DARNS OF MOMENTS
Do you keep boxes packed with old movie tickets, Perrier-Jouët caps & dried flowers from places visited? I do: my micro mash-ups indicate moments where I’d like to go back. You can do the same thing with clothes. But let me tell you the story first. The other day my friend came for a coffee. A magically tall pretty blonde rolled in a cloud of mothball scent. I hugged her amused. After hours catching up - between talking braces and cinnamon rolls, she complained that half of her chic closet was eaten by moths.
Disfigured cashmeres and holed pricey coats induced her anxiety attacks. She got hundreds of chemicals for her wardrobe, and spent thousands on reweaving. She is not alone. With all the free time on their hands and a nervous need to get organized, lots of people have started to declutter only to discover tons of damage from time, dust, wrong shape hangers, plastics or weird creatures. I guess our closets are living things and might be easily trespassed.
Good news is that almost all the destruction can be up-leveled into an art form. You can make your sad-holed sweater into a fashion and sustainability statement. It’s your own collaboration with yourself. You are the artist. After you touch it - it becomes the most original piece of clothing on earth. So, why not explore it?! It also can lead you to come up with interesting new versions of your old items pieced together and bring your otherwise perfect wardrobe some creative spark. These experimental objects would become your new colorful memories.
And then, it’s also soothing. It will help to calm down because it requires you to focus on the needle, on the tread, and not fuck-it-up. Unless you want to start all over again frustrated but excited to put your undivided attention into managing multiple threads that try to escape you. It’s a meditation. It helps you to process your unconscious feelings. When engaging in a repetitive task, by completely taking your mind off whatever problem or issue you have been struggling with - solutions often magically appear, anxieties ease up, and joy of accomplishment floods your heart.
Handiwork is also profoundly pleasurable. There is something very primal about it. Neuroscientists say that we change the neurochemistry of our brain in ways that a drug does. Therefore, it’s a sort of “behaviorceuticals instead of pharmaceuticals. And then if you produce something – a hat or a scarf – there’s a reward.” Neuroscientist Kelly Lambert says that even if this term is new, the concept behind of it has been around for quite some time. Doctors in the 19th century would prescribe knitting to anxiety-ridden women. Without knowing the exact science behind it, they did know that knitting somehow relaxed the patients.
Here are some examples of darned / mended pieces and more inspiration for crafting, repurposing old clothes, pieces of worn fabric, yarn or knitwear to create exciting new items. Bellow, read about techniques you can use & see some cool references for more details >
Celia Pym (we used a lot of her astonishing items to demonstrate what you can achieve) put mended items onto a high art level: Stop Looking Like a Sweater piece (wool, 142 x 65 x 5cm, 2013).
Darned and patchwork pieces look super cool worn with a minimal and feminine boudoiresque dresses. Try it. Amber Valletta on the Tiber. Photograph by Glen Luchford.
Business Of Fashion conference panel with Juergen Teller. On the screen you can see his handwritten comments on a photograph. This is a cool technique to use for your t-shirts or embroideries. Just write your feelings on the garment using a red thread and a needle.
First ready-to-wear show of Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs (1999). A colorful mended sweater would add depth to this plain outfit, and would totally neutralize the fanciness of LV monogramed bag (AND, honestly, how boring is this !!?).
Swiss born designers based in Berlin: OTTOLINGER > this brings back patterned sheer jersey dresses of early nineties. Wear it underneath your mended cardigans. // photo: SSense
How pretty would it be to wear a clean austere neutral slip with these Prada velvet platforms, and a patched old sweater?! Collectible platforms from summer 1997.
Prada 1997: feminine and subtle. Complementary to all the busy darned pieces if you don’t want to wear them with a simple t-shirt and jeans.
The Row ASCOT bag in satin > unstructured sensual accessory to wear with your artsy clothing. Looks like a handbag made from a scarf - or a Renaissance shepherd’s lunch box.
