TISSU PREMIER TRADE FAIR | PeclersParis

Report on the new fabrics--Fall Winter 2012/13



TISSU PREMIER TRADE FAIR | PeclersParis

Revisiting the Think Tank

     As a former client of Peclers Paris, I often check back to the site to see what it happening.  Today I was delighted to find that any user can browse the site and learn trends they are forecasting for lifestyle and design.
Just go to www. peclersparis.com, put in your location and sign up for the news letter.  Spend time on the site exploring the inspirations, key themes,  futura, the secret shop--the one I find fascinating.
All I could think of today was how I would design my "Secret Shop"... and what clues I would leave for the discerning who want to push the envelope and seek out the edge of the flap.

Rediscovering Treasured People

Today I heard that Pookie Blezard is having a sale, 70% off!  Pookie is one of the most creative textile designers I have met.  She resides in London, designing some of the most out of the box, off the planet scarves and clothing I have seen.  I had the opportunity to visit her in her studio during the last decade, just when she was  getting a new textile printer.  Crammed with fabrics all over the place, most she had designed and had printed, she demonstrated her technique of free motion on a very old but true single needle machine.  She was always ahead of her time.   Most everything she makes is one of a kind.  I have been collecting her work for 15 years.   If you come across a label that reads "Pazuki London", grab it.

So if you get a chance to check out her facebook page, I promise you will see things you have not experienced. 
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=207500435949384

Time	Thursday, June 9 · 12:00pm - 8:00pm
Location	27 Bury St, SW1Y 6AL

An Educated Consumer is the Best Customer

As I interact with more artists and collectors on the internet, I find that the educational service they are providing is fabulous.  Here is a blog that discusses the different American costume jewelry manufacturers that once flourished in the 20th century.   It is my hope that one day American will return to making great quality and that consumers will support our product.

http://starletstyles.blogspot.com/2011/03/coro-nation.html?showComment=1301401131422#c5468095761042421861

Just had to share this Gorgeous Gift Wrapping

The Artist Project

Below is a link to The Artist Project in NYC, March 17-20, at Pier 92.  It is running with the Architectural Digest Show.  My husband Rob is in the show, Booth 406.  Many different mediums are represented. The ticket gets you into both shows.

Complimentary Tickets to the Artist Project

A Great Blog to Learn About Vintage Costume Jewelry

Artists, collectors, vintage lovers of all mediums will love this blog.  I discovered it today when the blogger featured one of my pieces in her discussion on vintage Czech jewelry.

But even cooler is the fact that she is so willing to help people learn about vintage and answers your questions right away.  She  is a wealth of knowledge, has street smarts and understands the online markets.

Here is it:
Starletstyles.blogspot.com

2012 Natural Dye Color Palette is Here

My creative friend,  Kathy Hatori, business woman par excellence and off beat experimenter, released the new color palette for 2012 using natural dyes.
 To see the palette, click on  www.botanicalcolors.com/?p=1551

You can also follow Botanical Colors on Facebook!

One Day Sale for Valentine's Day!

Use the following discount code at Vintagesiamese to get 15% off your purchase!

FRIEND15

*Discount expires on 24 March 2011.

 Valentine's Day Sale at Vintage Siamese

Dreaming In Color: Vintage Couture Auction On iGavel.com

Very cool upcoming auction:

Dreaming In Color: Vintage Couture Auction On iGavel.com

New Years Musings on Success

My husband Rob always says that when I become successful at something, I ditch it.  In a way he is right about somethings.

  For example, when my Salsa Dress appeared at the fashion shows, it took three years before people clamored for it.  By then I was on to some other designs, because the nature of the fashion business is that you always have to come up with something new.   I had stopped production on the Salsa Dress, could not make any more because the fabric was long gone.  To this day, I still get clients coming up to me telling me how much they love that dress, they throw it in the wash, in the suitcase, dress it up and down.

