Bru closes imagination gap with digital textiles rendered with AWS

This article introduces Shadé Akanbi, a Brooklyn-based freelance pattern designer and the Creative Director and Designer behind Printed Pattern People. Akanbi's design philosophy is rooted in her multicultural upbringing, which has instilled in her a passion for creating global fusion lifestyle and brands. Her work involves translating traditional ethnic patterns and textiles into contemporary interpretations suitable for everyday use. Akanbi's creative process often begins with identifying a specific motif or detail from traditional textiles. This chosen element then serves as the central inspiration, around which she constructs new patterns using fresh colors and additional details. She is prolific in her output, creating between one to six prints daily, drawing inspiration from personal collections, client ideas, or a combination of both. Akanbi is known for her collaborations with various brands, in addition to maintaining her extensive collection of global textiles. Her first major collaboration was with Anthropologie in early 2020, where her artwork was featured in an accessories and sleepwear collection. Since then, she has partnered with notable brands such as Intermix, Zuri, S'well, Chasing Paper, Netflix, and Target. Her most recent collaboration at the time of the article's publication was with Bounty Paper Towels, as part of their Inclusive Artists Project initiative. This partnership involved her artwork being featured on the Bounty Prints collection paper towels and her image appearing on the packaging, an experience she described as surreal due to the widespread nature of the household item. The article highlights Akanbi's ambition and future aspirations. As an avid traveler, she expresses a desire to collaborate with airlines and boutique hotel brands, specifically mentioning Delta, Jetblue, Kimpton, and Hyatt, envisioning these as platforms to showcase diverse art mediums. Her interest extends to athletic footwear brands like Nike, Adidas, Puma, and Vans, reflecting her passion as a sneaker collector. Furthermore, her background as a collegiate basketball player and a fan of the NBA/WNBA drives her dream to work with her favorite sports teams. Ultimately, Akanbi seeks to partner with brands with which she shares strong personal connections, aiming to utilize these collaborations as unique avenues for artistic expression. Her personal history significantly influences her artistic vision. Akanbi recounts how her upbringing, from her mother's styling choices to her father's Nigerian cooking, and her early travels, particularly her first trip to Nigeria, profoundly shaped her as an artist. These diverse experiences, encompassing sights, sounds, textures, tastes, and emotions, have cumulatively impacted her design sensibility. Her ability to blend cultural influences and her innovative approach to pattern design underscore her unique position in the design world. The article concludes by encouraging readers to explore more of Shadé Akanbi's work via her Instagram and mentions a past collaboration where she provided a Designer Desktop wallpaper for Design Milk. #PatternDesign #ShadeAkanbi #TextileArt #CulturalFusion #BrandCollaborations #ArtisticProcess #DesignInspiration #GlobalTextiles #CreativeDirector

The fashion industry is undergoing a significant transformation driven by the adoption of digital tools, particularly 3D rendering. This technology is fundamentally changing how garments are conceptualized, developed, and presented, offering numerous advantages over traditional methods. 3D rendering allows designers to visualize, test, and refine their ideas in real-time, drastically cutting down development timelines, minimizing material waste, and introducing unparalleled flexibility into design workflows at every stage of production. A key enabler of this digital shift is the reliance on cloud-based infrastructure to handle resource-intensive tasks. These systems facilitate the rapid processing of complex visual data, overcoming the limitations of local hardware and accelerating delivery schedules. Cloud render farms, which involve multiple computers working collaboratively to render large digital assets remotely, are a critical component of this infrastructure. By utilizing these external networks, designers can maintain high visual quality without overloading their local systems, making advanced rendering capabilities accessible even to smaller studios. 3D rendering provides superior design accuracy and real-time flexibility compared to traditional sketch-based design. It precisely simulates fabric drape, garment movement, and how colors appear under different lighting conditions, eliminating the need for physical prototypes in early stages. Designers can instantly adjust cut, proportion, and details, fostering continuous creative development and immediate feedback among team members. This iterative process enhances communication, improves decision-making, and significantly reduces the number of costly revisions typically associated with physical sampling. Furthermore, 3D rendering offers substantial cost savings and speeds up the development cycle. Physical prototyping is both time-consuming and expensive, requiring materials, labor, and transportation. Digital iterations, conversely, incur no material waste or shipping costs, transforming a process that once took weeks into days or hours. This acceleration is particularly beneficial for fast fashion, which demands rapid production cycles in response to seasonal trends. The benefits extend beyond development, as digital assets created during the design phase can be repurposed for e-commerce imagery, advertising, and social media, reducing the need for traditional photoshoots and expanding marketing output at a lower cost. In terms of sustainability, 3D rendering plays a crucial role by significantly reducing the need for physical samples. Each digital prototype saves fabric, trims, and transportation, thereby lowering the environmental impact of the design process through reduced material consumption and emissions. Digital tools also enable more precise planning, allowing designers to refine every detail before physical production, which minimizes overstock and improves inventory accuracy—major contributors to fashion waste. For consumers, 3D rendering enhances the digital shopping experience by providing detail-rich product pages. Features such as 360-degree views, fabric zoom-ins, and augmented reality try-ons help shoppers better understand how garments will look and fit, reducing guesswork and increasing satisfaction. These rendered visuals are consistent across various platforms and adaptable to different uses, from desktops to mobile devices, and even AR/VR environments. Strong visuals ultimately lead to higher purchase intent and lower return rates. Personalization and customization are also supported at scale through 3D tools, allowing shoppers to digitally explore different colorways, prints, and fits before making a purchase. This level of engagement fosters consumer interest and supports made-to-order models, which help reduce unsold inventory. For manufacturers, this means more accurate specifications and fewer post-sale adjustments, improving overall efficiency. Fashion shows have also embraced this digital evolution, with designers now utilizing virtual lookbooks, CGI campaigns, and immersive digital presentations. These formats offer greater creative freedom, reduce logistical complexities, and eliminate travel and expenses associated with traditional shows. Rendered environments can be tailored to suit each collection's tone, giving designers more control over narrative and experience, and opening up broader audiences without additional infrastructure. Platforms like CLO3D, Browzwear, and Blender are integral to modern fashion workflows, providing the necessary tools to build, test, and animate garments in realistic environments. To meet the computational demands of these applications, brands increasingly rely on scalable rendering services like RebusFarm. These services process complex visual data and generate high-resolution assets efficiently, enabling teams to maintain speed and consistency without hardware limitations and ensuring smooth integration of digital rendering into daily operations. Early adopters such as Balenciaga, H&M, and Tommy Hilfiger have successfully integrated 3D rendering into their operations. Balenciaga utilized virtual runways for immersive digital experiences during lockdowns, while H&M reduced fabric waste by 30 percent through digital prototyping, demonstrating that efficiency and creativity can coexist. These examples highlight how digital rendering enhances both operational performance and creative output, offering scalable solutions for both large enterprises and smaller teams. Ultimately, 3D rendering has become a foundational element in fashion design, enabling precision, speed, adaptability, and sustainable growth, thereby preparing brands for a dynamic market with agile and efficient systems. #3DRendering #FashionDesign #DigitalFashion #Sustainability #CloudComputing #ECommerce #Personalization #VirtualShows #FashionTechnology

