Bespoke Skirts- Alison Willoughby
This is one of my favourite textile artists.
Alison Willoughby is best known for making one-off, elaborately patterned skirts. They are as Alison is an established and innovative textile designer, selling and exhibiting both in Britain and overseas, including the USA. Studying Printed and Knitted Textiles at the Glasgow School of Art, Alison went on to gain an MA in Constructed Textiles Mixed Media from the Royal College of Art in 2001. Her original interest in the skirt started because of the dissertation she wrote about the Kilt. She originally intended her skirts to be wall art rather than to be worn, although several of the styles can be worn, and I think they look great, as they are so colorful and unique, and make such a statement. I have seen these several times as wall art and been worn, and the detail is stunning.
She was awarded the prestigious Crafts Council Development award in 2002 and has shown at the Chelsea Craft fair, and more recently at Origin. She has exhibited throughout the country including; Black Swan Arts in Frome, The British Council, The Crafts Council and the Arts Council, Gloucester City Museum and Arts Gallery. Alison was involved in London Fashion Week showing at Urban Outfitters. She has previously worked on commissions and freelance projects for; Liberty, Tait and Style, Habitat and Tse Cashmere.
Although known for her highly individual and hand constructed intricate skirts; she was initially called ‘skirt girl’. However, she has since branched out into menswear and women’s wear, shop and gallery installations, and has written her own book and been featured in several others. I have added the details for this at the end of the post.
For Alison, a skirt is more than just a piece of clothing; it is a work of art in its own right. Made without darts, they are flat, unaffected, timeless, classic and simple; they form the canvas on which she works, and she enjoys adding structure and interest to them with 3D objects such as glass spheres and hat pins. Part of her process is to layer fabric samples, one on top the other, then cut shapes out of them. These are then sewn down the middle and opened out to create a three-dimensional object, which is, in turn, placed in situ on a mannequin, sketched, and eventually sewn into position on the finished skirt. Cotton is favored as it is ideal base for printing, can be dyed in strong colours and can be embellished easily, using fabric manipulation rather than embroidery and applique.
The inspiration for her pieces comes from the depths of the inner city; lanes, alleys, passages, streets and terraces, places that are neglected, ever-changing, disintegrating and subsiding. Crumbling walls fly posters laid one on top of the other, weathered peeling paint, marks and stains, the kaleidoscope of colour, texture, tone, scale, shape, proportion, pattern, line and placement.
Alison’s work is featured in Textiles Now by Drusilla Cole, London Ateliers by Edition Paumes and Fashion Unfolding by Victionary. Her own book is called 49 ½ Skirts and is available at Amazon.
If you want to try a workshop in bespoke skirt making go to the website for further information on both this and forthcoming shows.
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| This Is Alison Willoughby's Book On Bespoke Skirt-Making |
To sum up the work I have added an extract from the artist’s website;
I AM ENTIRELY INTERESTED IN MATERIALS AND PROCESS, MY AGENDA IS ALWAYS TO EXPERIMENT.
MY PRACTICE IS CURRENTLY EXPLORING THE IDEA THAT THE SKIRT (MY CANVAS, VISTA, MEDIA SINCE 2001) IS A TUBE OR CONE SHAPED GARMENT WHATEVER DISCIPLINE THAT MAY LIE IN. I BELIEVE STRONGLY IN NOT PLACING WORK WITHIN A SINGULAR CATEGORY, BUT EXPLORING WHAT CREATIVITY CAN BE THROUGH A RANGE OF ART FORMS. THE CREATION, PROCESS AND MEANING BEHIND THE WORK IS THE DRIVING FORCE, NOT THE ART FORM. MY OWN PRACTICE, USING DESIGN PRACTICE AS A STARTING POINT, IS MULTI-LAYERED AND DRAWS ON DIFFERENT APPROACHES AND GENRES. FUNCTION NON-FUNCTION, WITHOUT THE CONSTRAINT OF COMMERCIALISM.
DECONSTRUCTING, CONSTRUCTING AND RECONSTRUCTING THE PRECIOUS, MUNDANE AND SENTIMENTAL FLOTSAM OF THE CITY INTO AN ENCRUSTED MULTITUDE LAYERED PLAYGROUND.
As always I have added some wonderful images for you, but I also have a Wearable Art and Cutting Edge board in Pinterest, which has more images and features other textile designers, you may find interesting.
Happy skirt sewing!
Sara x
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| This example is shown on a distressed wall |
