Fabric of India Exhibition

V&A Museum

Making time for what I love doing is something at the top of my list of goals for this year. Going to more exhibitions is one of them, after a casting I attended yesterday (for a L’oreal commercial lets keep fingers crossed!)  I found my self in Hammersmith with hours to spare before I had to meet my boyfirend for my cousins birthday drinks. Usually in this scenario I like to head straight home or to a Pret to sit and read, but figured I’d have more than enough time to do the exhibition and write about it while I wait. Fabric of India, was a fascinating journey through India (if you hadn’t guessed already from the name of the exhibition) about guess what? FABRICS! Since coming back from India almost a year ago I have found myself drawn towards fabrics and the colours (OH THE COLOUR) that India has to offer. The artisans are like no other and this exhibition does every thing it can to applaud the skilled artisans out there. It made me realise how much I hadn’t seen while I was out there.

Ive always been in awe of delicate and intricate embroidery, and although this was sporadically featured in the exhibtion it was nice to see it included in - after all India is synonymous with embroidery even though Textiles and Fabrics are in the foreground of Indias culture. Now, about the fabrics, which is what this whole exhibition was about, in two words, mind boggling. At a glance the fabrics exuded luxury and pretty simple in its make up. UNTIL I started reading the descriptions; I developed a new found appreciation for them, the techniques involved to weave just one piece of saree fabric is incomprehensible when you see just how much goes into making one thread. The silk manufacture process is a whole different ball game, with families specialising in the nurturing of silkworms. The exhibition was a huge learning curve, not just about the history of textiles but about the history of my own culture too, it was so warming to see other appreciate it too as I walked through the rooms. There is only one more day left of the exhibition, (ARGH!!) and I would definitely recommend going if you have nothing planned for tomorrow!

SHOES 

PLEASURE AND PAIN

V&A

So a couple weeks back my lovely boss treated the ICMS team to the Shoes Pleasure and Pain exhibition at the V&A - it was nothing short of inspiring. The collection was pretty amazing and the short films were fab. The most memorable part of the exhibition was watching the short films on how 5 renowned designers (Manolo Blahnik, Sandra Choi of Jimmy Choo, Caroline Groves, Marc Hare and Christian Louboutin) within the footwear industry deal with the specific elements of the design process. Most of their responses within this 12 minute clip explored in my opinion the ever changing relationships with technology, either with design (using CAD as to the old fashioned way of using pen and paper) or even the manufacturing process. Caroline Groves in particular relished in the fact that bespoke shoe making allowed her to take complete control of the making process using only a sewing machine in her kitchen to complete a beautifully custom made pair of shoes. In comparison other designers almost felt eternally indebted to their manufactures and worked meticulously together to recreate the exact design that was initially conceived from a sketch or CAD design. The exhibition brought together all of these components, including a brief history in footwear all the way to shoes in the present, that have completely changed the way shoes have been designed and made.

V&A Museum

£12 entry

South Kensington Tube Station

www.vam.ac.uk

Victoria and Albert Museum

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