The TextielLab is a "knowledge centre" based inside the TextielMuseum in Tilburg (we will hopefully be discovering more about them in a future post). This unique institution that could be considered as a working atelier is specialised in the manufacturing of knitted and woven fabrics and includes an open studio with experts and technicians who develop products and projects for different national and international professionals, including artists, architects, interior and fashion designers and students.
The Lab produces an annual yearbook and the fourth edition of the volume - launched by director Errol van de Werdt during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan - is just out. TextielLab Yearbook 2012 showcases a wide variety of projects spanning through different disciplines.
Leaf through it to discover installations, fashion collections and experimental projects inspired by an extensive textile library, museum collection and clever temporary exhibitions, and created with the help and guidance of product developers, yarn experts and technicians at the TextielLab.
The book includes extremely stimulating projects and ideas briefly analysed and accompanied by a selection of photographs visualising the process from design to finished product that show how the Lab has grown for what regards the volume of work, but also its complexity.
The Yearbook opens with the tapestry pieces designed by four international architecture firms - Xaveer De Geyter Architecten (XDGA), Vers plus de bien-être (V+), Studio 012 Bernardo Secchi Paola Viganò with Karbon and 51N4E with L’AUC and Bureau Bas Smets - to reflect on the urban infrastructure of Brussels and to design a new vision for the North-South rail link.
The first section of the volume is dedicated to architectural/interior design pieces and also features the fabric wallcovering by Kiki van Eijk for the Statenzaal of the Noordbrabants Museum, characterised by an abstract pattern and a figurative feel and made with flame retardant yarns by Trevira; custom-made clothing for chairs by Bernotat & Co and the "Growing Caterpillar", a textile transformer piece by Studio Samira Boon with NEXT Architects, designed to create a more intimate space inside Tilburg Concert Hall during small chamber music concerts.
A large section focuses on fashion projects such as Walter Van Beirendonck's Autumn/Winter 2012-13 menwear collection, inspired by wooden shields from Papua New Guinea, Marga Weimans' patterned fabrics for her "Fashion House: The Most Beautiful Dress in the World" installation, experimental knitwear pieces by Conny Groenewegen for her A/W 2013-14 collection and a series of projects looking at smart textiles, knitwear, interior design and fashion created in collaboration with young talents, artists and students from differet institutions who pushed the boundaries of their disciplines to create exclusive pieces with the TextielLab experts (some of them even managed to hack a knitting machine...).
The Yearbook also includes a section on the TextielMuseum, conceived as a springboard for new work, and on the exclusive pieces created for the exhibition entitled "Turkish Red & More" by five Dutch designers and design agencies (among the others there is BCXSY's project made by embroidering a lace-like pattern onto water-soluble fabric).
Students should check out the final section of the book, about the European Textile Trainee (ETT), a project for eight talented students from various European academies who take part every year in a special programme in the Netherlands and Italy (the latter is a key country as the Lab also employs yarns by many Italian manufacturers including Ilaria, Zegna Baruffa, Cariaggi, Gruppo Tessile Industriale, Safil and Lineapiù).
The interviews with two TextielLab experts featured in the yearbook insert are particularly interesting because they prove there are more technical but also more rewarding and stimulating careers for all those who want to go beyond the boundaries of mere fashion design and develop products based on quality and research.
It doesn't matter if you're an expert, a professional, a design student or a passionate amateur knitter or weaver, if you're into textiles, the TextielLab Yearbook 2012 (available for €14.95 from the museum’s TextielShop) should definitely be a must in your personal library.
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