October 25: Project Handmade Fashion Show
Posted on 10.15.12
Photo by MARY VOGEL (top) and MARTIN WONG PHOTOGRAPHY
On October 25, the first annual Project Handmade Fashion Show features more than 30 handcrafted, contemporary garments, ensembles, and accessories by 23 local textile artists, fashion designers, and collaborative teams. This juried fashion show is produced by Local Cloth: Farm/Fiber/Fashion Network in partnership with the Asheville Art Museum, the venue for this year’s event. It was organized to promote and illustrate the innovative use of materials and resources available in the region.
Participating artists were encouraged to incorporate fiber, yarns and/or cloth grown, produced, dyed, manipulated, and/or embellished within a 100-mile radius of Asheville and to collaborate with other regional artists. This fashion show has not only presented an opportunity for talented designers and craftsmen to rise individually to a creative challenge, but it has also, with the collaboration aspect, linked people together to brainstorm and carry out design plans. In one such partnership, Karen Donde weaves fabric that will be sewn into a garment designed by Susan Stowell.
Barbara Zaretsky of BZDesign has partnered with Libby O’Bryan of Western Carolina Sewing Company. In one of their “looks,” Barbara has dyed and printed the cotton fabric, which was produced from raw materials at the Oriole Mill in Hendersonville. To complete the collaboration, Libby has designed and sewed the garment. Lisa Klakulak designed the felt scarf in the top photograph; Liz Murray designed the yellow top in the second photograph.
“I'm very excited to be involved in producing this event!” explains Barbara who is also chair of Project Handmade. “I worked with a talented team of professional designers and makers whose knowledge and experience came together perfectly to create what promises to be an exciting and educational evening.”
Three jurors judged applicants on overall quality, craftsmanship, originality in design, and use of materials in and marketability of their existing work. They are Christin Zoller, associate professor and textile area coordinator at East Carolina University in Greenville; Adrienne Antonson, a Brooklyn-based visual artist working in sculpture and fashion; and Franzi Charen, co-owner of Asheville’s Hip Replacements Clothing and director of the Asheville Grown Business Alliance.
Support for the fashion show comes from Echo View Farm and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m. This evening, there is also an educational component. A brief presentation illustrates components of the local textile and fiber arts supply chain. These modes of producing raw materials and final products include fiber farms, yarn processors, textile designers & producers, textile surface designers, designers & makers of textile products, galleries, retail studios & shops, and textile & fiber art educators and schools. With such an abundant supply of raw materials and high number of dynamic creators in our neighborhood, this event celebrates the homemade and supports its sustainability.
The Asheville Art Museum is located at 2 North Pack Square in Asheville. For more information on the museum, visit online at ashevilleart.org. Tickets are $25 for reserved seating, $15 general admission (standing room), and $7 for Asheville Art Museum or Local Cloth members or students. For ticket sales information as well as a full list of participants, visit online at projecthandmade.org. For other questions about Project Handmade, contact Barbara Zaretsky at barbara@bzdesign.biz.
