Image: Karin Carlander, photographer Maya Matsuura.

A ticket to the Selvedge World Fair includes access to all of the fair's Talks (4 – 5 September 2020), a series of lectures and group discussions from some of the 100 artisans taking part. The topics covered in the talks are wide-ranging. From celebrating specific fibres, to preserving skills, to tackling tough challenges like cultural appropriation and sustainability. All talks take place on Zoom, in English and include time for audience questions. Here we take a look at the Fantastic Fibres session where masters of their crafts tell us why they love working with linen, cotton and silk.   

Fantastic Fibres will be led by presentations by Karin Carlander on linen, Natalie Chanin on cotton and Denise (Huang Mengqi) on silk, followed by a discussion and questions. Karin is a Danish textile artist and curator. Growing up in a small seaside town on the Danish island of Funen, as a young girl, she had a small loom, which she used to make gifts for her family. At the age of 19, Karin moved to Provence to learn from the French weaver Jacqueline de la Baume Dürrbach, who worked with Picasso to create tapestries based on some of his paintings.

Image: Natalie Chanin.

Cotton is the foundation of the work of Alabama Chanin in Florence, Alabama, both environmentally and also culturally. Founder Natalie Chanin, along with her team at The Factory and their network of artisans, have grown their business thoughtfully and holistically over the years: they follow Slow Design methods, choosing to use only organic cotton fabric in the production of their well-known hand and machine sewn garments and home-wares.

Image: Huang Mengqi (Denise).

The colours and patterns of Suzhou Cobblers hand-sewn silk slippers reflect Shanghai's grandest era, when Huang Mengqi’s hometown was a fashion capital. The slippers Huang Mengqi (Denise to her friends) designs, draws on her background in graphic design, painting and sketching to recreate the kind of high-quality slippers that style-conscious Chinese women like her grandmother once wore.

Visit Selvedge World Fair to buy tickets. Tickets give you access to talks, shopping, demonstrations, articles and interviews as well as a quiz with prizes.

Magazine subscribers enjoy a 50% discount on Selvedge World Fair 2020 tickets. During August you can become a subscriber with 50% off your first three issues with code AUGUST at Subscribe. Your Selvedge World Fair ticket offer code will be emailed to you after you place your subscription order.

Note: Selvedge World Fair workshops have an additional cost and need to be booked separately.