Carnaby Street, London 1960s - The Embroiderers` Guild NSW Inc.

Embroiderers’ Guild N.S.W.
Brief for the Second Installation in the Embroiderers’ Guild’s N.S.W. ‘Carnaby
Street, London 1960s’ themed space in the Craft & Quilt Fair June 2016
For the second installation, Guild members are invited to create a 1960s
garment or fashion accessory or an item for the interior such as a cushion, wall
hanging or lampshade. It needs to be an original design and designed specifically
for this installation. Kit designs will not be accepted.
Please refer to the document ‘Carnaby Street, London, 1960s Theme for the
Craft & Quilt Fair June 2016’ as you read through this brief.
Jane Asher is wearing an Ossie Clark paper dress in a Celia Birtwell print in
surroundings that were made to look like a bedsit. Taken for Nova in 1966 by
Brian Duffy
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Embroiderers’ Guild N.S.W.
Background
According to the manifesto published in 1957 by the British Pop artist Richard
Hamilton and the critic Lawrence Alloway the new Pop aesthetic should be
'popular, low-cost, mass-produced, young, witty, …..' These principles of Pop art
carried over into fashion and textile design in the early 1960s. Very young British
designers like Mary Quant and the design duo, Foale and Tuffin created the Mod
look. Their garments had minimal construction, were short, slim fitting and
brightly coloured. The designers sold their designs in their own quirky boutiques.
They were small enterprises to begin with and then they flourished because they
were so affordable to their generation.
This is a replica of Foale & Tuffin’s boutique in the exhibition of their work at
the Fashion & Textile Museum in London in 2009
These garments had tremendous influence on French and American couture
designers like André Courreges, Pierre Cardin, Yves Saint Laurent (all European)
Bill Blass, Geoffrey Beene and Oscar de la Renta (all American).
By 1966, designers have rediscovered William Morris’ designs and the
illustrations by the Art Nouveau artist and illustrator Aubrey Beardsley. The
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Victoria & Albert Museum in London had an exhibition of Beardsley’s work in
1966. Now “……the Beardsley spirit brings a softer new femininity to fashion.
Last year's clothes were vibrantly bright, glazing with hot colors.”
(LIFE magazine February 1967)
Aubrey Beardsley’s ‘Salome’
Biba
Barbara Hulanicki (Biba), from this point began to reference historical styles. Her
colour palette became dark and moody and her dresses featured such details as
mutton sleeves and high Edwardian necks. She employed Antony Little to design
the interior of her boutique as well as the Biba logo. His black Art Nouveau swirls
on the windows were inspired by Beardsley’s work. Little also created
illustrations that were reminiscent of Beardsley’s style to be sold in the Biba
boutique.
A boutique called Granny Takes a Trip opened its doors in December 1965 in the
King's Road, Chelsea. It was owned by graphic designer Nigel Weymouth and his
girlfriend Sheila Cohen, a collector of vintage Victoriana and oriental garments.
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They employed John Pearce, a former apprenticed tailor in Savile Rowe. The
three of them acknowledged that they were inspired by Aubrey Beardsley.
In the beginning John overseered the cutting into vintage clothes (mostly from
Sheila’s collection) to restyle them to contemporary trends. John and Sheila also
bought expensive Liberty fabrics inspired by William Morris designs to make
tailored jackets for men. This made their garments only affordable to the new
rich and flamboyant celebrities or the wealthy eccentrics of Britain.
The Pretty Things, a 1960s British Rock Group wearing garments from Granny
Takes A trip Boutique
Towards the very end of the 1960s the hippie counterculture crossed the
Atlantic from America’s West Coast to London. Fashion and textile designers,
such as Zandra Rhodes, Ossie Clark and his wife Celia Birtwell and Thea Porter
explored the colours, patterns and textures borrowed from non-European
cultures. They experimented with non-traditional tailoring. Garments were
either made from diaphanous printed fabrics like chiffon or they were
assembled from ethnic fabrics, heavy with textured embellishment. Separate
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garments were layered and combined in so many different ways. This trend was
eclectic and vivid. It was referred to as the ‘mixed pattern look’.