It's been three years since I showed in NYC at Atelier, Moda Manhattan, and one year since Chicago.
I think it is good to step back.   I can see the strengths and weaknesses of the collections--that is hard to do when you are in the thick of planning shows and new lines 24/7.     I feel much better about what I created the last decade, I know what I would like to bring forward with a new twist.   I have learned more about the consumer being on the retail end of things with Porter Studios in Hamilton.    It takes about three years for the public to come around to new designs.   

My nature regarding design is to seek out what will be the styles in the future.   Being a client of Peclers Paris think tank taught me to be aware of not only the new textiles but the changing eco-trends and global economies.   I learned to twist and turn silhouettes of the past, infuse them with disparate textures so that light reflects many planes.    And those lessons take time to seep into the public's consciousness.

So ditching early is something I need to work on for 2011.    I need to simmer the ideas, patterns, textures.
Introduce them, but not expect a big response, because  it is a new idea and people need to think about it before they adorn themselves.    Learning the balance of creativity and financial success is the biggest challenge I face.     Keep designs simmering, add a dash of spice for freshness.    Bring my experiments forward in glimpses, like jewels in a case.   Fill the racks with silhouettes that people love to wear now and forever.


Happy New Year to All!

New Tafa Team Blog

Thanks to Rachel Biel who works endlessly to promote fiber and textile artists, we have a new blog!

Tafalist Blog

Click on the link to experience a visual feast!

Always Leave Room for the Other Guy

On this Father's Day, I think of my dad and his wisdom about the economy.  Dad was an amazing business person, he had a sixth sense about what was about to happen between human beings..   His skill of building relationships was one of the strong foundations he imparted on me.   He believed in fairness, negotiation, not bulldozing someone and taking them for what they had.   Dad said, "you always have to leave room for the other guy.  He has to make a living, too."  This value is especially important now.   

Being an entrepreneur since age five,  my self concept is that I sit on a beautiful carpet in a bazaar selling my wares.  It's who I am.  I am keenly aware of markets in all sizes and shapes... how things trade between companies, individuals, online auctions, or set prices.  

We are moving into an age of online purchases of sales that will overcome bricks and mortar very soon.   What I see in these markets is a vast array of pricing--fair, cheap, and clueless--way overpriced because the person did not bother to do the market research.

   What Dad taught me was  to buy things that I loved because I might be stuck with them.
"Buy things at a good price, then mark them up enough to make a decent profit," he said," but leave some room for the buyer to succeed too."   

Dad understood market dynamics.  To keep the cash flow moving you have to price things right.  If you charge too much, or what the "book value" is,  then the item might sit there for a very long time and you will be forced to lower it.    Dad was always about cash flow... "that is what keeps the economy moving--if money does not move around, we stagnate."

I think about this and my current endeavor of running a gallery in Hamilton, New York.   Art is not selling, people do not have the money.  Even if they are well off, they are hanging on to cash.    I feel that one of the biggest mistakes artists make is that they do not know the value of their work in the market.  Artists do not take the time to see what else is out there, what prices things are selling at all over the country.    My feeling is that alot of work is overpriced.    A painting may have taken them months to complete.  If the artist figures the price of a painting based on the time they spent and cost of materials, it may be way off the current market.   This is true if the work is good or bad.    An artist should not define themselves by the dollar amount at which they sell their work,  it should be the quality of the work.

We are in a period of deflation.  Everyone has been forced to cut back, alot have lost jobs, or work two or three to make ends meet.    Deciding to work for less, in my opinion, acknowledges reality.
We need to get the market moving again, and the only way to do it is to come up with a new body of high quality work that you can sell at affordable prices.

The Artisans of Mid Century

 



 About one month ago I found a pin in a junk shop, it was very well made and sculptural.  Researching led me to discover a world I grew up in but never knew, the 1950's and 60's, post war boom of American Costume Jewelry.   Manufactured  in the USA, Providence , RI was the center of this beautiful art form.
The elegance, quality, workmanship of this era is unsurpassed by anything we are doing now in affordable fashion.   In fact, we are not doing anything, because it is all made in China.

      The more I look at the pieces by Vendome, DeLizza and Elster, (Juliana), Coro, BSK, Trifari, Lisner, I see dreams of my parents' generation -- making a better life for their kids... ie, us baby boomers.
And they did.  We are the richest generation in our country but sadly we will not be passing this down to our offspring because we do not make things in America like this anymore.

