Issey Miyake and Muji among participants at first New York Textile Month
Dezeen promotion: an Issey Miyake fabric-pleating demonstration, a talk at Muji's flagship store and an installation made of recycled materials will take place during the inaugural New York Textile Month (+ slideshow)
The New York Textile Month (NYTM) is an initiative by The New School and Cooper Hewitt that aims to celebrate global textile creativity and innovation.
It will take place across New York City for the duration of September 2016, and will include a series of textile-focused activities in museums, galleries, showrooms, shops and design studios – see a full list of events.
Dezeen and Dezeen Jobs are media partners for NYTM, which was launched by trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort – dean of Hybrid Studies at The New School – and coordinated by Willem Schenk.
Events taking place across the month include a live demonstration of fashion designer Issey Miyake's pleating process at the Issey Miyake store in Tribeca.
On 27 September 2016, the Muji flagship store on Fifth Avenue will host a talk by Japanese textile designer Reiko Sudo from 7pm to 8pm.
Sudo – who is on Muji's advisory board – will discuss the Re-Muji project, which uses recycled materials to create new products.
Parsons School of Design graduate Kailu Guan is showcasing a range of garments that present three-dimensional shapes and moving patterns when viewed on a digital device, as part of the Talent exhibition open on Governors Island until 18 September 2016.
Elsewhere, New York-based Elodie Blanchard Studio will showcase a tree made from scraps of fabric at Seaport Studio Design Market by Wanted Design in Manhattan.
Other activities include an exhibition of Japanese textile heritage, and a tour directed by the Brooklyn Museum.
Read on for more information from the organisers:
Today the world of art and design is confronted with a debilitating lack of knowledge concerning textiles. Architects, artists and industrial designers as well as fashion designers no longer know the materials they work with each day of their careers.
At a time when textile heritage is at a crossroads and centuries of tradition and knowledge are being compromised, the need arises to protect these endangered species in the same way we have come to defend our animal friends in the natural world; therefore we urgently need to discuss and talk about textiles again.
At this time of decline we simultaneously experience a return of the interest in textiles and their cultural expressions.
Fashion design starts to focus on fabric, interior design brings back upholstery and art students reach out to the loom. There is a renewed interest in material processes and an urgency to understand what fabric is made of.
In the USA the production of textiles has long been lost but begins to make a timid come-back, crafting and producing all American products with local yarns and fibers; weaving the weft of tradition with the warp of innovation.
Production is being brought to our doorsteps, as high-tech developments promise a dramatic new way of producing bio fibre and smart matter.
To investigate and celebrate the survival of the different textile components and expressions NYTM will draft a calendar that scripts all events, talks, walks, demonstrations and exhibitions concerning cloth, helping the general public to better comprehend and embrace the textiles of life.