Prada VINE platforms from 1997 collection: perfect to nuance crafty outfits with a geometric detail.
Jean Paul Gaultier had this nomadic, pieced together and very colorful world that for me communicated openness, desire of discoveries, sensorial stimulation + scintillating life. Get inspiration for mix of patterns.
KAPITAL patchwork jacket from monochrome bandanas. It has this lived-in feeling but simultaneously vibrates with different shades of purple and little black details. Brand takes its name from Kojima, Okayama, an area known as Japan’s ‘Denim Capital’. The label reimagines mid-century Americana using heritage production techniques to create designs with an authentic workwear feel. The aesthetic is eclectic and handicraft-inspired. Company started in the 80s. Founder, Toshikiyo Hirata, discovered his love for American denim while teaching karate in the US. // photo: MRPorter
Meticulous and very artistic: fragment of Celia Pym’s work.
The entire piece called Hope’s Sweater, 1951 > technique: moth eaten sweater and darning, 2011 // Celia Pym
The iconic Nike Air Max 95 style reworked by Comme des Garçons. With panels of suede, fraying canvas and mesh that together create a ripple effect.
A very joyful way of managing your moth eaten disasters. Amazing with a boyfriend t-shirt and jeans + velvety arched heels.
JUNETHINGS Kaleidoscope rings that would complement crafty clothes in a architectural and elegant manner.
In 2010 Vogue, Florence Kane wrote about Christopher Raeburn, who among mainstream designers pioneered fabric repurposed fashion.
Japanese SAKIORI technique: the word comes from "saku," meaning "to tear or rip," and "oru" - "to weave." Similar to boro and sashiko techniques, sakiori was born out of necessity and is grounded in the Japanese idea of "mottainai" which loosely translates into the regret of waste and the practice of reusing and recycling. During the Edo period, cotton made its way to Japan but was a luxury, expensive and difficult to posses for lower classes. Commoners thus found a way to recycle old clothes into a "new" fabric for daily use by means of sakiori. In this process, small strips of recycled rags and bits of cloth were used as the weft thread and woven in with a cotton warp. The resulting textile was often beautifully colored, incredibly textured, and perfectly imperfect, used to create utilitarian garments and blankets. You could say sakiori is one of the bedrocks of original Japanese workwear. However, the weave is not an entirely Japanese concept. India, for one, has a history of Chindi rugs, which are also made from leftover and reclaimed remnants. // A FINE TOOTHCOMB
Maison Margiela tabi derbies > a great combination with worn-in and hand-assembled or mended fabrics. Juxtaposition of shiny structured + old, beat-up & tired garments.
Jean Paul Gaultier dress that looks like a sewn together ribbon tube. Would look so cool with a mended sweater.
Embroider your knitwear with astrological symbols. Here is the Gemini twins seen in the sky this February.
Helmut Lang invented a lot of simple but genius ways to differently see everyday garments. Those inside elbow slits are magic.
Sacai tableware collection for “bonjour sac” pop-up shop in Paris (2019).
A very modern way of ‘piecing together’.
Celia Pym’s mended Orange Socks. Here is a micro interview with the garment owners: When did you get your socks? Debbie: Zac’s Mum bought them for me at Christmas, 5 years ago. What do you wear it with? D: Actually Zac wears them. I don’t think I’ve worn them much. Zac: I wear them as house socks or with slippers. I wear them with shorts on Sundays. How, why is it damaged? D: It’s wear and tear and maybe moths. It’s just from wearing them around the house. Why do you want them mended? D: In 2017 we put everything we owned in storage and went to Taiwan. I just pulled the socks out of storage recently and saw the holes again. The damage is so big. Z: My toes come out completely, they’re more legwarmers than socks now. But they’re really nice socks. When was the last time you wore them? D: In 2017 before Taiwan Anything else you would like to tell me? Z: I reckon moonwalking was what caused the holes. // photo: Celia Pym
Sacai patchwork ready-to-wear from spring 2018.