     Each piece of authentic vintage American jewelry preserves an America where work ethic and quality reigned.   Our parents were busy, they took pride in making things.  I looked at the old photographs of  women stringing beads in the 1950's factories.  At a table with other women they create sparkly necklaces that embody dreams of glamour and attaining a better life.  Of course, the industry was not without labor abuses, as some owners worked their women long hours without benefits.   But what I want to focus on is the quality of the work which is derived from dedication to making something excellent.

    Looking at the photographs, I imagine the pride in making a beautiful creation.  When you work with gorgeous materials, it can't help you feel good.   I know that if I am surrounded by beautiful fabrics and threads I feel that I want to produce the most creative item I can imagine.   All this is a process of course, as each item we produce leads us to the next one, we learn and master through commitment.

     Growing up near Manhattan in the 1950's, "What's the latest" was an assumed state of mind. 
It meant, who is making what, what new computer is being designed in Poukeepsie,  what new fabrics were on the shelves in B. Altmans's,  or what's chic in Vogue Magazine.   Back then we made our clothing from gorgeous fabrics milled in the USA.   With great sewing patterns used over by every cousin, aunt, and friend, you could customize a unique dress from the same pattern.  If you could not afford to buy nice ready to wear, there was an option for you.  Our family did not have the money to be big shoppers, but we absorbed the bulk of "What's the Latest" by DIY.   As a young lady, my  hope was that I would buy ready made in the future with increased economic prosperity.

    Mid twentieth century costume jewelry regaled an exuberance and elegance of design, with a splash of humor reminding one not to take oneself so seriously.   The clarity of the rhinestones, the handmade Art Glass, the movement of color and shape sparkle happiness.  It was a brief  time of hope, innocence, and fantasy, yielding to the Cuban Missile Crisis, civil rights unrest and Vietnam in the 1960's. 

    Do we have dreams now or do we just fear?  The oil spills, terrorist plots, what will the news bring next?
I feel like we trample from one tulip craze to the next, never learning from the past or taking time to think.  Scrambling to survive,  or so we think.  Layering debt that our children will pass on to theirs, I am sure they will not have something they can truly call their own.

      I am collecting pieces of this genre because it reminds me of an idealism and when Americans actually made something.    Their sculptural qualities, color and elegant design also inspire me for my artwork.  You may soon see screen prints on my fabrics hinting at this luxurious past.

                     DeLizza and Elster Milk Glass with Copper Fluss             

Vendome Art Glass

    Florenza Pendant 

Unsigned Art Glass Bracelet                                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                     Juliana Red Siam Brooch         

Working Backward

 While the antique tribal rug show is still up in our gallery, I have been moved to depths by the artists who wove them, how they loved their animals, the efforts to collect the dyes, spin the yarn and knot the rugs that were their home.   The collection transformed my perception about "oriental rugs".  Each  rug is the home of an ancestor, the paintings detailing their life.  Nomadic or village , you see the pride and love they transfer onto a  necessary structure, the only essential structure, the textile..   As I have always said, what do you do with a flat piece of fabric?


Working Backward

Rolled in home
my essence of luxury
Was the abrash painted before the spinners song
You have to unweave to know
Green in the ancient abode
Mark of the dyer
pomegranate's fate made him

How far for stones that transformed plants' hue
or pilgrimage for treasured insects
Who tended wild roots of turkey red
three years would pass before harvest
Earth and heavens, temperment of soil,
water fluid or drought
defined softness and color

When did she have time to weave
the daily routines kept her hands busy
like a 21st century woman
her hands forming knots of forms
layers of meaning in stripes
like sedimentary rock
unearthing but preserving the past

You hear your drums
foot patterns make paths
in lyrical borders that dream
your next sojourn

Palette of treasure records

bonds with all around
and happy animals' souls
eternally bed you

New Dimensions

I've had the pleasure of becoming a member of HandEye Magazine, edited by Keith Recker.
 Rachel Biel of TAFA list sent out a blurb on it... so I click on and am blown away by the articles that cover so many different ideas, history, techniques--permuations of thought that stretch your imagination.  Thank you Keith for bringing this to us! 

