Beguiled by Sarah Burton's use of florals in her spring/summer collection for Alexander McQueen?
Remaining saccharine-free, she referenced the flower-appreciating Huguenot refugees who brought to the Spitalfields area of London their masterful silk-weaving skills and bolstered the region's existing textile industry in the late 17th century.
[Watercolour on paper, design for textile by Anna Maria Garthwaite 1741. V & A collection.]
[Watercolor on paper, design for textile by Anna Maria Garthwaite 1741. V & A collection.]
Watching the runway show, I thought of another designing woman and nature lover, Anna Maria Garthwaite. Exceptional for the era in which she lived, Garthwaite forged a path for herself in the male-dominated world of 18th-century Spitalfields textiles. (Details in this past post.)
Also, over on Instagram, where I continue to share most of my fabric-related news, I put together a Spitalfields-themed collage of recommended resources. Specifics here.
Posts
