How does the remaking of manual labor increase our understanding and elevation of work that is taken for granted? How do we connect with other cultures through the recreation and study of their work?

During the investigation process of my Micro/Macro Textiles class, I became interested in the kimono collection of the Textile Resource Center. The specific garment that caught my eye was an overcoat called haori.

A haori is a Spring/ Summer garment worn over a kimono. It is now used by men and women, but historically it was only worn by men. The garment is made up of two different types of silks. The inner backing is made up of plainer silk that has been screen printed, I came to the conclusion that it was factory printed, due to the consistency of the print.

The rest of the garment is made up of a finer lighter silk, which I concluded to be a Crepe de Chine silk due to its sheen and woven pattern that I checked under magnification. The original Hapori´s silk has a pattern woven into it that creates some sort of circular relief. It is difficult to detect due to the dyeing process but on the magnification of a piece, the alternating warp and weft can be detected. Here we can see the spinning of the thread in z-twists and s-twist with an alternating warp and weft pattern signaling a pattern that diverges from the plain weave.

The rest of the silk used to create the haori was resist-dyed Fuschia purple using the traditional shibori technique. The resist dye technique created handmade floral patterns throughout the entire garment. 

The climate in Japan during the Spring and Summer seasons has strong winds and rain, however, the climate is warm and humid. Clothing choices are dictated by the weather, fabric, social class, and occasion. The silk protects the user from wind and insects while also being a breathable fabric. The haori´s would be used to fancy events as an added accessory. The image attached provides a closer look into each of the layers of traditional clothing.

Silk 

Crêpe De Chine translates to crepe of China is a fine lightweight, plain weave silk fabric woven with a silk warp and crepe-twist silk in alternating patterns. The crepe twist is made up of 40-85 turns per twist running in reverse directions and known as a right-hand and left-hand twist, respectively. It is often made of 100% silk or other variants with the majority of the material being silk.

While looking at this object I stumbled across the struggle of not really knowing how the pieces were created and not having an accurate understanding of the time and labor it took for it to be created. So I decided to make a smaller-scale version of the shibori to connect with a different culture through making the same object. I looked at this reference image and started to work on the shibori dying when I encountered an obstacle.

Shibori dying 

Shibori comes from the verb root shiboru which translates to “to wring or squeeze'' and is a very time-consuming fabric dyeing technique to say the least There are six variants of this technique currently known but there are assumed to be many more. The main six have specific names and they are; Kanoko, Arashi, Itajime, Kumo, Miura, Nui. The technique that was used in this haori is the Kanoko technique, known in the west as a classic tie-dye technique, where the fabric is pinched and held in place with an object that will create resistance, the traditional method included thread. The first recording of shibori dyeing was in the 8 century when Emperor Shomu gifted a piece of dyed cloth to the Todai-Ji temple in Nara, although it became popular during the Edo era (17-19 century). Lower-class people were not allowed to wear silk or any form of luxury garments so aesthetic dye styles were a way for civilians to create an aesthetic wardrobe. The town of Arimatsu now a historic town became known for its kimono textile industry and shibori-dyed textiles.

Fabrication

My endeavor started with investigating which materials were used. As I mentioned before they have two types of silks. I bought white Crepe de Chine silk for the rest of the garment. I measured the larger one and cut out a small 3 by 3-inch square where I created the shibori dye technique. The process took a while, I used the end of a pen cap to create the pleat where I would wrap the yarn around. After it was done I wet the fabric and used synthetic dye, a mix of Fuchsia, Eggplant, and Violet to emulate the color of the haori. In the end, my circles were much larger than on the original haori and were much more sporadic. I miscalculated how long the actual tying would take as well as the size of each of the circles.

Why this Project?

 I became interested in the recreation of the shibori dye technique because since the viewer has no direct context of the amount of labor an object requires there is a tendency to take it for granted. In class, we read An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method by David Jules where he defines Material Culture as,  “the study through artifacts of the beliefs-values, ideas, attitudes, and assumptions of a particular community or society at a given time.” Here Jules states that it is a practice of life to observe material artifacts rather than a field and that it differs from art history because its interest lies in proving the knowledge and intelligence of humans rather than other aspects of aesthetics or inspiration that are seen in art history. He also talks about how as observers we will never be fully separate from our inherent subjectivity when analyzing material work. He explains we can’t escape our cultural upbringing or biases, and these can either help or hinder our breakdown of the work. When researching this garment I had to dive into another culture's way of viewing garments, their priorities and I barely scratched the surface. I lacked the cultural background and inherent knowledge that people from Japan have in regards to their clothing and realized that the best thing I could do was to narrow down the size of the project because it was more important to focus on a specific detail that had its own cultural weight and significance. By specifying my area of study I was able to focus more on learning about shibori and appreciate what the technique entails, as well as grasp a much larger understanding of Japanese ways of approaching artisanal techniques. There is a perfectionism and detail oriented approach on Japanese culture that can be perceived through the creation of these dye techniques.

Why Recreate?

In the age of fast fashion and there is a separation between labor and consumption, wearers often forget the effort it takes to create a single garment. When we step back and try to recreate elements of a garment, not only do we value the amount of time and effort garments take to make, but we create a connection that often escapes verbal forms of communication. Through my experience creating a shibori cloth, I was able to experience the  preciousness of these works as well as the unique qualities that made kimonos and haoris such covetable garments.  This process of beautification allowed me to connect with the fabric in a way that is lost in the world of fast fashion and was incredibly humbling. In the age of rapid information and reliance on technology, we assume that a quick google search will provide us with sufficient knowledge and a deeper understanding. This returns us not only to the purpose of this class but the purpose and power of textile art. I was able to approach a culture that is so separate from my own in a creative and respectful way. Textile art is a transcendental practice that gives explanation and meaning to human experience and allows us to connect with other cultures through the investigation of a single piece of fiber in ways that are missing from modern reliance on technology and fast fashion.