Zandra Rhodes
Thea Porter
Submission Guidelines
Choose one of the design influences for the 1960s from the document ‘Carnaby
Street, London, 1960s - Theme for the Craft & Quilt Fair June 2016’ for your
submission for the second installation. You may submit more than one item for
the 2nd installation.
Any technique in embroidery can be considered for a 2nd installation work.
Select colours from the associated colour palette (you do not have to use all
colours in any given palette) and design an appropriate pattern or motif.
Bohemian garments and soft furnishings nearly always featured embroidery,
but the patterns on Pop (Mod) and Romantic garments and soft furnishings
were usually printed. You will need to translate your patterns into embroidery
or appliqué, although you could consider combining print or painting with
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Embroiderers’ Guild N.S.W.
embroidery. There is also a medium for transferring images onto fabric but
please be aware of copyright issues. Inspirational images in this brief could lead
you to further research to help you design original patterns or motifs for your
work.
The fabric for your submission can be silk organza, chiffon, silk, fine or coarse
linen, muslin, canvas, cotton, wool or non-woven material. The colour of the
fabric may be white or black or in a colour from the palette you have chosen to
work with from the brief. The fabric can be dyed in a colour from your chosen
palette.
If you intend to submit a garment you may choose to:
 make a wearable garment for an adult or child which will be displayed on
a black silhouette mannequin owned by the Guild or hung on coat
hangers for the back wall in the space
 make a flat shape in the format of a garment which will be pinned to the
back wall in the exhibition (the edges of the shape will need to be hand
or machine embroidered to stop fraying)
 source a vintage garment and customise it with embroidery, as was done
in the late 1960s.
Friends
may
consider
working
collaboratively within the Bohemian design
influence to create an ‘assemblage’ of
separate items. As mentioned above separate garments were layered and
combined in so many different ways.
Australian fashion and textile designer,
Jenny Kee, in London in the 1960s
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There are other items that you may consider submitting. They are:
 Functional handbags
Thea Porter Handbags
 Cushion covers. Do not fill the covers. The maximum size for a cushion is
45 square cm.
Cushion cover designed by Celia Birtwell
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Embroiderers’ Guild N.S.W.
 Pop badges. These are to be circular and 7cm in diameter. They are to be
mounted with a brooch pin at the back. Please email Carolyn Pearce at
bill.pearce5@bigpond.com if you need instructions for mounting.
1960s Pop Badges
 ‘Kipper’ ties. 1960s ‘Kipper ties’ were 15cm in width. Please email Carolyn
Pearce at bill.pearce5@bigpond.com for instructions on how to make a
modified lined tie on the straight of the fabric instead of on the cross. A
label with your name written on it needs to be attached to the back of the
tie as with a purchased tie.
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Embroiderers’ Guild N.S.W.
 Wall hangings. They need to have a ‘hanging sleeve’ attached to the back
of the work with a rod inserted. Please email Cathy Jack Coupland at
cathyjackcoupland@gmail.com for written instructions on how to make a
‘hanging sleeve’. The maximum size for a wall hanging is 1 square metre.
The format for a wall hanging though, does not have to be a square. For
example, it could be 120cm in length and 80cm in width and still be within
the 1 square m.
Sample for a wall hanging by Josie Barnes, a Goldsmith University student in
the 1960s working under the tutelage of Constance Howard
Note: there are no size restrictions on garments and fashion accessories.
Print your name on a white label with a Pigma ink pen which will be attached to
your work by one of the team members when it is exhibited.
What to do with your finished work: the address for delivery of the finished
work will be advertised in the New Year, as we will be moving from the current
Guild Headquarters in Concord West about April 2016 due to the impending
building re-development. When the work is completed please send or deliver it
in a large envelope or postal bag to the nominated address (Att: Mary Brown)
and label as being a submission for the “Craft & Quilt Fair 2016 – 2nd installation’.
