Hybrid forms of dressing

Rethinking the relationship between textile and fashion design

This project is now archived and was part of DDW23

This project is part of
EXIT 2023

Whole-garment woven textiles by Kelly Konings

2D jacquard woven textiles that hold the possibility to be worn as 3D garments through whole-garment weaving. Besides the silhouette and pattern, also details such as pockets, sleeves and labels are woven directly into the textile. Using local materials such as deadstock wool and linen.

Textile and fashion systems

In the current state of textile and fashion design, these two are mostly designed and produced in two separate systems. Only meeting in the final outcome of a garment. Leaving many sustainable and aesthetic textile design possibilities unused, but also increasing textile waste by underutilising material characteristics and by producing unwanted textiles. In my master project, I created 2D jacquard woven textiles that hold the possibility to be worn as 3D garments. Draped and folded onto the body, these whole-garment woven textiles urge the viewer to rethink the interdependent relationship between a textile and a garment. For example, colour gradients that look like a worn-out effect have been woven into the textile, but also the labelling, stitch details, sideseams, collars, sleeves and pockets have been woven directly into the textile. Expressing garment archetypes such as jeans, the party dress or a blazer in hybrid forms of dressing.

Local material

The yarns I used are mostly linen and wool and a mix of deadstock yarns from the Swedish textile industry such as linen from the damast weaving mill Klässbols and tufting wool that is normally used for rugs from Kasthall. Besides that, I also used Swedish wool that has been carefully collected at farms around Sweden and washed and processed in Gotland. Proposing a new and holistic way of designing and producing textiles and garments locally.