Selvedge World Fair Update

Image: Aissata Namoko

The first Selvedge World Fair will now take place online, 3 – 5 September 2020. The three-day virtual event, a celebration of cloth, culture and creativity, will present the work of more than 100 artisans, bringing together varied - and in some cases endangered - textile traditions from over 60 countries. Originally planned as a physical event in London, we decided to move the Fair online to protect visitors and exhibitors, who would need to travel internationally to join. Virtual visitors will still be able to buy handmade treasures, take part in online workshops and watch and participate in talks on textile-making processes and sustainability. The second Selvedge World Fair, in 2021, will take place at Mary Ward House in Bloomsbury, London, in the format originally planned for this year.  

Image: Somporn Intaraprayong

The artisans taking part in 2020 – chosen by a selection committee of museum curators, academics, and retail experts - include Somporn Intaraprayong, award-winning embroiderer and textile artist from Thailand, Maria and Karl Wagner, fourth generation dyers and experts in the ‘Blaudruck’ technique from Austria and, Aissata Namoko, indigo dyer and Djiguiyaso Cooperative founder from Mali. A full list of exhibitors will be available soon.

The Selvedge World Fair 2020 Selection Committee consisted of Dr Lesley Millar, Li Edelkoort, Simon Olding, Marcella Echavarria, Anuradha Singh, Polly Leonard (Selvedge’s founder), Rosy Greenlees, Roxane Shaughnessy, Celia Joicey and Julie Hassan. Anuradha Singh is head of Nila House, a lifestyle store and cultural centre of excellence in Jaipur, dedicated to honouring and preserving the natural dye and handloom traditions of India. Lesley Millar is Professor of Textile Culture and Director of the International Textile Research Centre at the University for the Creative Arts. She has been responsible for many international textile exhibitions including ‘Textural Space’ (2001), ‘21:21 – the textile vision of Reiko Sudo and NUNO’ (2005-7) and most recently, with Alice Kettle, 'Fabric: touch and identity' (2020).

Image via edelkoort.com.

Lidewij Edelkoort is a forecaster working in fashion, textiles, interiors and lifestyle. Her company Trend Union produces design and colour tools for strategists and creatives. She is also a magazine publisher, a champion for craft, an educator and a curator. Her ANTI_FASHION Manifesto was the first to raise awareness about the shifts and upheavals currently experienced in the global fashion industry. She is Dean of Hybrid Studies at Parsons where she founded a MFA in Textiles, merging craft and tech for a sustainable future. In 2020, she started the World Hope Forum as a platform to inspire the creative community to rebuild a better society.

We will announce more details about the Selvedge World Fair here on the blog every week and at Selvedge World Fair.