Upcycling and Draping Online

All image: Garments Christine Mayer, photography (c) Billy & Hells.

The textile world is adapting to lockdown with new ways of communicating and teaching. Starting on Sunday 19 April, Christine Mayer is holding a three-part upcycling and draping workshop via the video conferencing platform Zoom. The Berlin-based fashion designer has built a fashion career on re-purposing clothing and breathing new life into old garments. She is a pioneer of three-dimensional free draping with fabric, an art form she has adapted and developed from her studies in classical Japanese drapery. When it comes to clothing design, Christine’s style is recognisable for its collage aesthetics, where pattern and fabric constantly interrupt each other’s spaces. “Material that has been marked by life” is one of Christine’s biggest inspirations.

Christine’s technique takes draping in a new direction by using original materials. Especially by dealing with recycled materials and old fabrics, this is an inspiring method to directly influence the given materials, structures and the individual fit. The designer becomes a sculptor who develops their creation directly on the bust – in harmony with the materials and body shape.

In the three-part live stream workshop students will learn from Christine how to create wonderful new pieces out of used garments. Each session will present an Upcycling theme, starting in the first lesson with upcycling men shirts into a summer dress. Materials needed for the first class are a dress form, a sewing machine and the upcycling material: two men shirts in a nice colour combination or one colour.

Christine is also trained in Consciousness Work and meditation. She teaches students and teachers at international fashion colleges and leads creative retreats and workshops all around the world. Her Zoom classes will start with a short Kundalini Meditation session to bring the group together.

For more information visit www.intothelight.de

Christine is one of Selvedge’s workshop tutors. Read more about Christine's clothing collection, MAYER, in Piece and love: Christine Mayer is making a difference, Issue 39.