London-based studio Custhom, founded by RCA graduates Nathan Philpott and Jemma Ooi, has introduced a new collection of digitally embroidered wallpapers that blend traditional embroidery patterns with contemporary digital stitching technology. The studio collaborated with skilled embroiderers in the North of England to adapt their techniques for use with paper, enabling the creation of large-scale designs that introduce both pattern and texture to walls. This innovative approach translates traditional embroidery styles using modern tools and digital techniques, imbuing organic designs with a clean, graphic quality. The collection features two distinct patterns: Berye and Aves. The Berye pattern, whose name is derived from the Middle English word for ‘berry’, draws inspiration from English historical patterns. It is produced by screen printing a base design by hand, which is then meticulously overlaid with digitally embroidered patterns. These embroidered elements are designed to mimic Crewel, a 17th-century embroidery technique, resulting in a multi-layered design featuring branches, leaves, and berries. The Berye design is characterized by flint grey and peach thread on a light grey background, creating a sophisticated and textured visual. The Aves pattern references traditional Mexican Otomi fabrics. This design showcases a variety of creatures, such as birds, stitched in either navy or soft grey threads onto either cream or dark charcoal paper backgrounds. The designers behind Custhom were particularly drawn to the narrative quality of Otomi designs, which traditionally utilize stitch and illustration to convey stories and cultural folklore. The research for these designs was conducted at the British Library, where the studio explored various traditional textiles and embroidery techniques. Custhom emphasized the rigorous development process involved in perfecting their technique, which required significant adaptation of textile craftsmen’s methods to suit paper as a medium. This careful development ensures that the wallpaper can withstand the perforation from embroidery needles without tearing, a crucial aspect given the delicate nature of paper. The wallpapers are manufactured using high-quality, FSC-certified non-woven paper, underscoring the studio’s commitment to sustainable materials. The Berye pattern has recently been launched to the public, while the Aves pattern made its debut earlier in the year at the Maison & Objet fair in Paris, a significant international event for interior design and home decor. Both patterns are produced in the UK, adhering to local manufacturing standards, and each roll measures 55 centimeters by one meter. This collection represents a fusion of historical craftsmanship and modern technology, offering a unique decorative option that adds depth, texture, and a narrative dimension to interior spaces. #Wallpaper #EmbroideredWallpaper #Custhom #DigitalEmbroidery #InteriorDesign #Homeware #DecorativeArts #TextileInnovation

The article discusses the launch of Weft, an innovative online platform aiming to revolutionize the woven fabrics industry. Developed by Brooks Hagan, an associate professor of textiles at RISD, and Steve Marschner, a computer science professor at Cornell, Weft provides direct access to manufacturing for custom woven fabric orders, starting from as low as three yards. This platform distinguishes itself from surface-printed fabric providers by focusing on true woven designs, offering a unique service in the market. The project received research support from the National Science Foundation and a Small Business Innovation Research grant, highlighting its technological and entrepreneurial significance. Weft empowers users to personalize their fabric designs by allowing them to select colors, weave structures, and quality parameters, as well as define repeat sizes. This level of customization is particularly beneficial for independent designers working on smaller-scale projects, enabling them to create unique textiles without the high minimum order quantities typically associated with custom manufacturing. Users of the Weft platform have the flexibility to upload their own designs or photographs, integrating personal artistic vision into their fabric creations. Alternatively, they can customize existing designs available on the site. Beyond custom design, Weft also features a curated selection of limited-edition textile designs created by various artists. The article names Stephanie Pender, Kevin Zucker, Julia Dault, John Caserta, and Julian Kreimer as some of the collaborating artists, emphasizing the platform's commitment to artistic diversity. Hagan explains that the selection of artists from diverse fields was a deliberate choice to demonstrate the software's accessibility and utility to a wide range of creative individuals, regardless of their background. This approach aims to democratize access to custom fabric production, making it available to more designers and artists. In addition to custom orders, Weft operates an online shop offering ready-made woven jacquard fabrics. These fabrics are manufactured in the U.S. and include open-source options, further promoting customization. The versatility of these fabrics makes them suitable for various applications, including upholstery, drapery, and apparel, catering to a broad spectrum of interior design and fashion needs. Weft ensures efficiency by fulfilling custom fabric orders through its network of partner mills, boasting a quick turnaround time of as little as three weeks. This rapid production cycle is a significant advantage for designers and businesses seeking timely delivery of specialized materials. #WovenFabrics #CustomDesign #TextileIndustry #RISDInnovation #DigitalLoom #ManufacturingAccess #IndependentDesigners #ArtisticCollaboration

