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Threads, Fringes and Handcrafted Fashion: In Conversation with Kelsey Hutton

From passementerie to fashion adornments so extreme that the decoration becomes the fabric itself. Just when you thought we were over fringing, this is something you’ll be seeing even more of in the spring – with fringing becoming an integral part of the fabric. The frayed fabric look has been seen on the catwalks of Chanel, […]

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Moonspiration: Creativity, Colour and Once in a Blue Moon Free PDF

When there are two full moons in a month, the second full moon is known as a blue moon. There will be a rare blue moon on 31st July, 2015, following on from the full moon of 2nd July. A popular myth is that pregnant women are more likely to give birth during a full moon. […]

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The Power of Padlocks: Love, Memories and Digital Belonging

What is the strange cult of love that chains us to the railings of social conformity? Why do we follow the crowd regardless of the destruction we may be causing? Sentimental tokens of mutual love are universal, but not all are harmless. According to Wikipedia, a love lock is a padlock which is attached to a […]

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What is Luxury? Being an Outsider

Luxury is ubiquitous, craft has been commodified and, according to Peter York, “authenticity is a con.” When luxury is no longer luxurious and limited editions can be purchased at Primark, only ultra-luxury will do. This means finding something that no one else can have, or afford – be it bespoke, vintage or antique – perhaps a pair […]

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Dreamtime for Indigenous Australian Textile Designs

In anticipation of the British Museum’s forthcoming Indigenous Australia exhibition, we look at the rise of Aboriginal textile designs in fashion and interiors. Indigenous Australians’ oral tradition and spiritual values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime – a sacred era when ancestral totemic spirit beings created the world. […]

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A Young Man’s Progress: The First Book of Fashion?

“We don’t have codpieces now, but we have pretty tight jeans,” says Tim Knox, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum. There is now a noticeable interest in romantic male accessories and man-bags – a trend we pointed to in Tudor-themed Visuology Issue 1. These are the sorts of items mentioned by Matthäus Schwarz in a Renaissance […]

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Cave Paintings Inspire Primitivist Fashion

The oldest art ever discovered is now available for public viewing. But the cave paintings to be seen in the Ardèche region of France are in fact recent reproductions of the originals. The Chauvet cave, named after Jean-Marie Chauvet, one of the three people who found the treasure trove of Paleolithic paintings, is open rarely, to just a […]

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Inventing a More Caring Future: Designs of the Year 2015

The main difficulty with an all encompassing design competition is that, ultimately, it does not compare like with like. Some of the entries are life changing, or could affect us all in the future. Others seem more of an artistic expression, designed purely for our amusement. There is the added complication that, whilst some of the […]

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