Include a self-addressed and stamped envelope or postal bag with the
submission because all items will be returned after the event.
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Embroiderers’ Guild N.S.W.
The submission is to arrive at the Guild by the middle of May 2016. The team,
however, will need a few earlier submissions because Expertise Events requires
photography by March 2016 for their marketing purposes.
To submit a work for this installation, it is required that you be prepared to have
your work photographed before and during the event. Images of your work may
appear on the Guild's Website, Facebook page and be used for promotional
purposes.
Could you please email or phone Mary Brown by the end of November 2015 if
you intend to submit a work for this installation. If you can have the work to
us before March for advertising purposes could you please indicate to Mary
by February 2016.
Email address: mary@marybrowndesigns.com Phone No: 98581326
Inspirational Images
Fashion History Museum’s (Ontario) exhibition ‘MODe: Fashion in the 1960s’
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Embroiderers’ Guild N.S.W.
Pop Exhibition at the Fashion & Textile Museum in London in 2012
Left: Cruise Dress by Sportaville 1967
Right: Silvia Ayton Shorts in Zandra Rhodes’ ‘Lipstick’ pattern 1969
Both garments were in the Pop exhibition at the FTM
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Above and right: dresses designed by
Mary Quant 1966
Appliquéd shift dress from the
House of Maggie Rouff 1960s
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A Foale & Tuffin Dress.
Twiggy wearing Belinda Beville1969.
The textile patterns on both garments were designed by Bernard Nevill
Bernard Nevill studied and taught at St Martin’s College of Art and the Royal
College of Art in London. The very young Ossie Clark, Marian Foale, Sally Tuffin,
and Zandra Rhodes were his students. In 1960, Nevill became a consultant
designer for Liberty of London where “he revitalized their traditional prints,
ensuring that they became a major influence on international fashion. In
particular, his Islamic prints introduced Eastern design to fashion, and other Art
Deco-inspired ranges led to a revival of interest in the Art-Deco period.”
Written by Ashley Nicole Perry MBA candidate at LIM (Fashion Business College
in Manhattan.
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Embroiderers’ Guild N.S.W.
Ossie Clark & Celia Birtwell
Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell were a British husband and wife design duo in the
1960s. Celia’s prints for these two garments designed by Ossie were inspired by
Goncharova’s style in her Ballet Russe Costumes and by Art Deco stylized
flowers.
Zandra Rhodes’ printed textiles have been used for these two garments.
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Embroiderers’ Guild N.S.W.
At the beginning of her career Zandra was a textile designer. As a student at the
Royal College of Art in London she acknowledged that she was inspired by Emilio
Pucci’s prints and Roy Lichtenstein’s and Andy Warhol’s Pop art paintings. “I
started to do designs with light bulbs and lipsticks, and linking up to the Warhol
of everyday things. I started thinking that fabrics could be much more exciting,
they could be dynamic.” Initially she designed fabrics for other designers and
then she branched out into designing her own garments to carry her designs.
Ethnic costumes at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London informed her early
garment designs.
More images to inspire you!
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Embroiderers’ Guild N.S.W.
An appliquéd jacket from Granny Takes A Trip Boutique
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Geoffrey Beene ‘Baby Doll’ dress 1968
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An exhibition of Giorgio di Sant’ Angelo’s
1960s designs in the Phoenix Art
Museum in 2012. He was a Florentine
aristocrat. Studied art and had Picasso as
one of his teachers for a short period. He
migrated to America in the early 1960s.
Diana Vreeland, the renowned editor of
Vogue America in the 1960s launched his
career in fashion and textiles. The
cultural influences on his work are
numerous: Latin American, American
Indian, Gypsy, Medieval illuminations,
Aztec and Asian; to name a few.
You are invited to google marybrowngold pinterest 1960s Fashion & Textiles
(also Ethnic Fashion and Textiles) to view more inspirational images.
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