At The Top...
THIS WEEKEND: New Product Preview at Brooklyn's Renegade Craft Fair
THE KINDCRAFT is at Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn! Be the first to see our new designs from India and Thailand and shop selected items from our full collection in-person. Visit us at BOOTH 80 in the Brooklyn Expo Center, Saturday and Sunday from 11 AM - 6 PM. And if you mention you saw this in the BRIEF, maybe we'll knock a few extra bucks off for you...đ
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Classic India: Spectacular Forts, Magical Palaces & Artisanal Textiles
Our friends at Twofold Travel have another tour in the works â this time to India! For this journey, Twofold's Jess Warner collaborated with Fiona Caulfield (author of several Love Travel Guides to India) to design a 12 day, design-focused itinerary that will bring you through markets, ateliers, and studios in New Delhi, Varanasi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur. While in Jodhpur, the tour even brings you to the World Sufi Music Festival at Mehrangarh Fort (an event I've wanted to attend for years). Limited to only 10 participants, so reserve your spot soon. (Another reason to be an early bird: If you book before June 30th, you can use the code 'EarlyBirdIndia' at checkout to get a $200 discount. )
Events â North America
Las Mujeres Oaxaqueñas
So happy to be in NYC at the same time as this conversation series featuring six Oaxacan women artists and community leaders â a chef, mezcalera, social designer, ceramicist, traditional weaver and a performance artist â exploring themes of land, female identity, and community impact. We'll be attending the opening night panel moderated by Deborah Needleman, one of our favorite writers and former editor of T: The New York Times Style Magazine)âso give us a shout if you'll be there as well! (June 26â29th)
Events â Europe
Magdalena Abakanowicz's "Metamorphism" (Part 2)
Poland's Central Museum of Textiles in ĆĂłdĆș presents the second part of its exhibition by artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, who died late last year and whose experimentations with structural textiles blur the line between fabric and sculpture. (Through September 9th 2018)
Recommended Video
Color Decoded: The Textiles of Richard Landis
We just got a chance to visit the Cooper Hewitt's new Richard Landis exhibition where some of his mind-bogglingly intricate weaving is on display (through January 2019). This short documentary, presented as part of the exhibit, gives a wonderful overview of his work.
Culture
Legacy of an Indigenous Uprising, Mysterious Quilts, and Decolonizing Ethnography
- Hyperallergic's Karen Gardiner looks at a new exhibition which tells the long (and anguished) story of Norwayâs treatment of indigenous SĂĄmi communities;
- Any headline like "The Dazzling Quilts of 19th-Century British Soldiers Are Threaded With Mystery" pretty-much guarantees a click from us...;
- From Art Basel, video of a fascinating panel discussion in which artists Charwei Tsai, Gala Porras-Kim, Lisa Reihana, Yee I-Lann, and curator Qinyi Lim discuss how they approach rewriting cultural history through their work as a means of decolonizing.
Design
2018 Copenhagen Fashion Summit, Vintage Patterns, Alice Rawsthornâs Cultural Highlights
- The Lissome has this round-up of the 2018 Copenhagen Fashion Summit, which has become one the world's foremost fashion sustainability events;
- Fashion Nerd Alert: The Vintage Patterns Wiki has released more than 83,500 patterns of pre-1992 patterns for all to use. Enjoy â but please resist the urge to download the plans for the MC Hammer pants;
- Design critic extraordinaire Alice Rawsthorn is out with a new book called 'Design as an Attitude', intended as a sort of subjective field guide to contemporary design. In the promotional run-up, she's shared this list of some of her current favorites with The Guardian.
Traditional Arts
Quilts Hit the Catwalk, Anni Albers, and a Romanian Rug Road-Trip
- This quote from Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Amelia Peck summarizes this recent NY Times's piece on trendy quilts for me: âThe funny thing is that quilts just keep on getting rediscovered...â. Funny, indeed;
- 'Discovering the value of the hand-crafted material of Mexican and South American art, Anni discovered the âgreat teachersâ of her practice and worked to prove the dependency of art on craft and tactile sensibility.' â A close look at the work of Anni Albers;
- After reading Barbara Whitaker's charming travelogue of her search for great kilim weavings, you'll probably want to hit the road in search of traditional treasures.
Business + Entrepreneurship
A $254 Billion Market Big Brands Canât Crackâplus Fashion Industry's Responses to Sustainability, Slavery
- A look at Dubai's first-ever Pret-A-Cover, an event where designers from around the world show collections specifically targeted at Muslim women. According to some estimates, Muslim attire is a USD$250 billion business... and it's growing;
- Many big brands use the same overseas factories to produce products. Forbes Magazine looks at the idea that collectivizing the drive for sustainability might enable the fashion industry to accelerate efforts to improve its environmental impact and working conditions.
- Mauritius may have a reputation as a tropical paradise but, for thousands of migrants working in its factories, it represents a limbo of debt and bonded labor. Cindy Berman of Ethical Trading Initiative reports on the negotiations to end this practice, once and for all.
Sustainability + Labor
Know Your Fabrics, The Problem with Ethical Fashion, and Are Big Brands Embracing Sustainability?
- The Good Trade with six fabrics that you should look for when purchasing a sustainable garment;
- People continue to get hung-up on the buzzwords and terminology surrounding "ethical fashion" and "sustainability";
- Mega-Fashion Group Li & Fung announces a strategic partnership with Copenhagen Fashion Summit. A hopeful sign to see a player this big throwing its weight behind sustainabilityâbut one which experts should monitor to ensure L&F's words are actually backed up by real improvements in supply chain practices.
Wrapping Up / Looking Ahead
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