When studying textiles of the past in a region with poor preservation, what are the sources of knowledge that can be used? For archaeologists studying textiles in challenging preservation contexts, indirect sources of evidence can not only provide key information about the textiles made and used in the past, but also further ideas about reintegrating this past knowledge in the present. This paper presents a collaborative research project between an Indigenous first-language speaker and basket maker and an archaeologist who studies textiles and basketry. Through a series of conversations, they approached research on Southeastern United States Indigenous textiles by drawing on Choctaw language documents from the nineteenth century. The project yielded information about weaving processes and material preparation that is invaluable to ongoing revitalization of Southeastern Indigenous textiles. In addition, the authors produced a Choctaw vocabulary list of textile-related terminology as a resource for Choctaw textile artists who seek to integrate to learn the Choctaw language and integrate the vocabulary with their textile practice. Ultimately, this is a form of outreach to the Choctaw community.

Despite the international popularity of Indonesian batik and the recognition of traditional batik-making as a specifically Indonesian cultural practice, fewer Indonesians choose batik makers as their profession. This study explores the motivations for becoming and remaining the producers of traditional Indonesian batik, an aspect that has been understudied. We use the positive deviance method, Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory, and Bourdieu’s notion of doxa and habitus, to deepen our explanations. Using the life-story approach, we interviewed thirty traditional batik producers, both entrepreneurs, and workers, in-depth about their motivations. We found that in terms of motivation, there are two distinguishable groups: descendants and newcomers. Bourdieu’s notions of doxa and habitus provide insights into the motivations of descendants. They were often driven by family traditions and ties. All producers were driven by the core motivations of the SDT: (1) the desire for autonomy, (2) competence, and (3) the need for belonging. However, the first two motivations were particularly powerful among newcomers. Our study not only sheds light on the motivations of existing producers of traditional batik but also provides valuable insights for securing the future of batik as a traditional textile from Indonesia.

ABSTRACT Regenerative agriculture champion Fibershed embraces and gives voice to the fullness of textile paradigms, economies, societies, ecologies, and skill tradition; seeks to address and rectify the failures and promises of textile making and textile futures; and promotes healthy, holistic wellbeing. Founded in 2012 in Northern California, Fibershed is a movement of farmers, fashion activists, and makers growing a new textile economy. The organization touts a soil-to-soil paradigm that asks us to consider the entire lifecycle of our textiles. It proposes a climate beneficial, regenerative system whose scope encompasses the history, knowledge, artistry, and social ramifications of our relationship with textiles in every form. Whether we identify as a textile artist, craftsperson, designer, student, producer, collector, or enthusiast, we must radically alter our understanding of where our textiles come from, how they are made, who made them, under what conditions, and where they go when we are “done” with them. To build a livable future we must extend the spaces in which we are critiquing and rewriting textile history, practicing textile-based skills, understanding and exploring material, and confronting textiles’ attendant ecological, political, economic, and social impacts.

This paper focuses on digital agency in fashion and textiles design, presenting a case study using a digital drawing tool to gain insights into the experiences of creative agency and interactions with an automated computer agent. This study is positioned within the wider Neo Couture research project, which aims to develop a digital hand embroidery learning tool for fashion and textile practitioners. The paper draws upon a developing project framework, grounded in principles informed by haute couture as a lens to articulate the data analysis and findings. Centring on the framework’s aspects of Material Agency and Interactions, in particular the agency of the tool, this study finds a nuanced interplay between human practitioners and the tool developed for this study. Further quantitative insights are drawn from the workshop tool itself to give a richer understanding of both user experience and creative interactions synchronously. Theory in digital craftsmanship is discussed in relation to this study, highlighting the need to account for the ways that fashion and textiles practitioners relate to materials in their work when developing supportive digital applications in this space. This research supports future work to be undertaken with more diverse cohorts of practitioners in fashion, textiles, and haute couture practice. The findings are particularly relevant for interdisciplinary fashion and textile practice in conjunction with HCI and digital design, towards the development of pedagogical AI tools for craft learning in fashion and textiles.

This article reports on the experiences of quilt makers in New Zealand and the ways that their wellbeing is enhanced and sustained by participating in quilt making. In the article, wellbeing is explored through a theory of place; a holistic, indigenous conceptualisation of wellbeing called Te Whare Tapa Wha (literally the house with four walls). Data was drawn from an online, qualitative, exploratory study which aimed to describe and understand quilt makers of New Zealand. Findings show that quilt making does indeed contribute to the wellbeing of those involved with the craft. Specific evidence is provided to show how quilt making enhances wellbeing across all the domains of Te Whare Tapa Wha; mental and emotional, social, spiritual, physical and connection to place. The article concludes with recommendations for individuals and organisations to further boost wellbeing in relation to quilt making and suggests opportunities for further research.