Rachel B. Hayes, a Tulsa-based artist, creates striking large-scale patchwork textile installations using vivid, translucent fabrics. These temporary artworks are designed to transform perceptions of both indoor spaces and expansive natural environments. Hayes experiments with scale, color, pattern, light, and movement, resulting in joyful and dynamic installations. Her work has been showcased across the U.S. and Europe, frequently appearing as quilted sun sails in courtyards. One of Hayes's recent collaborations, "Horizon Drift" with Black Cube in Denver, featured overlapping triangular elements that cast colorful shadows, reminiscent of her piece "A Moment in Time" in Capri. These temporary installations, typically on view for a few weeks or months, integrate with their surroundings, drawing parallels to the monumental fabric interventions of Jeanne-Claude and Christo. Her richly patchworked or woven creations celebrate light, breeze, and traditional American quilting techniques. Hayes frequently revisits earlier works and site-specific experiments to fuel new designs, finding continuous inspiration and energy in these temporary explorations. She often returns to familiar locations in South Dakota, Missouri, and New Mexico to document her art multiple times, observing how varying light, weather, and landscape changes influence the perception of her pieces. She views many of these works as elements within a broader, long-term artistic vision. Some of Hayes's installations are designed for extended outdoor display, lasting at least five years, which has led her to develop expertise as a "fabric engineer" to ensure the materials withstand the elements while remaining visually impactful. Light, particularly sunlight, is a crucial component in Hayes's artistic process and site selection. For indoor installations, she carefully considers architecture and human movement, often "chasing the sun" to identify areas where light can interact with her textiles, creating reflections and colored shadows. While she utilizes software like Photoshop or Procreate for pattern composition, her primary focus remains on the physical properties of the material and its interaction with specific environments. Hayes's current installations include _Patterned by Nature_ at the Chicago Botanic Garden throughout the summer, _Soft Structures_ at Jane Lombard Gallery in New York City until August 8, and _Body’s First Architecture_ at Ely Center of Contemporary Art in New Haven, Connecticut until August 10. Her semi-permanent works are on display at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska, and The Gathering Place in Tulsa. Additionally, her flag is currently flown outside Ballroom Marfa in West Texas during gallery hours. #RachelBHayes #TextileArt #SiteSpecificInstallation #Quilting #FabricSculpture #ContemporaryArt #ArtInstallation #TranslucentTextiles #LightArt

Village Handcrafted Cabinetry, a company based in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, has been creating custom cabinetry and wood products for over three decades. Founded by Joseph Trave, the business specializes in designing, building, finishing, and installing a wide range of custom items, including bathroom vanities, cabinet doors, kitchen cabinets, pantries, and walk-in closets. The company caters primarily to mid- to high-end residential clients, working with designers, builders, remodelers, and a small percentage of retail customers. Joseph Trave's passion for woodworking began at a young age, leading him to establish the company in 2000. Starting from a 400-square-foot garage, the business has expanded significantly to occupy over 60,000 square feet of manufacturing space. In 2003, Trave acquired another local cabinetmaker's business, Village Woodshop, integrating its machinery and employees. The company later moved to Lansdale in 2006, establishing a showroom and a larger production facility. Over the years, the company has navigated economic challenges, including recessions and a pandemic, through the dedicated efforts of its four-person management team, which includes Joseph Trave as CEO, his wife Gina as director of marketing, Gary Marks as director of finance and purchasing, and Jennifer Marks as director of Human Resources/payroll. Village Handcrafted Cabinetry prides itself on its ability to produce custom products entirely in-house. All cabinet construction utilizes mortise and tenon joinery. The company also produces its own moldings, offering an extensive library of 1,200 profiles and the capability to create custom profiles to match existing designs. The manufacturing process incorporates advanced technology, including CNC equipment for both panel processing and solid-wood machining. Automated loaders and unloaders are used with their Stratos 3-axis machining center and Weeke Vantage 2000 CNC processing center, facilitating efficient production of nested panels and raised panel doors. Further technological investments include TigerStop stations for producing stiles and rails, and a miter fold machine for creating precisely joined corners and face frames. For sanding, the company uses a Timesavers multi-head flat sander and an MB Roba Tech sander, which is capable of sanding both flat and profiled parts. A sophisticated dust collection system gathers sawdust, which is then burned to provide heat for the facility during winter, showcasing an environmentally conscious approach to waste management. The company also features an in-house finishing lab, referred to as the “finishing kitchen,” where skilled artisans perform custom color matching. Clients often present complex finishing challenges, and the team meticulously creates samples under bright lights to ensure exact color replication, with both the company and the client retaining a sample for consistency. A newer addition is a small in-house metalworking shop, which handles minor fabrication for items like hoods and floating shelves, ensuring proper separation from woodworking operations for safety. Despite its current 60,000 square feet of production space, the company produces approximately seven to ten kitchens per week and is exploring further growth opportunities, including potential acquisitions or additional facilities. #cabinetry #customCabinets #woodworking #CNCManufacturing #residentialDesign #kitchenDesign #handcraftedLook #productionEfficiency #woodDustCollection

