Five Minutes with a Friend: Coded Cloth by Emma Reichenbach
Joining us at this year’s Selvedge Makers’ Fair in Bath on 21 September 2024, Coded Cloth is modern folklore womenswear, re-fashioning the past since 2020. It expresses founder Emma Reichenbach’s passion for vintage and antique costume and textiles, collage, patchwork and embroidery spanning the historic to the contemporary.
Each unique garment is expertly made in England, combining vintage, often handmade, never-to-be-replicated fabrics and textiles that include 1920s cotton lace, 1930s embroidered linens, 1940s rayon bedspreads and satin ball gowns, 1950s Japanese damask and 1960s jacquards and metallic brocades.
Image: portrait of Emma Reichenbach courtesy of Alun Callender.
We speak to Emma Reichenbach about her life in textiles and what inspired her to set-up Coded Cloth.
What is your first memory of a textile?
I have so many, but a particularly evocative memory is of the Clothkits clothing that my mother dressed my sisters and I, back in the 1970s. The charming and inventive prints, soft needle cord fabrics cut into pinafores and dungarees are still so redolent of a wonderful childhood which, in my memory, was accompanied by the reassuring whirring sound of my mother’s sewing machine late at night, her moment, once us girls were in bed, to get stuck into some creative dressmaking. I loved the whole concept behind Clothkits and think that I’ve been trying to emulate that ethos and aesthetic ever since!
Can you put into words what you love about textiles?
I love how vintage textiles in particular hold so much coded information, about their origins, their manufacture and their uses, whether that was ceremonial or everyday. I have always been drawn to pattern, texture and surface treatments, be they printed, woven or embellished: from early girlhood on, this is proving to be a lifelong obsession!
Where is your most inspiring space to create?
I create textiles anywhere that offers the magic equation of focus and autonomy. I quickly spread out a lot, so end up dominating any table, floor or wall space offered! Good light, solitude and a good play on Radio 4 all aid the creative alchemy! I currently have a studio at Bath Artist Studios, which contains all the accumulated tools of my trade, however, I could easily breathe out into a space double the size!
What has inspired you recently?
I recently saw Ken Russell’s ‘The Devils’ which was visually extraordinary, and quickly led me to ‘The Boyfriend’. I am amazed that it took me so many decades to get around to experiencing it; Shirley Russell’s costume design was so bold, joyful and original!
‘The Colour of Pomegranates’ by Armenian film director Parajanov is another jewel that I came to late, but every still, every set is a feast for the eyes and an incredible source of inspiration for me.
This month I got to see John Booth’s exuberant ‘Up in Smoke’ exhibition at the Now Gallery in London which again had me swooning; his use of colour is so joyful and liberated!
What is your most cherished textile, and why?
Oh, too many cherished textiles to mention! I am lucky enough to have a friend in New York who is an antique dealer and he recently gave me an incredible patchwork from the late 1800s, a log cabin design made entirely from silks in cream, lilac, scarlet, turquoise, claret-red and pale pink on a lustrous, intense black ground: it is absolutely stunning, and looks so modern!
The same friend also gave me a mystery hand-woven embroidered poncho that I have just researched, discovering that it is a wedding shawl from the late 1800s, created by the Bishnoi tribe from the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. The craftsmanship is awe-inspiring and I feel so fortunate to be its current custodian.
Where did you learn your craft?
I’d say that I picked up my keen eye for textiles from my mother. Jumble sales in the late 80s and 90s helped establish my love of textile collecting. My MA in Textiles for Fashion from St Martins gave me an intense introduction to how to channel the creative process into innovative textile-based design, which was then followed by four years working in Italy for a fashion design atelier, where I discovered my love and affinity for embellishment design, a skill I continue to explore and develop in so much that I create.
The Selvedge Makers' Fair will take place at The American Museum & Gardens, Claverton Down, Bath on Saturday 21 September 2024. Find out more and plan your visit here.
Each unique garment is expertly made in England, combining vintage, often handmade, never-to-be-replicated fabrics and textiles that include 1920s cotton lace, 1930s embroidered linens, 1940s rayon bedspreads and satin ball gowns, 1950s Japanese damask and 1960s jacquards and metallic brocades.
We speak to Emma Reichenbach about her life in textiles and what inspired her to set-up Coded Cloth.
What is your first memory of a textile?
I have so many, but a particularly evocative memory is of the Clothkits clothing that my mother dressed my sisters and I, back in the 1970s. The charming and inventive prints, soft needle cord fabrics cut into pinafores and dungarees are still so redolent of a wonderful childhood which, in my memory, was accompanied by the reassuring whirring sound of my mother’s sewing machine late at night, her moment, once us girls were in bed, to get stuck into some creative dressmaking. I loved the whole concept behind Clothkits and think that I’ve been trying to emulate that ethos and aesthetic ever since!
Can you put into words what you love about textiles?
I love how vintage textiles in particular hold so much coded information, about their origins, their manufacture and their uses, whether that was ceremonial or everyday. I have always been drawn to pattern, texture and surface treatments, be they printed, woven or embellished: from early girlhood on, this is proving to be a lifelong obsession!
Where is your most inspiring space to create?
I create textiles anywhere that offers the magic equation of focus and autonomy. I quickly spread out a lot, so end up dominating any table, floor or wall space offered! Good light, solitude and a good play on Radio 4 all aid the creative alchemy! I currently have a studio at Bath Artist Studios, which contains all the accumulated tools of my trade, however, I could easily breathe out into a space double the size!
What has inspired you recently?
I recently saw Ken Russell’s ‘The Devils’ which was visually extraordinary, and quickly led me to ‘The Boyfriend’. I am amazed that it took me so many decades to get around to experiencing it; Shirley Russell’s costume design was so bold, joyful and original!
‘The Colour of Pomegranates’ by Armenian film director Parajanov is another jewel that I came to late, but every still, every set is a feast for the eyes and an incredible source of inspiration for me.
This month I got to see John Booth’s exuberant ‘Up in Smoke’ exhibition at the Now Gallery in London which again had me swooning; his use of colour is so joyful and liberated!
What is your most cherished textile, and why?
Oh, too many cherished textiles to mention! I am lucky enough to have a friend in New York who is an antique dealer and he recently gave me an incredible patchwork from the late 1800s, a log cabin design made entirely from silks in cream, lilac, scarlet, turquoise, claret-red and pale pink on a lustrous, intense black ground: it is absolutely stunning, and looks so modern!
The same friend also gave me a mystery hand-woven embroidered poncho that I have just researched, discovering that it is a wedding shawl from the late 1800s, created by the Bishnoi tribe from the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. The craftsmanship is awe-inspiring and I feel so fortunate to be its current custodian.
Where did you learn your craft?
I’d say that I picked up my keen eye for textiles from my mother. Jumble sales in the late 80s and 90s helped establish my love of textile collecting. My MA in Textiles for Fashion from St Martins gave me an intense introduction to how to channel the creative process into innovative textile-based design, which was then followed by four years working in Italy for a fashion design atelier, where I discovered my love and affinity for embellishment design, a skill I continue to explore and develop in so much that I create.
The Selvedge Makers' Fair will take place at The American Museum & Gardens, Claverton Down, Bath on Saturday 21 September 2024. Find out more and plan your visit here.