This paper discusses a Knowledge Transfer Project (KTP) with a global Scottish heritage brand to develop a year-round sustainable business model through a design-led approach to new product innovation that improves their sustainability credentials. Sustainability in textile production is under increasing scrutiny from the media, governments, regulators, and consumers, all demanding transparency in the supply chain. The company has an excellent track record of sustainable employment in rural communities and sought through the project to improve their production processes and waste output. Sustainability is a vast topic, where collaboration can help to address these key challenges. The company manages an artisan hand-weaving manufacturing system where yarn production and fabric finishing are regulated by the 1993 Harris Tweed Act of Parliament that protects and restricts production to the Outer Hebrides. The success or failure of the Harris Tweed® industry directly impacts the wider economy of the Outer Hebrides, which is considered “remote, rural, fragile” by UK and Scottish governments and their economic development agencies. The paper describes how academic/business collaboration can positively encourage innovation and help reposition businesses within a changing economic and sustainable landscape that explores these new opportunities. The paper reflects on how KTPs are a mechanism with mutual benefits, where pooling individual knowledge and resources can develop strong, sustainable, and authentic relationships that can provide tangible impacts of new knowledge generation and application within a scholarly and research context that can be clearly aligned to notions of bringing value to the sector, users, and the curriculum.

Coronavirus detrimentally impacted textile craft production and the income of indigenous artisans, including those working in the Lake Atitlán area. The article focuses on how five enterprises diversified their entrepreneurial practices and actioned strategies to support their communities during the crisis. Interviews with host textile companies based in Guatemala, the US and UK were conducted to inform case studies documenting the artisans’ experiences, the pandemic response and implications for the long-term effects on the sector. The research highlights the creative resilience of the artisans; how regional lockdowns restricting the transport of materials and provisions, led to a regional sharing economy. The crisis highlighted the advantages of home-working, belonging to co-operatives and the benefits of partnerships with NGOs for accessing essential resources, income and routes to market. Despite the loss of local income streams, engagement with and investment in digital platforms opened up new communication and sales channels, enabling artisans to maintain revenue.

In 2021, a team of design faculty launched an interdisciplinary collaboration intended to identify cross-curricular development opportunities that emphasize sustainable textile attributes across both the fashion and interior design disciplines. The project, funded by Cotton Incorporated, highlights a shift in industry focus towards an evolving emphasis on health and well-being, acknowledging the impact COVID-19 has had on consumer behavior. These consumers tend to be more mindful of the material components used in their products and living spaces and more responsive to materials associated with sustainable development. In light of ongoing pandemic concerns, attention to consumer attitudes may impact design practitioners and design educators. In response to this call to action, the faculty team began examining opportunities for cross-collaboration, which could address a blend of environmentally conscious healthy living through design. Our starting point began with developing a literature review based on a search for comparable methodologies for enhanced textile-based curricular activities involving fashion and interior design. Our findings indicate opportunities where material selection systems may align across disciplines in facilitating sustainability education by empowering students with a more comprehensive understanding of potentially healthier materials. While this initial investigation is occurring in the context of the CTN INC grant requirements, our intention is for multidisciplinary collaboration between faculty and students to continue as standard practice within academia.

Few forms of human behavior are more pervasive than the use of textiles. As shelter and clothing, textile products play a vital role in meeting basic human needs. Clothes are imbued with memories, intertwined with our histories and identities, interwoven into the “fabric of our lives.” In late-stage eldercare/assisted living scenarios, care priorities often shift from curative measures to palliative care for the relief of pain, symptoms and emotional stress. Palliative care is available at any stage of an illness. The purpose of this exploratory creative study is to better understand opportunities applying co-creative design approaches in late-stage eldercare through the development of wearable narratives. We develop a form of garment therapy, imprinted with a unique textile print that is visual, tactile and empowering to the user/creator. The design researchers adopted context mapping as a method to engage participants in creative, idea generating activities to help inform textile design processes. Context mapping empowers participants by allowing them to make collaged artefacts and then tell stories about what they have made. As designers, we seek to delineate textiles as a therapeutic modality in its own right, a form of expression that can be used as a therapeutic intervention to foster well-being. We view this creative design exploration as an entry point into broader interdisciplinary opportunities. In this way, the project aligns with emerging models that attempt to address important societal and cultural problems through practice, by design.

With an emphasis on reinventing dress histories through a computer-aided design (CAD) approach, fashion and textiles archive, The Collections Resource Centre (CRC) in Leicestershire, United Kingdom, was utilised as the springboard for a visually rich and materially vibrant exploratory investigation. The project married historical artefacts with creative digital technologies in order to redefine fashion/textile objects from the past through practitioner-research. The study focused on textile design research from an Integrated Digital Practice perspective within Higher Education, in relation to learning and teaching at undergraduate level. The archive was employed as a fundamental pedagogical basis to aid research – visual, historical and contextual; observational; hands on experimentation; and design demonstration by investigating archives as pedagogy. The overarching aim was to tease out novel findings by exploring a palette of digital tools, methods, techniques, processes and parameters that may lead to the acquisition of new knowledge, skills and design innovation relevant to academia and industry. This was achieved through a 10-week student bursary scheme at Loughborough University that enabled: institutional and external collaboration between the student-and-staff and the student-and-archive; student-staff co-creation; and by the student engaging with outside organisations, institutions, places, people, events and media relevant to the project. Employing a collaborative and interdisciplinary methodological framework supported the concept of the archive as “having life”, based on the initial study, exploration and digital interpretation of selected archival items which resulted in a comprehensive portfolio of artistic ideas, CAD developments, technical enquiry and scientific experimentation. As such, an environment which enabled a dynamic design-research study within a scholarly context was established. The research process was substantiated by the involvement, experience and expertise of academic and technical staff whilst encouraging autonomy from a student perspective. This steered the research and helped to identify potential areas for further work beyond the scope of this project.