Little felt lace dress

nuno felt: silk, wool. natural dyes: madder

Belle Armoire

I think I have forgotten to show this feature on the blog. Lovely memories of the Summer too – a feature in Belle Armoire, Summer 2012, volume 12 issue 2, feat. in pg. 18-23.

Many thanks for Svetlana Batura, who made all photography for this article.

Project: Repurpose

Almost two years ago one of my clients was so excited contacting me, and she had an idea… She wanted me to repurpose her wedding dress that was sitting in the box for years. I think her excitement simply infected me and I said yes to her, let’s try this.

So the dress made its way to me over Atlantic. When I opened the big box, I had ambiguous feelings – fear to take the dress apart, excitement to repurpose it and…worry when I saw it was all synthetic and not silk as my client thought of it.

I don’t usually use anything synthetic in my pieces or projects, I don’t feel connected with the synthetics. And especially having to combine it with the natural materials… The other problem was that most of the fabric of the dress was not suitable for felting at all.

As the excitement and enthusiasm of the first moments faded away, I understood I could do nothing unless I build a connection with this fabric. I needed it to speak to me. There were dozen of times when I took it to my hands and then put it away. I took it apart, carded some fabric into fibers, and removed the embellishments to be felted on something I still didn’t know what. I was lucky to have such a wonderful client who understood my creative process and was ready to wait even for a year or more.

Concentrating my thoughts on my client, opened up my mind. Though the fabric was synthetic, it was a part of my clients image some years ago – I was sure this dress was soaking in most positive feelings, love and adoration during those times when my client was marrying a man she loved. It wasn’t just a piece of polyester to her. This was the point where the fabric could speak to me and I could listen. My work began.

It wasn’t all about felting, just a few pieces, it was more of interpretation in textiles. I applied several techniques and thought a lot about colors. I was sure the colors should be softening the feeling of synthetics and should be something that would look worth of a woman whatever her age would be. As the woman who decided to repurpose her wedding dress wants to cherish the things made of it for years or maybe a lifetime.

 

And…the best reward for this “communication” with the dress was my clients reaction – she loved every single piece. And I hope she is going to cherish it for years.

Furry trends in couture and feltmaking

It seems that furry looks have never been that much in fashion as this Fall. I’ve already talked about this trend last year, mentioning collection of Chanel. But it seems that the furry trend reached its peak just this Fall – when you look at the styles showed in so many fashion magazines, when you look at what many shops have to offer this Fall – there’s so much of furry looks. And when you look at the runway for this Fall, for example Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, you see very soft furry collections. Just one idea keeps turning on my mind when looking at it – she could have that much successfully used felt from alpaca rather than fur and would have got very similar looks, just more eco-friendly and cruelty free. And that’s why I feel even more proud for Josephus Thimister, who let this furry trend appear on the runway using the craft of felt making (my felt pieces for Josephus Thimister Fall/Winter 2011-2012 collection could be seen here).

my nuno felt coat with alpaca fleece

 

alpaca fleece in nuno felt

“bored with seeing collections that have no soul, no feeling, no seduction”

Some of you were quite curious to know more about Josephus Thimister, the designer with whom I had honor to collaborate for his AW 2011/12 collection this year. I found some quotes on the internet I would like to share for others would get at least a little sense of uniqueness of Josephus, and some photos from his last year collection, some looks I just love.

                

“So what made you decide to start over?
Actually, it happened quite naturally. My intuition told me so. When I observed the fashion world over the last eight years, I saw a declining story. But recently I started to make clothes for my own pleasure, to show that I still have things to say and share. With experience, you know what to do and what not to do, and at the same time you’re much more free creatively. I am stronger now than I was ten years ago. And I was bored with seeing collections that have no soul, no feeling, no seduction—just a product on a hanger. I am not a bling-bling person.”
Read more: Josephus Thimister Haute Couture S/S 10 Paris - Page 7 - the Fashion Spot http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f60/josephus-thimister-haute-couture-s-s-10-paris-95032-7.html#ixzz1Haq68bLD

                 

“and that's the beauty of Thimister. nothing is ever without meaning....nothing is ever shocking for the sake of shocking. everything is so bound together with utter poetry”.
Read more: Josephus Thimister Haute Couture S/S 10 Paris - Page 8 - the Fashion Spot http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f60/josephus-thimister-haute-couture-s-s-10-paris-95032-8.html#ixzz1HarjzI3h

                   

THIMISTER
The origins of Josephus Thimister are eclectic: he is Russian, French, Belgian, Orthodoxe, Catholic, Jewish... A mix that he bluntly calls "garbage". After passing through Karl Lagerfeld and the fashion house of Jean Patou, he worked as a decorator before being named artistic director of the very prestigious fashion house Balenciaga. During these 5 and a half years, he gave Balenciaga a breath of fresh air, then he created his own Parisien label in 1997, under which he has since presented his Haute Couture and ready-to-wear collections. At the same time, he became art director for the Italian brand Genny, and from 2005 to 2007 for Charles Jourdan. He has also worked for a number of ready-to-wear brands as well as being a consultant. The creations of Thimester posess a certain lightness and poetry which creates an elegance devoid of any vanity. Thimester seems to rejuvinate the traditional Haute Couture, notably by using unconventional materials.

