LOOM - Stroud International Textiles

摘要

The common thread running through the day's talks was the revival of interest within the UK fashion industry in innovative and high quality woven textiles, embracing both spinning and manufacturing. The speakers eloquently demonstrated that the role of the textile designer is equal to that of the fashion designer. Kirsty McDougall (Dashing Tweeds) gains inspiration from heritage on the one hand and the knowledge of technology on the other. For her, the crucial issue is the choice of fibre for contemporary fabrics. She works together with spinning mills in the UK and until recently found it quite hard to achieve fine yarns that match the demands of international production. Yarn development for hi-tech fabrics is still at an early stage in the UK. Her approach to design is 50% aesthetic and 50% handle and quality. She samples on a 60 cm wide ARM loom before having a 200 m initial run produced by a mill.