The collaboration between Snøhetta and Ege Carpets introduces MATTER, a flatwoven carpet collection that merges digital and physical design, challenging traditional pattern-making through algorithmic randomness. The project draws inspiration from nature's inherent uniqueness, where patterns emerge organically without exact repetition, transforming perceived imperfections into a desirable characteristic. Each carpet in the MATTER collection is unique, created by an algorithm that prevents any two compositions from being identical, echoing the natural world where no two specimens are exactly alike. This approach positions the carpet as a dynamic, almost living element, moving away from conventional industrial production towards a more natural aesthetic. Francesca Giulia Poli, Product Designer and project lead at Snøhetta, describes MATTER as an exploration of scale, craftsmanship, and technology. The design process views the carpet not merely as a surface but as a 'woven landscape,' meticulously constructed from individually manipulated threads. The project investigated how micro-scale design decisions, from code to pixel to thread, can influence macro-scale spaces, resulting in a surface that appears uniform yet constantly shifts depending on the viewer's movement through the space. This innovative methodology allows for a continuously evolving aesthetic that resists serial repetition. MATTER is produced using Ege Carpets' advanced flatweave loom, ensuring both material quality and digital precision. The collection emphasizes sustainability through the use of selected recycled yarns, aligning with a circular design philosophy. The flatweave manufacturing technique also guarantees the product's durability, making it suitable for high-traffic environments while maintaining its aesthetic integrity over time. The material choices and manufacturing process reflect a commitment to environmental consciousness and product longevity. The collection is available in two distinct color palettes, each featuring 18 primary colors with either a muted (beige/grey) or a saturated (blue/green) undertone. This duality offers design flexibility, enabling the carpets to adapt to various spaces and contexts while maintaining a cohesive look within the collection. This thoughtful approach to color and undertone allows designers to achieve diverse atmospheric effects with a consistent product line. MATTER represents a significant advancement in design, redefining the concept of craft by integrating binary code, digital pixels, and physical threads into a new design methodology. This approach celebrates both precision and imperfection, weaving unpredictability, material honesty, and intentional design into a product that naturally resists obsolescence. The inherent uniqueness of each carpet ensures that it evolves over time and cannot be perfectly replicated, offering a fresh perspective on interior textiles. The successful development of MATTER highlights the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. The fusion of Snøhetta's architectural expertise and Ege Carpets' specialized knowledge in textile manufacturing was crucial for realizing this innovation. Such cross-disciplinary partnerships are often catalysts for groundbreaking designs and disruptive ideas, pushing existing boundaries and challenging conventional systems within the industry. Tenna Knak, Director of Product and Marketing at Ege Carpets, notes that these collaborations inspire curiosity and ambition in new design development, leading to valuable knowledge and unique products like MATTER. The project demonstrates the potential when craft and technology converge, establishing a new design philosophy that embraces unpredictability as a source of beauty and innovation. #TextileDesign #AlgorithmicDesign #DigitalCraft #SustainableDesign #CarpetCollection #Snøhetta #EgeCarpets #InnovativeMaterials #CircularDesign

The project "Knowing the Ropes," initiated by designers Brynhildur Pálsdóttir, Þuriður Rós Sigurþórsdóttir, and Theresa Himmer, delves into the ubiquitous nature and varied applications of rope, challenging conventional perceptions of this utilitarian material. This artistic endeavor explores the cultural and structural significance of rope within a Scandinavian context, specifically focusing on its dual existence in interior design and maritime industries. The designers utilize two historical production facilities, Hampiðjan in Reykjavík, Iceland, and Aarhus Possementfabrik in Denmark, both established in the early 20th century and employing similar machinery. These facilities represent the divergent paths of rope production: one for marine use and the other for interior textiles. The core of the project lies in highlighting the unexpected aesthetic and functional intersections that arise when examining a material with such diverse applications. The genesis of "Knowing the Ropes" dates back to 2017. Over time, the project evolved from its initial conceptualization into a comprehensive body of work, culminating in a publication and an exhibition featuring objects and video installations. The initial exhibition was held at the Reykjavík Art Museum in 2021, showcasing the designers' innovative interpretations and creations. The artists further developed their project by presenting an evolved version at the Hallwyl Museum in Stockholm. This particular venue, a meticulously preserved Victorian home from the turn of the 20th century, provided a unique juxtaposition for the contemporary design pieces. The museum's ornate and traditional environment offered a striking contrast to the modern and unconventional objects crafted from rope, creating an unexpectedly modern aesthetic within a historical setting. The exhibition features a range of objects that reimagine the use of rope in everyday items and art installations. These pieces include floor lamps with rope-wrapped bodies and exposed light bulbs, demonstrating how rope can be integrated into lighting design to create a distinctive texture and form. Pedestals made entirely from rope showcase the material's structural capabilities and its potential as a sculptural element. A standing round mirror, framed and supported by intricate rope work, highlights the material's versatility in creating decorative and functional home furnishings. A modern three-legged table also utilizes rope in its construction, presenting it as a primary material rather than a mere accent. Additionally, arch-shaped shelving units, crafted with rope netting, illustrate innovative approaches to storage and display. Through these creations, Pálsdóttir, Sigurþórsdóttir, and Himmer prompt viewers to reconsider the inherent qualities of rope and its potential for artistic and design expression. The project not only celebrates the craftsmanship and heritage associated with rope making but also pushes the boundaries of how textiles can be perceived and utilized in contemporary design. The juxtaposition of modern designs with a historic setting further emphasizes the timeless appeal and adaptability of this fundamental material, inviting a deeper appreciation for the overlooked elements of our material world. #TextileArt #RopeDesign #ScandinavianDesign #MaterialExploration #ContemporaryArt #ExhibitionDesign #InteriorFurnishings #DesignInnovation