photos from: 2e-bureau.com and Fashionologie

P.S.: Some internet sites offering THIMISTER: Barneys New York, Boutique Roma, Anastasia Boutique, Case Study Space, Antonioli

Wild beauty

Recently I’ve been working on a collection of nuno felted eco dresses, all dyed with plants or in natural colors, that was presented during the exhibition “World of a woman” in Kaunas together with the collection of ARZA jouillerie amber and jet stone jewelry. (You can view the photos of the show on my Facebook fan page Vilte or on Flickr gallery).
I won’t be too humble in saying that the presentation was really inspiring and enchanting, but it was that way. The collection itself was very organic and definitely not static, so I decided to reinforce this impression by presenting it in a movement on modern dance dancers.
My biggest thanks thus goes to the dancers of Studija M, leaded by Lina Puodžiukaitė, a couple of dancers from Aura – Gotautė Kalmatavičiūtė and Gabija Blochina; masters of visage and hair style from Kirpėjų ir Grožio specialistų asociacija; and photographer Nerijus Kuzmickas.

There’s a very tiny sneak peak to how the dancers moved on Youtube. And if you want to listen to the music used in the show, here it is – first part was more light with this music and the second part presented more deep textures and colors with this music. 

Concept of the collection was focusing on raw, “nude” natural materials (raw silk, wool, handspun silk, sustainable banana fiber…) creating wild organic surfaces, everything formed with hands in live shapes, seamless dresses. It’s like picking up raw wool and silk and “moulding” it into organic silhouettes and textures, beautiful wild “skin” for a human being.
All the collection was dyed with plants in eco friendly way giving it another organic aspect. These colors are live and warm, they encode something that is beyond what you can see with your eyes, it encompasses the feeling of the color…

  

Beyond serene

She bird

White peonies

Tresor

Tree of life

Inamorata

Tactile Earth

More dresses and more photos on FB or Flickr.
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Paskutiniu metu kūriau eko kolekciją vėlimo ant audinių technika, dažydama viską augalais, kuri buvo pristatyta “Moters Pasaulio” parodos metu Kaune, kartu su ARZA joillerie juvelyrika iš gintaro ir gagato. (Nuotraukas iš pristatymo rasite mano Facebook’o puslapyje ir Flickr galerijoje).
Turbūt ne kuklu sakyti, kad pristatymas buvo užburiantis, tačiau jis būtent toks buvo. Pati kolekcija buvo labai organiška ir tikrai ne statiška, todėl norėdama tai sustiprinti, pristatymui pasirinkau modernaus šokio šokėjas.
Taigi nuoširdžiausiai dėkoju Studija M šokėjoms, vadovaujamoms Linos Puodžiukaitės, porai Auros šokėjų – Gotautei Kalmatavičiūtei, Gabijai Blochinai; Kirpėjų ir grožio specialistų asociacijos meistrėms; fotografui Nerijui Kuzmickui.
Youtube svetainėje ir nedidukė atkarpėlė reportažo – tiesiog tam, kad pajausti, kaip šokėjos judėjo. Pirmos dalies muzika – švelnesnėms, lengvesnėms suknelėms, antroji – ryškesnėms, gilesnėms faktūroms ir spalvoms.
Kolekcijos konceptas – atsigręžimas į natūralias pirmines, “žalias”, tikras, “nuogas” medžiagas (šilko, vilnos, bananų pluoštai, rankomis verptas šilkas…), jomis kuriant organiškus paviršius, viską formuojant rankomis, be siūlių. Tai tarsi “žalių” pluoštų paėmimas į rankas ir organiškų siluetų, faktūrų, laukinės naujos žmogaus “odos” lipdymas rankomis.
Dar vienas organiškas kolekcijos aspektas – dažymas augalais. Tokios spalvos – gyvos, šiltos, savyje talpinančios ne tik tai, ką galima pamatyti akimis, bet ir tai, ką galima pajausti…

Daugiau nuotraukų ir suknelių FB arba Flickr galerijose.

Eco Spring Fashion

Eco nuno felted top Damascus Rose Water. Eco dyed with plants

Eco nuno felted top Walking on Vanilla Clouds. Eco dyed with plants

Eco nuno felted top Apricots. Eco dyed with plants

Is felt fashionable?

Felt felt felt...we see and hear this word pretty often right now as felt is living its renaisance to my subjective opinion on these days. But weird enough, some still think that felt is an old fashioned textile or suited only for village people or Russian nation...

Looking for a proof of felt as fashionable in fashion field, one could look at the runways of world famous designers and definetly find felt there:

Calvin Klein, RTW Autumn 2009:


Yohji Yamamoto, RTW Autumn 2009:


Fendi, RTW Autumn 2009:


Stella McCartney, RTW Autumn 2008:

photos via style.com

And if you look even further, you can find such designers as John Galliano , Donna Karan, and Christian Lacroix using felt in their collections long time ago. So perhaps felt is not something that we could call fashionable today - doubted tomorrow. Perhaps felt is permanent - like classics.

Some more example of use of felt in fashion by Dutch designer Alexander van Slobbe in collaboration with Dutch felter Claudy Jongstra:

photos via orson-bodil.com