Handwoven Bottega Veneta clutch is a perfection of craftsmanship and this amazing energy of subtly made things.
Amazing Celia Pym’s Norwegian Sweater, belongs to Annemor Sundbø’s Ragpile collection (2010).
Sacai is known for slicing things and resembling them in new methods. This is a hybrid of knit and silk.
Darn Socks from Celia Pym, 2010. I would just frame them and hang in my living room.
Sashiko: the Japanese art of fabric mending with beautiful stitches. 刺し子 > literally means "little stabs" or "little pierce". It is a form of a decorative reinforcement or functional embroidery. Originated out of a practical need during the Edo era (1615-1868). Five sashiko tips here.
Crafty US electric poles that remind me of a messy and detailed crafting moments.
Beautifully mended sweater. Classic off-white crew neck is “splashed” with color puddles. So cool.
Nike Air Force 1 x Off White sneakers. To add some punch to your do-it-yourself outfits.
Another 90’s state of art (in simplicity) Helmut Land’s piece. Cut out parts of your damaged pieces and ask your retoucher to finish unraveling edges with an overlock stitch.
Darning techniques are pretty easy, but difficult at the same time, as you have to be consciously attentive and engaged in the process. Which makes it rewarding and meditative as a result.
MAILLON de Cartier watch to uplevel your homeless looking mended aesthetics, if you are not willing to make people guess.
How to fix your worn sweater elbows by reinforcing the fragile parts: use a contrasty thread to make a statement of it, and research the best shape of darning tools (an egg or a mushroom?!).
Amber Valletta wears Helmut Lang in a photograph by Steven Meisel from Vogue, January 1997. Imagine this sophisticated outfit worn with one of Celia Pym’s cardigans.
Sacai pleated camouflage like combo skirt from different fabrics.
Celia Pym’s Elizabeth’s Cardigan, 2002-2016
KAPITAL patchwork jacket. Repurposing your old scarfs into new clothing: interesting + relaxing task and “limited edition” item guaranteed. Here is a sublime (& pricey $!) version in black. // photo: MRPorter
This is your DIY mantra > pieced together, repurposed and reincarnated clothing is wonderfully exciting.
Japanese Kintsugi technique repairs and celebrates what’s broken. Although Korean artist Yee Sookyung uses the kintsugi to build: she constructs massive ceramic sculptures that are crafted from rejected porcelain pieces made by contemporary Korean pottery master Lim Hang-Taek.
What you can use to fix or reinvent your holed / damaged things:
> Patches or inserts. Patch holes with contrasting thread and turn them into a statement. Show your personality.
> Color accents. Just use contrasting shades and textures of yarn or fabric. Make it interesting!
> Sashiko technique. 5 tips for mastering it.
> Darning stitching.
> Use very damaged items to patch the less damaged ones. Have you heard that 70% of your textile goes to the landfill? Use garment parts for repairs to make something even more original (new if not better, they say!!).
> Kintsugi technique. Repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum; a method similar to the maki-e technique. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.
MORE >
> Our styling program where we are mixing ideas.
> The Financial Times article Wear Your Repairs With Pride.
> Tom Van Deijnen is one of the early advocates of mending. Here is his blog.
> Li Edelkoort says that “the comfort of being at and working from home, wasting time instead of money, has led people away from their addiction to material things and into a realm of sharing, caring and making”. Hopefully this feeling stays. Her A Blank Page For A New Beginning commented.
> Bridget Harvey: “dismantling fashion’s throwaway culture isn't just about producing clothes that are built to last, but making them repairable. And visibly repairing things is fulfilling.” Let’s change the narrative!!
> Podcast with Eileen Fisher, one of the first ones that started to reuse her own product in her production cycle.
> Book on techniques: Repair Make Mend, by Hikaru Noguchi.
> Learn more about cloth and its intrinsic and essential relationship in human life with TATTER.
> AND if you haven’t read it yet > Virginia’s Postrel book on How Textiles Made The World.