Aurelie Tu, founder of Craftedsystems, bridges her background in industrial design, specifically in consumer electronics, with her current focus on soft, felted products. After a career designing technological devices for companies like Nike, where she developed wearable electronic products, Tu felt a disconnect from natural and tactile materials. This led her to establish Craftedsystems as an experimental venture with an alternative business model that prioritizes design, handwork, and community involvement. Craftedsystems distinguishes itself by creating a weaving system that is accessible to individuals without specialized skills, fostering group participation. The production model offers incentive-driven wages, paid per piece, encouraging weavers to increase their output as their skills improve. Tu collaborates with local organizations in Portland, such as the YWCA and P:EAR, which supports homeless youth, using the handweaving process as a therapeutic and empowering activity. This approach contrasts with traditional craftwork sales or the appropriation of ethnic cultures' work. Tu's innovative interlocking patterns for Craftedsystems originated from a desire to merge technological and design innovation with handcraft. The initial products, made from felt, utilize a simple system of slots and tongues, allowing the material to interlock without the need for stitching or mechanical fasteners. A distinctive feature is that the internal structure, often hidden in traditional designs, becomes the visual identity of the product line. The design process is iterative, involving the creation and refinement of geometries and patterns to achieve simple production and aesthetic appeal. Felt was chosen as the primary material due to its organic qualities and historical significance as humanity's first textile. Its inherent thickness and solidity appealed to Tu, offering both structural integrity and flexibility, which made it suitable for vessels and voids. The tactile nature of her work, inviting interaction and exploration of how the pieces fit together, is a deliberate outcome of her intention to integrate handcraft as a core design element, producing items that machines cannot replicate. Tu's personal style, which blends modern design, innovation, and technology with an appreciation for materials, textures, crisp geometries, and organic forms, is reflected in Craftedsystems. Her inspiration largely stems from extensive travel, which she considers crucial for expanding creative perspectives by exposing her to diverse ideas and philosophies. While her patterns are primarily geometric and elemental, possibly referencing modern design or natural sequences like the Fibonacci series, they are not tied to specific cultural roots. Her favorite piece is the Asira series, produced by Ligne Roset, which has adapted its production to use waste materials and employ individuals with disabilities for handweaving. Currently, Tu is developing wall hangings and vessels for Room & Board and exploring material hybridization for future projects, seeking new collaborations. #AurelieTu #Craftedsystems #IndustrialDesign #FeltProducts #Handcraft #CommunityEngagement #SustainableDesign #TextileInnovation #ModernDesign #InteriorDecor

The exhibition 'Malware' at London's Pippy Houldsworth Gallery features artist Qualeasha Wood's tapestries, tuftings, and videos, which explore the concept of the digital glitch and its implications for the Black female experience. Wood, based in Philadelphia, focuses on internet malfunctions as a metaphor for vulnerability and change within systems. She merges contemporary digital culture with traditional crafts, translating digital pixels into stitches in her tapestries and creating intentional glitches in her video works through data compression. Wood notes that in the pursuit of authenticity, many fabricated images are produced, and her work aims to highlight imperfection and decomposition as more natural states. Her artistic process also involves incorporating strings of code into her images, shifting the focus from her physical body to its interaction within digital spaces. Wood's work investigates the disruption caused by 'glitches,' interpreting them both as digital viruses and as the presence of the Black female body within established systems. Her webcam self-portraits, in particular, consider the body as a site for both exploitation and resistance. Her interest in these themes began during her studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she observed the pervasive influence of social media. She found that online platforms provided a space for conversations about her experiences as a Black woman, which then informed her art. This led to her first tapestry, 'Cult Following,' which likens social media to a cult or religion due to its ability to simultaneously exalt and scapegoat individuals, a duality Wood experienced as one of the few Black students on campus. The artist's personal experiences with doxing, where her personal information was published online, further solidified her artistic direction. These incidents, occurring before she began creating her tapestries, motivated her to reclaim control of her narrative by weaving her own image into her artwork. Wood sees the digital and traditional realms not as opposing forces but as interconnected systems. Her childhood exposure to her great-grandmother's and great-aunt's crocheting sparked her interest in craft and textiles, recognizing their familiar and accessible nature. Similarly, she views computers as integral to her generation's experience, shaping pervasive relationships with technology. She identifies commonalities between traditional crafts and digital systems, both having inherent rules and offering opportunities for exploitation and creative manipulation. Wood employs a computerized loom to create her artworks, which interprets digital files to produce woven replicas of images. This method was inspired by a tapestry depicting her brother and cousins, a gift that demonstrated how images could be woven without strict adherence to stylistic conventions, utilizing scanned and collaged digital images. The most labor-intensive part of her creative process involves sifting through an extensive collection of personal phone screenshots, numbering in the tens of thousands, to select images for recreation. The actual weaving process, conversely, is less hands-on and typically takes a few weeks, often resulting in unexpected outcomes. She describes this as a release of control, relying on prayer for the desired result. As an avid consumer of digital content, with approximately 14 hours of screen time daily, Wood emphasizes the need for rapid artistic production to keep pace with the fast-evolving internet culture. Her use of pixels in her work deliberately moves beyond conventional beauty standards, embracing an aesthetic that is imperfect and raw. She views her tapestries as a 'double-edged sword,' allowing her to control the perception of her body while also being conscious of the voyeuristic gaze it might attract. The glitch, in this context, serves as a symbol of vulnerability, yet it also empowers her by subverting expectations of perfection and femininity, thereby creating a space for artistic expression and exploration. 'Malware' will be on display at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery in London until April 26. #QualeashaWood #DigitalArt #TextileArt #LondonExhibition #PippyHouldsworthGallery #BlackFemaleExperience #SocialMediaImpact #DigitalCulture

