Mister Freedom has knocked up some excellent scarves using much sought after Boro textiles. This traditional Japanese patchwork indigo fabric is the holy grail for anyone who enjoys watching blue fade. As Mr Loiron describes; ‘The fabrics are assorted, ranging from circa 1850′s~1930′s, and selected from our textile archives. Home spun, cotton, hemp, natural indigo, katazome prints, plaids, solids…’ Each piece is individual and very much limited (there’s only so much antique folk fabric scraps to go round y’know) each with its own leather ring slider to keep it in place. Track yours down here.

Click for images

Nowness displays the personal photo collection of designer Alexander Girard. Featuring family and friends on their travels, these vacation snaps have clearly been taken with a creative eye.

Born in NYC, raised in Florence, Alexander travelled extensively throughout his life, picking up ideas and inspiration for his own work and adding to his vast collection of folk art now housed at the Museum of International Folk Art in New Mexico. Girard’s textile work for Herman Miller has become legendary in these mid century obsessed times. Having collaborated with the likes of the Eames’ and Georg Jensen, he stands alongside them in the 20 century hall of design fame.

More looks after the click.

Cool Hunting turns us onto this forthcoming book collecting the furniture and interiors work of Knoll. The Knoll Textiles, 1945-2010 book looks specifically at their textile department, which focused on “modern sensibility that used color and texture as primary design elements.” As mentioned by the publisher, “The division thrived in the late 1940s through 1960s and, in the following decade, adopted a more international outlook as design direction shifted to Europe. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Knoll tapped fashion designers and architects to bolster its brand.”

Knoll Textiles, 1945-2010 collects essays and bios from more than 80 designers as well as an ephemera, drawings, and furniture from the period. The book is available today. Amazon has it.

Photography: Cool Hunting

More looks inside Knoll Textiles, 1945-2010 after the click.

NPR worked a sad story on the closing of a U.S.A institution. “After selling cotton to textile factories for almost 150 years, the S.M. Whitney Co., run by descendants of cotton gin inventor Eli Whitney, is set to close… Whitney has just 190 bales of cotton left. At its peak, the company brokered deals for 80,000 bales annually. Whitney says he got a lot of business by talking with farmers…”

U.S.A. cotton just got much smaller. Audio available online as well.

Creative Review gives shines light on Werk No. 17 from Eley Kishimoto. “Eley Kishimoto’s collaboration with Singaporean design publishers Work has resulted in another unique Werk edition. The new offering is made of real fabric prints, sketches and patterns created by the fashion designers…
For Werk No. 17, the latest in a series of bespoke publishing ventures from Work, Eley Kishimoto offer a glimpse into their working philosophy and their penchant for prints and patterns.”

More looks at Eley Kishimoto for Werk Magazine “No. 17″ after the click.

Published in 1947, the Textile Brand Names Dictionary was devised as a simple resource for those entering the textile business. Leafing through its pages readers could establish which names were in use, and thus avoid any potential issues. As Steven Heller points out in a new essay on Design Observer, the book might just be the first primer on how to select a name and logo. In his short piece, Heller neatly sums up the Dictionary and gives historic perspective to the issue of a good trademark. Worth checking out.

Every so often one can sit back and examine the details in the textiles used in the the clothing and drapery that cover (well most of us) and protect us. But for others, the bare assembly of the fibers used in making those textiles is what really feeds and progresses fashion. PingMag Japan examines the very fiber of it all with their latest, "Natural Textiles From Forest and Field." "Grasses, roots, flowers, and barks, all taken from the wilds of her own backyard are what make up Tsuru Watanabe’s dyes. Tsuru has been dyeing and weaving textiles for over forty years, and her trade has taken her on travels all over the world. With a philosophy based on the Folk Art Movement, she makes her all-natural textiles without any chemicals."

Read the full essay with some beautiful photography at PingMag.