Stripes - An exploration of hand weaving and accessory design

Abstract

The thesis examines questions aroused by a trip to China in spring 2019, is everything going too fast? Should we slow down a bit? During this trip, I saw the fast urbanization city scene and the fast-produced products in local shops. On the contrary, I also encountered the peaceful Chinese gardens and the local handwoven fabrics. These local crafts resonate with my previous experience working for a luxury brand, which focuses on craftsmanship in design. This project explores the responsibility and role of a designer in this fast world, and hopefully, the questions, “Is everything going too fast? Should we slow down a bit?”, would be answered through the process.

The final results of the project are a woven textile collection and an accessory collection where tex-tiles are applied. For the textile collection, the research question is, how to design a woven textile collection that reflects the traditional Chinese garden scene. Furthermore, handweaving techniques and striped fabrics are explored. The accessory collection researches how to apply the woven textile to everyday life products, reflecting the contrasting life between the fast urbanized city and the traditional Chinese garden, encouraging people to reconsider the speed of current life.

The following research methods are used: literature review, field trip and prototyping. The study on the hand weaving technique, the striped textile history and the Chinese garden history are conducted through literature review. The Chinese garden scene is observed and researched through field trips. The final textile and accessory collection are achieved by prototyping.

The final results demonstrate one example of reflecting the Chinese garden scene through the woven textile, tackling the contrasting fast urbanization phenomenon through the accessories. It also shows one possibility of combing hand weaving with accessory design, bringing traditional crafts to current everyday life. Hand weaving could be one way of slowing down our fast life.