Martyn Thompson, a New York-based artist and the creative force behind Martyn Thompson Studio, has discovered an innovative approach to repurpose discarded materials, transforming his used drop-cloths and rags into a collection of woven tapestries and fabrics. This initiative, aptly named ‘The Accidental Expressionist,’ debuted at The Future Perfect in New York. The collection is notable for its jacquard-woven textiles and murals, which reimagine the incidental marks and stains left by the artist during his previous projects. Instead of being mere by-products, these elements are elevated and given new significance, becoming the central focus of the final artworks. The essence of ‘The Accidental Expressionist’ lies in its celebration of often-overlooked details and the expressive traces of the artist's creative process. Each piece in the collection encourages viewers to engage in close examination, revealing layers of colors and stains that coalesce into Pollack-esque splatters. Thompson meticulously collects and photographs these incidental marks, transforming them from discarded elements into purposeful components of his art. This process not only breathes new life into otherwise waste materials but also redefines their aesthetic and conceptual value within a fine art context. At The Future Perfect’s showroom, the versatile applications of this collection were showcased, demonstrating how these unique fabrics can serve as upholstery for furniture, be crafted into pillows, and even form bespoke lampshades. A standout example is the 'Quarry' lamp, a collaborative effort between Thompson and artist Dove Drury Hornbuckle. Hornbuckle hand-crafts the lamp's structure, which resembles stacks of ceramic shards, while Thompson’s studio provides the distinctive bespoke shade, featuring the collection's unique textiles. The 'Quarry' lamp is also available in a cast bronze edition, offering a variety of patinas. ‘The Accidental Expressionist’ collection thus embodies a powerful narrative of transformation and artistic vision, converting what was once considered refuse into objects of beauty and design. It highlights the potential for creativity to find inspiration and value in unexpected places, challenging conventional notions of artistic materials and processes. The collection offers a fresh perspective on sustainability in art and design, illustrating how an artist's personal history and working methods can be intimately woven into the fabric of their creations. The exhibition at The Future Perfect provided an immersive experience for visitors to witness the innovative use of these transformed materials in various interior applications, from large-scale murals to intricate lighting fixtures. #MartynThompsonStudio #AccidentalExpressionist #TextileArt #SustainableDesign #WovenTapestries #ArtisanCraftsmanship #InteriorTextiles #TheFuturePerfect #CollaborativeArt

Margo Selby, a celebrated designer-weaver, has been at the forefront of innovative textile design for over a decade, distinguishing her work through the creation of colourful, three-dimensional fabrics that form the core of her vibrant cushions, throws, rugs, and various home accessories. Her signature style, characterized by strong graphics and intricate patterns, originates from her Kent studio, where she utilizes a 24-shaft dobby loom to develop her unique hand-woven textiles before they are put into production by specialized mills. Selby's artistic journey is deeply rooted in her family's tradition of textile craftsmanship, with her grandmother, Edith Selby, having taught her crocheting and cross-stitching. This early exposure to textile arts naturally led her to pursue a focus on textiles during her foundation studies at Chelsea College of Arts, where she also explored graphic design, sculpture, and three-dimensional design. Her formal education continued with an MA in woven textiles from the Royal College of Art, followed by a fellowship at The Ann Sutton Foundation. During her fellowship, Selby engaged in projects that included developing products for Shetland wool and designing dobby fabrics for the interiors fabric industry in Yorkshire, establishing her initial connections with industrial mills. It was through these experiences that Selby began to bridge her hand-woven concepts with industrial manufacturing processes, leading to the development of her brand's hallmark silk and Lycra fabrics. The inspiration for her innovative three-dimensional fabric concept stemmed from her fascination with surface and texture, particularly the desire to emulate the tactile quality of bubble wrap packaging using silk. This pursuit involved extensive research into different fibers that would shrink when exposed to heat, which she then wove in combination with silk to achieve the desired three-dimensional surfaces. Selby's design philosophy is intrinsically linked to the art of weaving, which serves as the primary source of inspiration for all her creations. Beyond her personal handloom work, she actively explores global trends in woven textiles, drawing stimulation from highly decorative designs rich in pattern and color. Recent collections reflect an appreciation for indigenous and tribal fabrics, including techniques such as Japanese dyeing and African prints. The design process for her fabrics begins with the careful planning of the warp, which forms the structural backbone of the fabric on the loom, allowing for experimentation with different structures and weft yarns until a satisfactory product is achieved. This methodical and contemplative approach allows the fabric to evolve one row at a time, providing ample opportunity for design refinement. Once a fabric design is perfected through numerous developmental warps, Selby explores its potential for industrial production, collaborating with mills. For her flooring collection, her woven patterns were adapted into carpet constructions, manufactured in the UK. Operating from an open-plan studio in Whitstable, Selby immerses herself in a creative environment filled with materials, yarns, and inspiring imagery. Her daily routine involves addressing emails and collaborating with her team before dedicating the majority of her day to weaving at her loom. Her collaborations extend to companies like Alternative Flooring, for which she developed wool carpet and runner designs inspired by her deflected double-weave hand-woven cloths. Selby sources yarns globally, with Japan and the US being notable for their vibrant hand-weaving communities, and emphasizes selecting the most skilled weavers for specific material types. The business, which began in her bedroom, has expanded significantly to a bustling textile studio employing eight full-time staff and additional piece workers in Whitstable, focusing on bespoke textiles for a diverse range of applications. The handloom and the traditional craft of weaving remain central to all her products. The current re-emergence of carpet and color in fashion presents an exciting opportunity for her designs, particularly the translation of soft silk and wool fabric designs into large-scale, recolored flooring options. Selby's future plans include developing interiors fabrics for sale by the meter and expanding her accessories range to include bedlinen and towels. #TextileDesign #MargoSelby #WovenTextiles #HandloomWeaving #ThreeDimensionalFabrics #InteriorDesign #HomeAccessories #Craftsmanship #IndustrialCollaboration

