Texture and print

One thing I do as an illustrator is mixed media. The thought occurred to me that this might be a great approach with soft goods. I mean, why not mix printed pieces with fabric that is lush or textural? Mixing things up opens creative doors and makes things possible that aren’t possible with just one fabric or process.

Thinking out of the box like an interior designer/decorator. Create an experience and mood with your far out ideas, mixing smooth printed pieces with textured lush fabric, cutouts or icons or logos tour theme art will give your backdrop dimension and set you apart.

Fabric in Shanghai

During Megan’s trip to Shanghai for the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network conference, she had the opportunity to meet up with a friend who lives in China and visit Shanghai’s garment district (including a few fabric mills).

She reported that it was a fascinating experience, seeing how fabrics are made and sold in China.  She also had a chance to take some great pictures. 

To me, the most interesting was to see the twists of yarn ready for weaving – quite reminiscent of the yarn used for home knitting and crocheting.

Working in a company that manufacturers custom stage curtains, I am around fabric all the time – and yet pictures like this continue to educate and inspire me.  They remind me that the textile industry operates in so many countries – there are fabric mills and suppliers in so many countries around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, China, India, and many more.  It really is a small world!

Electronic Samples??

Do you need to touch a textile in order to fully appreciate it?  Or is there a way to photograph it or shoot video of it in order to show off the properties of the cloth?

In this super-digital “I wanted it yesterday” microwave kind of world, it comes as no surprise that many of our clients don’t have time to approve samples – there is just no time to wait for samples to come in, be mailed or Fed Exed.  The projects ships next week – or worse yet, tomorrow!

And even when there is (a little) time to send out samples, think about what they may be costing us – all of us – in terms of the environment.  Let’s take a single sample pack with 4 different fabric swatches inside as an example.  As a Just-In-Time provider and a non-stocking manufacturer, putting together just one sample kit for a customer goes something like this:

• Call the fabric mill / supplier and check availability of fabrics in question
• Order a yard of each fabric from the mill / supplier to be sent to our location via Fed Ex Overnight for labeling
• Dispatch the sample kit to the client via Fed Ex Overnight

At this point, there is not even an order yet!  And at least two Fed Ex packets have been sent.  If the fabrics came from multiple mills / suppliers, or if the customer required multiple sets of the sample kit to be sent (perhaps 1 to the set designer and another to the lighting designer), there could have been 4 or 6 or 8 Fed Ex packets sent for this one project alone.  And if none of the fabrics work out, or if the design changes, the whole process may start again.

It is not about the financial cost – which could be as little as eight dollars or as much as $150.  It is about the cost to the environment to send all of these Fed Ex packets flying throughout the country (and even worldwide).  The gas, the emissions, the traffic conjestion.  Last week we sent out 7 sample kits via Fed Ex Overnight – and that’s just what went out from here – it doesn’t count incoming Fed Ex packages with samples from our suppliers.

So – perhaps the answer is to have a video archive of all commonly used fabrics – showing them in a controlled environment, subjected to the same lighting and motion.  While it would not combat the fact that the color you see on a video is probably not true to the fabric, it would give a designer a better idea of what the cloth is going to do and how it will react to lighting.  If I were a marketing student, or perhaps studying textiles, I think this would be a fascinating project to tackle.

More on Metal Mesh

Back in July, I posted a photo of a cool drape that we made for our sister company, Rent What?, from aluminum mesh.  Well, I thought it was time that I told you more about it.

If you are looking for a cool industrial look, a metal mesh drape is a great option.  It is very dramatic and provides a textured background for effective and unique lighting effects.  It is also available in different tints, giving interesting color and texture even when in an unlit condition.

It is also surprisingly light – a 30′ h x 10′ w leg weighs just 15 pounds (compare that to an unpleated Commando leg of the same size – which weights about 25 to 30 pounds). 

And when you are loading out the show, just push the mesh drape into a hamper – no folding required.  When you get to the next venue, pull it out, hang it, and “fluff it” to size.  After all, wrinkles are not only expected – they’re preferred with a metal mesh drape!

This really is a great option for a tour – as a matter of fact, it was just what legendary rock band Journey wanted for their 2009 tour, and Rent What? was ready and able to provide them.

The Economic Downturn and the Textile Industry

It seems that the state of the economy is top of mind for just about everyone these days.  We hear a lot about how the economy has affected the auto industry, the housing industry, etc.  But the reality is that it is impacting just about every industry in the U.S., including the textile industry.

U.S. textile mills have been struggling against the influx of goods from textile mills in other countries, particularly India, Pakistan and China, for quite awhile now.   According to EconomyWatch, in 2007 production in U.S. textile mills fell by more than 12 percent.  ABC News reported that, from October 2007 through October 2008, about 100 textile mills in the U.S. closed, leading to the layoff of over 63,000 U.S. textile workers.  Now, with the downturn in the economy over the last six or eight months, things may be getting worse.

While the emphasis in these articles is on apparel textiles, the import of foreign textiles as well as the struggling U.S. economy has hit the U.S. textile industry as a whole, including those mills that specialized in theatrical fabrics.  We have certainly seen a trickle-down effect, but the most significant impact that I have seen over the last six to twelve months is on availability:

• Longer lead times.  In the past, it might have taken two weeks for milling, while now it may take four or six weeks.  I cannot say definitively the reason for the longer lead time, but I would guess that it is due to a smaller workforce (layoffs).
• Less In Stock.  Many of the large fabric suppliers are stocking fewer fabrics than they were a few years ago.  They just don’t want to tie up as much money in inventory, so they are waiting for firm orders before sourcing the fabric from the mill.  For suppliers with multiple stocking locations, they may stock some fabrics in one location only, rather than in several locations across the country. 

 So what does this all mean for the end-user – the school or church wanting new custom stage curtains or the rock band wanting a new custom backdrop?  In many cases, it may mean making a choice between waiting longer to get their drapery or choosing a different fabric that is readily available.  It may mean paying a higher price for a drapery due to the cost to bring the fabric in from a location out of state.  The best thing I can recommend is, be flexible and plan ahead!