As the textile and fashion industries are undergoing significant turmoil, the urgent need for solutions to critical challenges, from overproduction, irresponsible waste, and supply chain management to the exhaustive use of natural resources, grows greater.

The new generation of textile and fashion designers is crucial to unlocking these challenges, together with the introduction of groundbreaking novel processes and material innovations that offer smart, circular alternatives for the materials in use today.

DIALOGUES is a transatlantic showcase of creative design work, material solutions and design pedagogy offering a platform for cross-sectoral dialogue on textile futures across borders. The exhibition and seminar take place in New York City from November 2nd to 6th as part of the New York Textile Month 2022.

The exhibition presents an interplay between the contemporary textile and fashion design practices by master’s students of Fashion and Textile Design at Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture in Finland and MFA Textiles Programme at Parsons in the United States. The seminar connects creatives, educators, innovators, and leaders from Finland and the US to reimagine the landscape of tomorrow’s textiles and fashion, driving a shared dialogue spanning over continents and into the future.

The projects from Aalto University include a research-driven project on compression textiles used in healthcare, a study on natural dyes that originate from food waste, and the dialogue between light-emitting technology and textiles, combining material science and traditional weaving.

“Aalto University with its six schools forms a multidisciplinary environment, which sets the scene for the student’s studies. The focus of the curation is on practice-led research and creative future solutions. Textile thinking and studio pedagogy, highlighted by the newly published book Interwoven – Exploring Mate-rials and Structures, stand at the forefront of this exhibition, as they are the base for textile design studies at Aalto. We are delighted to share our textile stories with the MFA Textiles of Parsons in this New York Textile Month event. New innovations for textile futures come from shared passion, creative dialogues and interaction.” notes Maarit Salolainen, head of the Master’s in Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design at Aalto University.

DIALOGUES is presented by Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Parsons School of Design, The Consulate General of Finland in New York, The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, Business Finland, and Juni Communication, in collaboration with New York Textile Month.

Aalto Students taking part in the exhibition:

Aino Ojala, Elisa Defossez, Francesco Furlan, Jarno Kettunen, Laura Rusanen, Leevi Ikäheimo, Leonardo Hidalgo Uribe, Mithila Mohan, Nora Bremer, Praejeen Kunawong, Sofía Guridi, Ulla Vahteri, Yoonsik Kim, You-Chia Chen

See more:

NY Textile Month – DIALOGUES

Aalto Textiles Instagram

DIALOGUES Press Release

Interwoven – Exploring Materials and Structures is a joyous exploration into woven textile design. It dissects woven structures along with the fibres and yarns used to make them, giving exceptional insight into the world of fabrics.

Interwoven outlines how the manifold history of textiles has been intertwined with human innovation from prehistoric twining to the invention of the binary code, through to today’s new material discoveries and urgent quest for sustainability. By investigating the past and present of textiles, and narrating their cross-cultural roles, meanings and influences, Interwoven illustrates how textiles have been used to tell human stories throughout the ages.

The book introduces a new pedagogical method for woven textile design studies, inviting the reader to take a seat at the looms to weave their own stories. Detailed instructions for creating textiles, ranging from fibres and yarns to basic weaves, multi-layered constructions and digital jacquard design, are interspersed by emotionally rich, tactile textile stories by Aalto ARTS design students. The way this book interweaves technical knowledge, artistic expression and storytelling makes it a unique guide on the path to mastering textile design.

This book weaves the warp of wisdom and the weft of wonder into a fabric of fascinating complexity. Displaying a burst of creativity coupled with a sense of functionality it shows a deep respect for our pummeled planet.

From pre-historic constructions to futuristic applications, this book demonstrates the intelligence of weaving.

Lidewij Edelkoort

Aalto University introduces “textile thinking” pedagogy. Professor Maarit Salolainen explains how textile knowledge is needed in many different fields.

Buy the book

Buy the book from Aalto Shop

Textile and print design is facing a new era. Technological developments are constantly opening up new possibilities, and Aalto University fashion and textile design students are increasingly using digital textile printing to design printed fabrics and products for fashion and interior design. This is one of the reasons why textile printer manufacturer Epson has been collaborating with Aalto University in the field of digital textile printing since 2019.

This spring, Epson and Aalto University organised an Epson Textile Print competition in conjunction with the Advanced Textile Workshop courses for Master’s degree students, where students used Epson’s textile printers.

The competition kicked off with a two-day masterclass workshop led by Daniel Henry, a Belgian textile designer visiting Aalto University. He is a founder of Daniel Henry Studio and an internationally renowned designer who works with several fashion houses. The project was led by Anna-Mari Leppisaari, Lecturer in Textile Design at Aalto University.

The competition and winners

Students were tasked with designing a collection of at least four fabrics, creatively combining woven, knitted or otherwise modified print bases for digital printing on an Epson direct-to-garment DTG or sublimation printer.

The jury unanimously selected the collection of Nour Ainasoja, a student in the Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design Master’s programme, as the winner of the Epson Textile Print competition.

The jury also awarded a special mention to Sanna Ahonen, a student in the Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design Master’s programme, and Takako Akimoto, a student in the Textiles, Material and Structure minor, for their high-quality work, which creatively combined both print fabric design and woven fabrics.

