powerful force

the soft art of Emilie Faïf(Fr.)

THOGCHAGS

"Thogchags are Tibetan talismans made of bronze and meteoric metals dating as far back as the Bronze Age, an unbroken tradition of producing amulets extends into the Iron Age and Buddhist periods creating a cultural legacy several thousand years old...These sacred objects are believed to be magically formed and not manufactured by human beings. Said to have fallen from the sky, thogchags are steeped in mystery and myth which is only now being unraveled by scholars…" John Vincent Bellezza

Thogchags were traditionally worn for protection and good luck. They were often hung around the neck or attached to clothing or they were sewn on amulet pouches or tied to religious articles. They were frequently used and displayed by healers, spirit-mediums and magicians, the so-called "shamans" of Tibet. In the pre-Buddhist Bon religion rituals to dispel evil and attract good fortune were prevalent. These practitioners of ancient Tibetan traditions had a special affinity with the equally ancient thogchags...the function of thogchags closely reflects this ancient religious preoccupation.

While I was travelling in Ladakh in 1997 I met an expat from UK who had these thogchags and asked me if i could help sell him. I took these photos.

Great Spaces in China

Bindhi बिंदु

Bindu is a Sanskrit term meaning "point" or "dot". The feminine case ending is Bindi which denotes a small ornamental, devotional and/or mystical dot that is cosmetically applied to the forehead in the Hindu faith.

^{In metaphysical terms Bindu is held to be the point at which begins creation and the point at which the unity becomes the many. It is also described as "the sacred symbol of the cosmos in its unmanifested state"}
Bindu refers to an aspect of the anatomy of the subtle body' composed of 'drops'(Tibetan: tikle) and 'winds' (Tibetan: rlung).

William S. Burroughs & Brion Gysin, the Cut-ups

BILUM bags of Papua New Guinea

The traditional fiber for Bilum bags was made from the inner bark of the wild tulip tree and other readily available natural materials. First the bark is soaked in a stream or the sea for up to 8 months until the material that binds the bark twine together rots. Then the bark is dried and the strands of bark are separated before the woman will rub the bark with her hand on her thigh to produce the strands of twine.

There were many methods used to traditionally change the colour of the twine fibre. Sometimes the twine was rubbed on a white stone and the result was pure white. Another method was to soak the twine in mud before weaving. Slate stone, orchid bark, roots and jungle grasses were some of the other materials used to produce dye. Burnt shell was often used to make the dye fast. Some special seashells were also crushed to produce a dark red dye. The end result was often striking especially the earthy colors. Unfortunately it is becoming more difficult to find a genuine traditional bilum.