French architect Clarisse Merlet, through her studio FabBRICK, is demonstrating the significant potential of recycling textile waste into viable construction materials. Originating from a school project, Merlet's initiative addresses the substantial pollution generated by the construction and fashion industries. The fashion industry alone contributes millions of tons of textile waste annually in Europe, with a considerable portion remaining uncollected. FabBRICK aims to transform this discarded textile into insulating, structural, and aesthetic building bricks, which can then be used to create furniture or partition walls. The development process involved extensive experimentation to refine the technique. Initially, discarded textiles are sorted by color, responding to customer preferences as FabBRICK avoids dyeing its bricks, instead deriving color from the source materials. The textile is then shredded into fibers of varying lengths (7mm, 20mm, or 40mm) depending on the project's requirements. A crucial element of the process is the proprietary, 100% ecological binding agent, developed with an engineer, which transforms the textile fibers into a clay-like consistency. This binding agent was specifically formulated to be rot-proof and mold-resistant, overcoming a significant challenge in using organic waste for construction. The mixture of fibers and glue is carefully weighed to ensure consistent density before being manually loaded into a patented machine. This machine compresses the mixture into brick form over approximately 30 minutes. The bricks then undergo a natural drying process in ambient air for 10 to 15 days. Once cured, these bricks exhibit impressive characteristics, including mechanical resistance comparable to concrete blocks, good acoustic and thermal insulation properties, and satisfactory fire resistance. While they possess good water resistance, indoor use is currently recommended. FabBRICK's business model emphasizes local production, with all ingredients and machinery sourced locally in France. This commitment to proximity is a core value, aiming to foster local manufacturing and reduce environmental impact. Despite its local focus, the studio has a global vision, recognizing the ubiquitous nature of fast fashion waste. The long-term plan involves automating the production process to increase recycling capacity and replicating the FabBRICK Factory model first within France and then internationally. This expansion strategy seeks to establish local production units globally, situated close to sources of textile waste, thereby promoting sustainable construction practices worldwide. #SustainableDesign #InnovativeMaterials #TextileRecycling #EcoFriendlyConstruction #CircularEconomy #ArchitecturalInnovation #LocalProduction #FabBRICK

Ellen Van Dusen, the designer behind the fashion and homeware line Dusen Dusen, operates from a 600-square-foot studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She moved into this space approximately five years ago, seeking a more interactive and creatively stimulating environment than working from home. Previously, working from home led to feeling isolated and dealing with practical issues like fabric scraps and pins. The studio serves as a dedicated space for her creative endeavors, addressing the challenges she faced in her previous home-based work setup. Van Dusen’s studio is a vibrant display of repetitious shapes, lines, arches, and squiggles, characterized by a bold use of primary colors combined with unexpected hues. The space showcases numerous examples of her brightly colored graphic prints across various products. These include silky dresses, linen jumpsuits, color-blocked jackets, dog beds, patterned throw pillows, graphic bath and beach towels, fruit-printed bed linens, and cozy blankets. Poster boards featuring her most popular prints are also displayed throughout the studio, highlighting the consistent aesthetic of her brand. Despite the abundance of items, the studio maintains an organized chaos. There is a clear sense of order within the colorful environment. For instance, scissors are neatly hung, and books, though seemingly disarranged, are easily located by Van Dusen. She references a book on the principles of geometry, noting its exploration of mathematical patterns, including tessellations—repeating shapes that fit together seamlessly. She observes that some of these geometric principles resemble prints she has independently created, highlighting an intuitive connection to mathematical design. Van Dusen's approach to design is inherently analytical, stemming from her academic background. She has no formal fashion or design training. Instead, at Tufts University, she created her own major, "Psychology of Design," which explored art history through the lens of neuroscience. Her studies focused on how the brain perceives color, culminating in a senior thesis on the use of color by artists Mark Rothko, Morris Louis, and Ellsworth Kelly. Her lifelong fascination with color drives her inquiry into its visual appeal, its role in human perception, and the success of color-centric art. Her interest in art and design began in childhood, influenced by frequent visits to museums in Washington, D.C., and craft projects with her architect parents. This upbringing fostered a diverse range of interests that shaped her aesthetic, which she describes as drawing from many different worlds. As a teenager, Van Dusen began designing her own clothing, using a sewing machine to reconstruct thrift store garments. She often favored bright, unexpected color combinations and graphic patterns, creating her own printed textiles by laboriously sewing patterns onto fabric, as she initially did not know other methods. After moving to New York, Van Dusen received an opportunity to stock her designs in an East Village boutique, prompting her to rapidly learn professional skills like grading, pattern-making, and finishing. She launched Dusen Dusen in 2010, hand-sewing her initial collection from a makeshift workspace in her bedroom. In 2015, she expanded her brand into home decor, including pillows, blankets, bed linens, towels, and pet beds, adapting her clothing prints to different scales for these items. She notes that designing for home decor allows for individual object design, unlike clothing, where fabric patterns are cut from a larger piece. Van Dusen's design process incorporates technology, with her brothers helping her code patterns to generate variations. This method aids in brainstorming and developing new print ideas. However, she emphasizes the importance of unplugging and working with analog methods. Her studio is intentionally divided into a digital workspace and an "analog side" where computers are not allowed, enabling focused drawing and idea generation without digital distractions. Looking ahead, Van Dusen is renovating her home, which is influencing her thinking about larger-scale design. She is also collaborating with a furniture designer and developing upholstery fabric, considering its potential use in both home furnishings and unconventional clothing items. #DusenDusen #EllenVanDusen #BrooklynStudio #ColorPsychology #PatternDesign #HomeDecor #FashionDesign #TextileDesign #CreativeProcess