All textile addicts, please go to HandEye now!  You will not be disappointed.  It's a new way of life, a new beginning for yourself and our planet.   If you enjoy Selvedge, you will love HandEye.

An example of how valuable the articles are--Michele Wipplinger of Earthues shares her secrets of dyeing with indigo.   I studied with Michele for 10 years.... this is a fantastic article, brought to you by HandEye.

Energy and excitement from discovering talented, caring humans... just got to keep myself plowed with energy drinks so that I can keep focusing on actually DOING something versus thinking about new ways to do things.

Couldn't resist sharing some of the NUNO fabrics that I have collected over the years...see the lead story of Handeye.  There is an exhibit of their fabrics at The Textile Museum in Washington, DC.

Making a Mess--My Creative Process

I'm not sure of the prospect of snow tonight is making me punchy, but the atmosphere is changing rapidly and it is a wierd day.

People often ask me what is the process I use to create fashion accessories?  Basically my mind is going all the time putting together fabrics, ideas, techniques.  I think having as many interesting and off beat fabrics is essential.
Then I make a mess, on the floor.  All my materials are in boxes,  they are labeled accordingly, such as "French Chantilly Lace" , "Italian Wool Lace" or "Embroidered Velvets".   I pull out what I think I might like to use.

I have one starting point, it can be an object, a fabric, a photo in a book.  I use the colorway of whatever I pick as my basis for combining fabrics and textures.  Most of the time I have no idea of how anything will come out, I just start cutting randomly, nothing is straight, it is very intuitive.   I then start playing with the pieces and laying them out.  Once I've finalized the design, I sew  and sew and sew until I'm happy.  And then it goes through my finishing process that I described in an earlier blog.

I'll work like this until I am bored, then one day it will make it's way back into the organized boxes when I get the urge to experiment.

Here's a few pics from today:

My family is dismayed at the mess I make, there is not one flat surface in the house that I don't cover.  I think they are relieved when I go up to the gallery in Hamilton. 

A Gem in Olde City Philadelphia

I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Craig Wallen, owner of Gallery 51 at 51 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia.  Craig is an expert in antique textile art, specializing in 19th century Anatolian woven pieces.   Step into his warmly lit gallery and be enveloped by rich natural color, pattern and texture.  Each piece Craig has chosen is very special, you can feel the weaver's personality in the knot, the choice of color, the pride of workmanship for an textile meant for everyday use.  In the 21st century, these textiles adorn the walls as art.

Craig's taste is exquisite and he is willing to share his wealth of knowledge with those who are truly interested.   If you treat yourself to an hour examining the stunning pieces, you will walk away with a renewed energy from gaining new insights into a nomadic culture.  And if you are an artist, your brain will be imprinted forever and it will translate into your work.

Design Challenge: What Can You Do with a Flat Piece of Fabric?

This challenge is to take any length of fabric and see what shapes, styles, accessories, garments you can make without stitching.  You can pin, cut, fold,  embellish, but no sewing/gluing or permanent fastening.  You can alter the shape into a circle, trapezoid, rectangle, square, etc.  Narrow goods are also in the competition.
The object is to be able to fashion  anything out of a single piece and have it be reusable later into something else.  Think of it as this:  If you only had 1 piece of fabric to take with you on a deserted island, how would you use it? Or if you were going to be in fashion week, what would you have walking down the runway? 

I'll put together a panel of textile mavens to consider the ideas.. Winners!  Prizes! Someone will receive a very very special gift from my personal stash.

Submit your ideas, photos to jane@alextex.com, or post comments and photos on this blog.
Entries are due March 31, 2010, and Winners will be announced May 1, 2010.

Icicles Get Weirder by the Day

Location:  Chadds Ford PA
Scene:  Transom window  in bedroom, looking out toward courtyard.

I am photographing these daily since the storms.  They are growing and getting more interesting in shape.  Trying to come inside, but are diverted from the glass.