Friday Fibers Roundup: Fashion Traditions

January 11, 2019

From smart dresses to beading on Vans, this Friday Fibers Roundup has a great mix of articles on how traditional fashion is remixed.

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1) This video shows how Native American fashion designer, Charlene Holy Bear blends Vans (the popular skate sneaker) with her heritage of hand-beading.

2) “Researchers Build a Smart Dress to show how often Women are Groped at Clubs” by Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz looks at the how a touch-sensitive dress can track how often—and with what degree of intensity—women in Brazil were groped on an average night out (via Quartzy).

3) “How Dutch Wax Fabrics Became a Mainstay of African Fashion” by Sarah Archer examines how the Philadelphia Museum of Art examines the past and present of Vlisco fabrics, a symbol of our hyperconnected, postcolonial material world (via Hyperallergic).

4) “Stop buying crap, and companies will stop making crap” by Elizabeth Segran makes the argument that our purchasing decisions do indeed have an impact on the fashion industry (via Fast Company).

5) This video shows artist Stephanie Syjuco challenge the hierarchies of art and fashion in her Art21 interview.

6) “Brooklyn Museum Announces ‘Major Exhibit’ on the Life and Work of Frida Kahlo” by Kelly Richman-Abdou spotlights an upcoming exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum that will explore the art and identity of famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (via My Modern Met).

7) “Netflix’s 11 Best Art and Fashion Movies” by Tom Philip is a great list of movies and shows to watch if the costumes and fashion are what catches your eye (via Vice).

8) “Textile Artists Weave 21st-Century Stories” by Dany Chan highlights a new exhibit with contemporary takes on the millennia-old art of textile-making, from El Anatsui’s shimmering bottle-cap tapestries to Nevet Yitzhak’s renditions of Afghan war rugs (via Hyperallergic).

9) “Folded Histories” by Emma Do looks at how Melbourne’s last hand-pleating workshop—and one of just a few left in the world—is keeping a time-honoured art alive (via Broadsheet).

10) This gallery of amazing 1980’s sweaters will make you both nostalgic for and happy that the 80’s are behind us (via Messy Nessy Chic).