The Satchel: August 2011

I have been working on my next collection for the Perth Fashion Festival in September. The collection is part of an on going textile program I am a part of- the Hyogo Banshu Textile Scholarship Program.

It is the first year for the program and began as a part of the celebration for the 30th Anniversary of the sister state relationship between the State of Western Australia and Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. 6 scholarships were awarded to students from around all W.A. after submissions were narrowed down by a board of local industry members and then sent to Japan for the final decisions.

The program included travelling to Hyogo, Japan to the small industrial town of Nishiwaki in March. Designers from around the world including Inside Outside founder Petra Balise from Amsterdam and Flannel designer Kristy Lawrence from Perth were also invited to be apart of the Nishiwaki's Textile and Fashion Week.

The time I spent in Japan with program was amazing, we were shown behind the scenes in the textile factories and the different process and techniques used to make the high quality cloth they manufacture; clients including Burberry and Chanel. Different factories specialise in different techniques and even specialise in dying yarns in specific colours. Some factories dye the yarns, others weave it, treat it or spin the yarn.

We also made garments before travelling to Japan using fabric from Ozawa Textile Co (Mr Ozawa's company who hosted the program) which were included in the fashion festival while we were there. During the busy week were also able to listen to the international designers during seminars and participate in Nishiwaki's Textile Trade Fair.

The main part of the program was the collaboration with the textile factories where each chosen participant worked with a specifically matched textile factory (from the concepts in our submissions) to produce a textile cloth. During the collaboration meeting the drape of the finished cloth was discussed along with weight, colour, texture, yarn quality, pattern and weave of the textile to be created. I was lucky enough to be approached by a second company, Daika, who saw my submission and offered to work on a second textile design with me!

Japan is a beautiful country and its people were so hospitable and kind, I will always treasure my time there-I can't wait to go back! (you can see all my happy snaps here) The whole experience was invaluable and a rare opportunity the whole process from designing the cloth, seeing the manufacturing process first hand and now designing and making a collection for the Perth Fashion Festival runway using out beautiful fabrics. The event in September is an invite only which includes designs from Flannel showcasing the fabric Kristy designed during the collaboration and the 6 of us involved in the program.

This fabric was once a brightly coloured Indian cushion we had in our lounge room for years.
Due sun damage however it faded and the fibres have become very fragile. I love the way the
fibres are splitting and the beautiful muted colours now. I have been storing it away
until the just the right project came along-which it has!

The purple fabric in the middle is the fabric I designed during a collaboration in Japan as apart of
the Hyogo Banshu Textile Program earlier this year.

The fabric I designed with the 2nd company-Daika. A new technique was used during the weaving process to make the fabric
double sided. While having two completely different fabrics on either side it still retains a soft drape and weight.