Stories
annie larsons- all knitwear
Her craft, her lifestyle. Colorful, lively Annie was quietly having coffee with a painter’s friend on our arrival. The small studio located in Bushwick looks over the dreamy Manhattan skyline. Bright colors and fun patterns are surrounding us; you can’t help but smile. The quiet designer with a heart of gold tell us how she became a knitwear designer inspired by the daily morning bike ride. Growing up in Minneapolis, after attending art school she one day found the machine”, a knit machine. It was the start of a dream.
“I like the idea that every single piece of knitwear of mine that exists in the world is something I’ve made with my own hands and it comes from my studio”
rory duff
The sound of typewriting. On a foggy afternoon in Williamsburg, we met with Irish handcraft tailor master Rory Duffy. Stepping out of a 19th century movie, the gentleman welcomes us to his atelier where family photos, awards and rusty tools are gathered. You can almost smell the old smell of Tabaco and hear the straight standing men mingle in their habits. After an extensive training at Savile Row, the craftsman moved to NYC. Rory talked to us about history, military influence, and meticulous techniques.
Rory tells us that craftsmanship is about perfection: “You always want to do better, and know when enough is enough. You have to know when, you gotta let that one go and move on to the next one and do better on the next one”
He shares his pearls of wisdom.
hiroko
In a small studio downtown Brooklyn, the textile artist, Hiroko sat at her loom, ready to answer all our questions. The talented Japanese designer welcomed us with cute little pastries offerings, as her honored guests. Humble, meditative, and soft spoken, Hiroko talked about growing up in Japan and the traditional education system. The sound created by the old wooden looms, their rhythm, are echoing the sound of machines outside the window.
“[Craftsmanship is] not only appearance, you need to have a great hand, and skill, and deep knowledge and the capability to realize things beautifully.”
“[Weaving is] like a painting. With weaving you start from the bottom, [and go] to the top. So you always think about the final piece. The yarn and threads are like paint, and you paint using the thread.”
Ladd Brothers
We found This artist brother-duo working in a beautifully lighted studio in Chelsea were waiting for us bright on a early and cold Friday. An amalgam of found belts, elastics, beadings, and other factory leftovers are covering the walls. One is beading on a loom, the other, assembling parts of a new installation. Their childhood stories, connections and love for hand work has transformed their lives into the daily mediation with their art.
Collaboration in craftsmanship “The evolution of us working together and our process is always kind of a challenge, because you’re kind of pushing each other, and you’re trying to make each other better, and make the work better.”
“Often we are responding to materials that are coming to your life. Sometimes, you come across yards and yards of fabrics or boxes of beads, or factories that shut down and that unload tons of materials for you. As artists, being in NYC, there is so much around you.”
nino corvato
A man full of stories. Having grown up in Italy, Nino learned tailoring at the age of 13. In a small atelier on Madison Ave, close to his high-end clientele, he welcomed us as his own children, telling stories and anecdotes of the past, showing us the way to perfect stitching, steaming, pressing, and cutting. An old school radio on a shelf is playing contemporary Spanish music. His love for custom tailoring and the quest for perfection have always fueled or motivated his aspirations to create. Religious photos and statues are situated amongst waxed thread, scissors, and patterns. His love for his craft is contagious.
“What is more beautiful than to create something from scratch? To create something from scratch is a beautiful feeling in your heart and your mind.”
orly genger
Raw playing material, little woman. In this studio / hangar, a young man spraying sculptures waved at us to come in. A girl is knotting a thick rope into cubes; another spray-painting layers of knot sculptures on the floor. Traces of past color palettes are covering the space. The beautiful artist is meeting us at the back for the interview.
Entranced by the movements of a crocheting woman on the bus.
“I became entranced by this movement. I believed that the most important thing for myself is to keep my hands moving as much as possible, and I usually figure out what it is that I’m doing after the fact…. I can make sculpture using this process.”
francis bitonti
Like walking into a Corbusier house, filled with 3D delicate objects. The minimal, headphone heavy space is filled of MacBook’s. MakerBot 3d printers are making their way back and forth. Waiting for us, Francis -black hair, black V-neck, shiny black shoes with a glistening smile, is cracking jokes. He discusses the technical evolution of 3D printing, and how it became his ultimate playground.
“Craftsmanship and technology are very intimately interrelated. Our tools are who we are. Technology is who we are. We make things so we can do everything we can’t do or can’t be.”
“Our tools are who we are. I always say technology is like humanity: you make tools to be able to make things we cannot do. It is like the story of our weaknesses, the story of everything we want to be. There is no better parameter of who we are. “
“Craftsmanship is a very abstract concept for me. Thinking vigorously, a conceptual process. To set up a problem is my craft.”
Andrew Livingston - Knickerbocker manufacturing
Cool BK boys. Greeting by Babe.
Beating industrial wasteland, bean and pack, at the frontier of Bushwick and Queens that the young entrepreneurs founded this incredible business. The space is like entering a social club, a secret community, a perfect off hours party spots where a young tattooed crew make thing, hang out, and skate. The bright young co-owner, Andrew, shares the story of the factory, his love for clothing and timeless design from a very young age. Building the concept on quality, Andrew talked about his love for craftsmanship and dedication of small local production.
“There is an eye on the product the whole way through… some people say they can feel it.”
RESEARCH OVERVIEW:
This research explores how innovators within the fashion and textile art realms engage concepts of cultural identity and community through craftsmanship. In the 19th century, New York City was a port of entry that served as home for thousands of immigrants, many whom had arrived with important knowledge and skills in their own native crafts. Today, in the 21st-century, the role of maker has flattened traditional hierarchies and escaped rigid categories of production through post-disciplinary practices and the innovative application of skills and techniques. In our increasingly materialistic world and in reaction to ethical issues related to mass-production, building sustainable systems is crucial. Re-skilling needs to take place across both digital and craft practices; and in both, the creation and production of fashion products.
This project focuses on exploring the intersections between traditional craftsmanship, technology, cultural identity and creativity. Through a series of interviews of different artists and designers and studio visits, this ongoing study explores the ways craftsmanship brings new modes of thinking and engaging within the New York City community. It considers the importance of collaboration by witnessing how traditional craftsmanship interlaced with technology can benefit humanity, society, and the environment, when tools and savoir-faire are exchanged. For the first phase of this research, I have interviewed ten New York based artists, designers, and artisans.
This series of case studies allowed for a new understanding of making as an active way of thinking. For a bespoke tailor in Brooklyn, craftsmanship is about perfection, for another it is about emotion. A knitwear designer may explain that craft is a lifestyle, or an artist from Chelsea describes it as a kind of therapy—meditative, relaxing and calming. Tools may be the most important foundations for a 3D printing designer, while a crocheter in Queens believes that the most important device is the hand; the physical labor of repetitive work. For fashion students, craftsmanship may represent the final frontier of luxury, especially in today’s fast fashion system of production.
Contemporary Craftsmanship contributes to new interdisciplinary fields, personalization of techniques, develops a collective consciousness and creates new aesthetics. At Parsons, our students are more than designers producing clothes; they are innovators and thinkers. Using technology and learning a craft is vital to the creation of innovative systems (specify what you mean by “systems” - maybe fashion systems or material systems?). The intent of this project, in the context of education, is to promote the infusion of creativity and advance concepts that will have a long-term impact on the curriculum.