The 'Hive' collection, developed by atelier oï for B&B Italia, explores an innovative approach to upholstery using small leather patches, termed "leaves," to construct a three-dimensional textile. This deconstruction process details the extensive trial and error involved in perfecting this complex material, which ultimately informed the design of hexagonal ottomans and complementary low tables. The initial phase of development focused on material exploration, specifically forming studies with leather patches in various colors and configurations. This involved examining both the front and back of these patch arrangements, noting how individual leather pieces connected to form a cohesive textile, even before full attachment. Following these material studies, the design team moved into conceptualizing how this unique leather textile could be applied to furniture. Early sketches focused on adapting the connected leather structures for an ottoman. This led to the creation of numerous ottoman models, varying in size, form, and leather color, to test the aesthetic and structural possibilities. A significant challenge addressed during development was how to effectively wrap the ottoman legs with the patch textile, requiring dedicated studies to perfect the technique. Further refinement involved developing methods to finish the corners and sides of the ottoman, especially given the irregular edges of the leather patches, ensuring a seamless and polished appearance. In parallel with the ottoman design, the concept evolved to include complementary furniture pieces. Initial sketches were created for a similarly shaped table to be paired with the ottomans. This integration aimed to create a cohesive collection where both the ottomans and tables shared a unified design language, inspired by the distinctive beehive-like texture of the leather. The culmination of this design process resulted in a finished product showcasing three-color ottomans paired with the metal tables. The 'Hive' collection was notably featured in an installation at the B&B Italia Store during the Milan Furniture Fair in April 2013, highlighting the successful application of this innovative textile in a contemporary furniture context. #LeatherUpholstery #3DTextiles #FurnitureDesign #AtelierOi #BBItalia #ProductDevelopment #OttomanDesign #TableDesign #MilanFurnitureFair

The article explores the evolving landscape of mattress ticking, highlighting key trends and innovations showcased by suppliers at ISPA EXPO. A prominent theme is the influence of boxed bedding on product design, leading to a demand for clean, contemporary aesthetics in fabrics suitable for online sales. Suppliers are focused on creating inexpensive, wrinkle-free ticking for borders that can withstand compression and roll packing, often utilizing stretchy knits or wovens with elastic yarns. While knits are popular for mattress panels, woven collections are also being updated with minimalist designs and traditional motifs, appealing to the higher end of the market. The article notes that the design of three-dimensional knits has shifted from super puffy styles to intricate patterns like dots, dimples, and complex geometric shapes, often accented with vibrant colors. The rapid dissemination of information through social media is accelerating trend cycles, exposing consumers to a broader range of design inspirations. Despite this, white mattress panels remain dominant, but there is a growing acceptance of accent colors, particularly blues and grays. Some suppliers report increased interest in brilliant hues for panels, tapes, and trim, with examples such as soft silver, gray heather tones, chambray, indigo, mustard yellow, and bright red gaining traction. BekaertDeslee USA, for instance, featured bronze as its 2018 Color of the Year. Manufacturers and consumers are becoming more receptive to bolder accent colors when used sparingly. The shift in consumer taste extends to a desire for mattresses to appear more like furniture that integrates seamlessly into home environments, leading to an increased interest in high-end wovens, especially those incorporating heather yarns. This trend also encourages producers to extend ticking designs to matching upholstered headboards and bases. Some suppliers are offering flat knits that emulate the smooth appearance of wovens at a more competitive price point, suitable for a wider range of retail prices. For boxed beds, online brands favor clean, crisp, modern, and contemporary looks that photograph well and feature visual interest through texture and pattern rather than bold colors, often adhering to a palette of whites and quiet neutrals. Wrinkle-resistant wovens with stretch and good recovery are crucial for these products. The market for boxed beds also shows a preference for contemporary and transitional geometric patterns over traditional ones. The article also delves into innovations in mattress borders, with suppliers offering diverse options in structure, design, and color, combining various fabric types like knits, wovens, 3D spacer fabric, and prints. Engineered border fabrics, like CT Nassau's Fascia line, are designed to mimic cut-and-sewn textiles while coming off the loom as a single piece. The concept of “technical fabrics” is gaining prominence, encompassing a wide array of finishes, treatments, yarns, and fiber contents that offer performance benefits beyond aesthetics and comfort. These include anti-microbial and stain-resistant finishes, as well as features like cooling, wicking, breathability, and temperature regulation, often achieved through phase-change materials or specialized yarns like Celliant. The article concludes by emphasizing that modern beds are expected to fulfill multiple functions beyond just sleep, including relaxation, regeneration, protection, and aesthetic appeal, driven by continuous innovation in raw materials and construction solutions. #MattressTicking #BeddingIndustry #ISPAEXPO #FabricDesign #BoxedBedding #TextileInnovation #ColorTrends #TechnicalFabrics #SleepProducts