IN WITH THE OLD
Award wining fashion designer Christina Mayer cites “material that has been marked by life” as one of her biggest inspirations. Striving to reveal the experiences and stories in clothes that are ready and wanting to be told, Berlin-based designer Mayer has built her career by creating clothes and costumes both for theatre and everyday life. Now specialising in breathing new life into old garments, Mayer has also become a pioneer in repurposing old fabrics.
After originally studying classical Japanese drapery, Mayer developed great skill in the three-dimensional art of free draping with fabric. Now focussing on new and original ways to reinvent vintage textiles and fashions, Mayer approaches every worn and frayed garment as a potter would a lump of clay. She sources vintage linens and is inspired by the drapes and stitches already present in the fabric itself. These subtle details can act as hints as to what can be revitalised and liberated from the fabric’s former self.
This fresh and freeing way of making garments, Mayer has said, brings with it a new set of rules that have far more in common with sculpting than dress making. When it comes to clothing design, Mayer’s style is recognisable for its collage aesthetics; where pattern and fabric constantly interrupt each other’s spaces. Reminiscent of a scrapbook style of making, references to this re-working impulse can be found throughout her successful career.
You may have some vintage finds that are at this moment just hanging in the wardrobe, gathering dust. To learn the techniques needed for breathing new life into vintage clothes, join Christina Mayer this summer at a week-long re-fashioning workshop held in the beautiful Chateau Dumas in the south of France.
19-26 August, Chateau Dumas
For more information please visit http://www.selvedge.org/events/august-19-26-chateau-dumas-christina-mayer-france/
http://www.chateaudumas.net/
http://www.mayer-berlin.com/
After originally studying classical Japanese drapery, Mayer developed great skill in the three-dimensional art of free draping with fabric. Now focussing on new and original ways to reinvent vintage textiles and fashions, Mayer approaches every worn and frayed garment as a potter would a lump of clay. She sources vintage linens and is inspired by the drapes and stitches already present in the fabric itself. These subtle details can act as hints as to what can be revitalised and liberated from the fabric’s former self.
This fresh and freeing way of making garments, Mayer has said, brings with it a new set of rules that have far more in common with sculpting than dress making. When it comes to clothing design, Mayer’s style is recognisable for its collage aesthetics; where pattern and fabric constantly interrupt each other’s spaces. Reminiscent of a scrapbook style of making, references to this re-working impulse can be found throughout her successful career.
You may have some vintage finds that are at this moment just hanging in the wardrobe, gathering dust. To learn the techniques needed for breathing new life into vintage clothes, join Christina Mayer this summer at a week-long re-fashioning workshop held in the beautiful Chateau Dumas in the south of France.
19-26 August, Chateau Dumas
For more information please visit http://www.selvedge.org/events/august-19-26-chateau-dumas-christina-mayer-france/
http://www.chateaudumas.net/
http://www.mayer-berlin.com/