Read the whole article

What is the future of digital textile printing? on Aalto University News

EXPERIMENTAL TEXTILE DESIGN 2020 EXHIBITION

DATE: December 9th 2021 – January 14th 2022

PLACE: Väre, Exhibition Space FK Lobby, 2^nd floor

Designers

Anusuya Krishnaswamy, Cambria Sinclair, Elina Silina, Ella Fabritius, Ema Ursic, Henna Salminen, Huoying Zhang, Iris Kareoja, Janneke Spaan, Juan Guevara, Minerva Skyttä, Petra Lahtinen, Shweta Dash, Susanna Raiskio, Takako Akimoto, Vilma Kantanen, Yu-Chen Lin

Research and Concept Development, Experimental Samples, ENGARTs Project, Photo Workshop

Helmiina Hirviniemi, Hanna-Kaisa Korolainen, Maarit Salolainen

Basic Knitting, Basic Printing, Woven Fabrics ­– Material and Structure

Iina-Alisa Lakea, Hilkka-Maija Fagerlund, Tiina Paavilainen, Maarit Salolainen

Head Professors

Adj. Prof. Maarit Salolainen, 3D Surface Design and Textile Materials – Department of Design, Prof. Jouni Partanen, Advanced Production Methods – Department of Mechanical Engineering

Gardening memories

Elina Silina

My research was led by two themes: consistency and opacity. Through mind mapping and association techniques, I dug deeper into my subconsciousness. This led to a realization, growing up from an incredibly early age, I was surrounded by gardens – flowers or vegetables, berries, or apple trees. The presence of gardening was, and still is, constant. My whole family has always gardened, but I wanted to emphasize my mother’s and grandmother’s relationship with growing plants. I chose to start my exploration with my grandmother’s flower dress print and my mother’s flower ink drawing. Through the development of this project, I realized that I am trying to preserve the memory of my grandmother through the appropriation of her dress.

Touch Me Not

Ella Fabritius, Minerva Skyttä & Susanna Raiskio

The project “Touch me not” is inspired by the Mimosa pudica plant, which protects itself from hungry herbivores by closing its leaves when touched. The idea of our project evolved from the need and interest to protect ourselves against harmful encounters and environments. When the textile detects something that is too close, it begins to move as a warning sign. The reaction of our textile visualizes the need to respect everyone’s personal space. 

Disillusion

Cambria Sinclair

This multidisciplinary project originated from my fascination with cells and bacteria. I was intrigued by the relationship of humans and microorganisms, and the seemingly negative view we have of them. I was perplexed by the notion that most people rarely think about the organisms living within- and around them. This concept led me on a journey of researching mutation, natural vs. artificial, and brought up questions of our implicit negative reaction to “artificial” things. The use of natural components (protein-based materials) mixed with artificial materials is meant to induce self-reflective thoughts. My hope is to fracture the illusion we have constructed for ourselves, and initiate a more personal relationship with the world around us.  

Linear Overlay 

Anusuya Krishnaswamy

Reflecting on human visual perception, Linear Overlay is a set of layered experiments that can be moved around and played with, obscuring and unveiling patterns between them. This collection of textiles is based on the study of interference patterns, designs that emerge when simple lines and dots are overlapped. Opaque and translucent textiles are divided with lines and cuts, light and shadow slipping through, revealing delicate patterns. 

“Sometimes when I close and open my eyes, the world seems to play tricks on me. Double everything, uncanny, somehow things don’t seem to fall neatly in place.” Between what is known and unknown, our physical senses can be limiting, but also let us experience fascinating wonders. 

Memories Flowing 

Yu-Chen Lin

This project was inspired by photos and videos I took during my trips to Japan. While looking through all the photos, I found two themes continuously appearing, which were the misty winter scenes and the water droplets on the window of the train.  

The silhouette of the forest and mountains were partly blurred by the mist and waterdrops, which intrigued me and led to my research points – see-through and translucency. 

I Grew Up Between Two Rivers

Janneke Spaan

Fascinated by our constantly changing surroundings from a human and natural perspective, my research was led by two contrasting themes, “elasticity” and “rigidity”. The resilience of nature and its rhythms are a source of inspiration for my work. Through explorations, I can understand them from an applied and abstract context. With this research, my intention was to capture moments of material behaviour through craft experimentation. Rigidity refers to catching the moment during the process. When it starts to move again, this state refers to the elasticity of a condition. Together these two themes create a situation that can still change, can still be developed, and still moves. My research became a source for rethinking material behaviours. When conditions are ever-changing and flowing, the material chooses its own shape. 

Metabolism

Takako Akimoto

I chose the word “consistency” as a starting point for the concept of my project. The word flows through nature, circulation of material, circle of life and DNA. This is the system of our energy, the metabolism of earth.

I was immediately inspired by the concept of consistency. I started ink drawing to change my words into a graphic expression and visualize my thoughts. I divided the concept into two categories, “material”, and “layers”. I applied my images onto woven fabrics, using printing techniques.

EXPERIMENTAL TEXTILE DESIGN 2020 EXHIBITION

DATE: December 9th 2021 – January 14th 2022

PLACE: Väre, Exhibition Space FK Lobby, 2^nd floor

Experimental Textile Design course (course code MUO-E1048)

In this course, students are familiarized with traditional, new, and experimental textile materials and production methods. They gain an understanding of how to use textile materials and techniques as a form of expression. Students learn to manage creative processes resulting in innovative products and collections and recognize the new opportunities in the field of textiles related to neighbouring disciplines. Students without previous knowledge of textile techniques learn the basics of knits and knitwear, printed fabrics and/or woven fabrics within basic studio courses. The approach of this course is practice-led and explorative and relies on personal research.

The ARTS students can take part in the multidisciplinary ENGARTs project within the course module. In this multidisciplinary project, ENGARTs teams collaboratively work on projects combining science and technology with textile design practices. ENGARTs projects are facilitated and guided by the department of engineering staff.

The ENGARTs project establishes an innovative and collaborative platform for students to merge technology and design and to explore new ways of developing experimental textiles, materials, and fabrication methods through research and concept development.