‘Close the Loop’ explores the conscious luxury women’s resort wear market and how regenerative circular practice, with the end in mind, can be implemented within woven textiles. I developed my own reversible handwoven cloth exploring historical techniques, including ‘Shibori’ and traditional natural dye processes. I created 100% mono-fibre silk cloth, using only deadstock silk yarn from mills in Yorkshire and Lancashire. I explored warp and weft faced weave structures to develop reversible cloth offering increased versatility for the wearer. The collection allows for the elimination of waste in the fashion realisation process. Due to the nature of my woven cloth, the gathering process provides qualities of stretch which I utilised, by creatively draping panels around the body, leaving no fabric un-used.

The process evolved into a modular approach to design as I explored abstracted organic sculptural pieces that I felt embodied my primary research into natural organic formations and relationships to the female form. Exploiting qualities of stretch enables co-collaboration between the consumer and designer, allowing the wearer to select, style and adapt pieces within the collection, to achieve multiple looks. Co-creation injects a purely human and emotional dimension enhancing the personal experience for the wearer, developing consumer appreciation and a product with a potentially longer life cycle.

Craftsmanship, sustainability, and quality are the core qualities of my collection. ‘Close the loop’ contrasts tradition and modernity, a symbiosis reflected in intelligent and creative use of the 24 shaft Dobby loom and TC2 Jacquard. ‘Close the Loop’ promote the preservation of historical techniques and traditional processes.