Beene reviewed

I'm thrilled for my former boss Dennita Sewell from the Phoenix Art Museum. This morning a review of her newly opened exhibition, "Geoffrey Beene: Trapeze," by Women's Wear Daily landed in my in box. Venessa Lau writes, "what makes “Geoffrey Beene: Trapeze,” which opened this weekend and runs through March 7, different from his other shows is Tarr herself. 'We’re not just looking at Beene and his work,” says Dennita Sewell, the museum’s curator of fashion design, “but looking at it through the eyes of a dedicated wearer.'"

Montrose Beach

I did a photo shoot with Justin Goh a few weeks ago. Here are some of my favorites:

The Target effect

It seems designers these days can't get enough of Target. This morning Women's Wear Daily announced that Jean Paul Gaultier will join the ranks of other capsule collection designers for the megastore.

"A Gaultier collection wouldn’t appear in the stores for some time, but Target, said sources, has the ball in motion. "

Currently Anna Sui's collection is on Target's racks. I have not had much of an opportunity to view it in person, much less the cash to buy (I guess that's the mark of a true graduate student). After Sui, Rodarte is scheduled to for December 20. That is a collection I'll be truly interested in investigating. I'm wondering how their aesthetic will translate to the Target customer.

I've began wondering how all these capsule collections at Target and those with Swedish fast-fashion chain H&M will affect the cannon of fashion. How many of these types of garments will find their way into museums or fashion history books? In 40 years will they be a forgotten thing or become a niche area in the serious study of dress? Now seems a ripe time to begin collecting and documenting this trend amongst designers and mass-consumption chains because it doesn't seem like it's a short-lived blip on the fashion radar.

The battle over batik

Score One for Indonesia in the War Over Batik
by Peter Gelling, NY Times

'“It is so important that the world finally recognize and acknowledge batik as an Indonesian heritage,” said Obin, one of the country’s leading fashion designers. “It is a part of our soul.”'

Last week the United Nation's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization added Indonesian batik to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Batik is a type of fabric with beautiful patterns created through the use of wax-resistant dyes. This story is a very interesting look at competing cultural heritages, as Malaysia and Indonesia compete in batik production.

from NPR's news blog

What Can You Do With A Synchrotron? Art Conservation, Apparently

Taking on Coco

This article is a few weeks old, but it's an interesting mix of movie review for Coco Before Chanel and a short synopsis of Chanel's life. It's worth a read.

Coco Before Chanel: unravelling a fashion icon
by Lisa Armstrong, Times Online

The day I've been waiting for!

FTC Charges Four Firms With False Bamboo Labeling
by Liza Casabona, Women's Wear Daily

"WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission has charged four companies with selling clothing and textiles deceptively labeled as bamboo that were actually rayon and with making false environmental claims on their products.

The FTC also indicated that the advent of bamboo as a “green” alternative natural fiber in recent years could be called into question.

The FTC said Tuesday that it filed cases against Pure Bamboo LLC; Sami Designs LLC, which operates as Jonano; CSE Inc., doing business as Mad Mod, and the M Group, operating as Bamboosa. Three of the companies settled the charges and agreed to fix the problems. Litigation against the M Group is pending.

According to the FTC, the companies made unsubstantiated “green” claims and did not accurately represent the fiber content of their products when they were labeled as “100 percent bamboo fiber.”

The FTC said to manufacture soft textiles out of bamboo, the raw material usually goes through chemical processes that turn it into rayon, a man-made fiber, and strip it of natural antimicrobial properties and biodegradability. In addition, the process requires toxic chemicals that release pollutants into the air, the FTC said..."

When I saw this come through my inbox this morning in my daily Women's Wear Daily email my soul leaped. Congrats to the FTC for finally, finally, finally cracking down on those who market rayon made with bamboo fibers as 100% bamboo (which is the vast majority of bamboo fabrics by the way).

When I was working at the American Textile History Museum and working on curating its eco-textile exhibit, this kind of thing made me so mad. Especially after I went to the FTC's conference on sustainable fabrics and building materials. Hearing the stats from the experts first hand really drove home that someone really has to step up their regulation. So even though it look more than a year for the FTC to do something about it, I'm really excited by these first charges.