Assignment 3 - Understanding the Textile World - Why Do Craft-produced Textiles Maintain a Place in Our Society?

“History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed; art has remembered the people, because they created.”
William Morris

“There is nothing in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and he who considers price only is that man's lawful prey.”

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
Edgar Degas

“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”
St. Francis of Assisi

What is a craft-produced textile?

In answering this question I first asked myself what are the factors that distinguish a craft-produced textile from other textiles. For me, the key elements are:

Time – Hand-crafted items are more time-intensive to produce than a machine manufactured product.

Materials – Hand-crafted items may involve better quality materials, sometimes through necessity but more often because investment of time warrants working with good quality materials. Hand-crafted items may also, however, use locally available materials which, whilst not necessarily expensive, have other qualities to offer such as tradition and cultural significance.

Individuality – Mass production necessarily results in many thousands of identical products being on every shelf in the country or even the world. A product made by hand, however, will always be unique even if the maker produces a number of the same items.

Quality of end product – Making items individually and with more time per item and better materials will often result in a better quality product overall. However, there may also be products which, by virtue of the nature of production, could be manufactured to a technically higher standard yet still be deemed to be of better quality. For example, a cloth handwoven by a village artisan with only access to local materials and simple hand tools may have minor imperfections – slubs or variances in colour for example. Modern factory technology could produce a more “perfect” piece, but this would deny other factors – individuality and originality that make a piece one of quality. To achieve the economies of scale required by mass production often requires a fine balance between price, availability and affordability and this can have a detrimental impact on quality and certainly removes much of the originality and individuality.

What motivates people to buy craft-produced textiles?

If craft-produced items are superior to their mass-produced cousins, given the choice, wouldn’t most people prefer a high quality, hand-crafted item made from quality materials? If we assume that this is the case, why are there so many mass-produced products on the market?

The obvious answer would be to say price, but I think this is too simplistic. Price is certainly a consideration. People want to, for example, decorate their homes with attractive items but they may have a limited budget. Mass production brings decorative items within reach of more people. However, mass production usually relies on selling a huge volume of product at a low margin, so constant sales are essential. For this reason, companies need to devise ways to encourage repeat custom. Marketing departments therefore invest considerable sums in creating new trends with different colour schemes/styles to persuade customers to renew or replace items more frequently. Cheaper prices make this possible and it is easier to justify replacing an item if it wasn’t expensive in the first place!

It is also important to appreciate that it would be almost impossible to produce sufficient clothes, bedding, crockery, glassware, furniture etc. if everything had to be handmade.

What influences people to make and/or purchase hand-crafted products?

Like attracts like

In my experience, designer-makers and craftspeople are more likely to seek out handmade products than to buy mass-produced items. I believe this is because makers understand and value the time, effort and originality that go into the production of a handmade item. Makers are less likely to buy “disposable” products and replace frequently, because, being makers themselves they appreciate the unique qualities of hand-crafted products.

Status

I do not think it would be unreasonable to say that there is a certain kudos that is perceived to attach itself to ownership of hand-crafted items. Unique, bespoke items are a symbol of wealth and status as they indicate a person who can afford to pay for the time, quality and effort that goes into producing a one-of-a-kind item rather than a mass-produced one. These people are prepared to pay for exclusivity and for the privilege of having something that no-one else can have. This is not limited to what we would traditionally consider to be hand-crafted textiles, but extends to more mainstream products such as bespoke suiting and designer clothing and beyond textiles to bespoke furniture, jewellery. Engaging an interior designer to create a bespoke environment including custom-made soft furnishings, carpeting and lighting could also be considered to fall in this category.

Cultural, social and religious significance

Craft-produced textiles often carry cultural significance. Even today, textiles may form part of a dowry or are made, given and worn to mark key stages in the recipient’s life, marriage, coming of age, even death. Textiles may also have religious significance. Vestments for religious officials are still frequently hand-stitched, altar cloths and pew kneelers are hand-crafted by congregation members as a mark of religious observance.

In antiquity, certain colours were only permitted to be worn by persons of a given status (Tyrian purple by Emperors and high-ranking Roman officials, saffron-dyed robes by religious officials). Today, whilst there may no longer be sanctions for wearing designated items, official garments such as ceremonial military wear or royal garments to mark ceremonial occasions, will often be hand-crafted as symbol of respect, status and importance. Companies such as Hand and Lock specialise in this very rarified and exquisite niche product.  

Collectability and heritage

In addition to being valued by the producer and their community, many travellers appreciate buying and collecting hand-crafted items that have social or cultural relevance to the area they have visited. They enjoy being able to appreciate traditional skills and often to see the skills being practised. A number of travel companies specialise in textile-focussed holidays where travellers can visit, observe and buy from artisans in the local area. The fact that these textiles are associated with social traditions, regional and cultural traditions, imbues them with an intangible value as well as holding memories of the trip. Whilst it is true that the need to make a living has inevitably impacted crafts (from Plastic Highland pipers to mass-produced synthetic American Indian tribal rugs for example), good quality products can still be found (genuine Harris tweed and naturally hand-dyed, handwoven tribal hangings or rugs made using local plants and locally-grown wool). A discerning purchaser willing to pay a fair price can secure a genuinely hand-crafted product with a little judicious searching.

Sustainability and environmental considerations

As our demand for cheap, readily available textiles has grown, this has created a number of problems. Cotton, for example, significantly depletes soil of nutrients, requires extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides and quickly desertifies land if not grown and harvested sensitively. Dyes historically produced significant effluent in the form of bleaching agents, chemical dye intermediates – much of this effluent was simply discharged into nearby water courses.

As our awareness of the damage that this mass production can do to our environment increases, a number of companies and organisations are looking at low-impact, so-called “slow textiles”. This relatively new development has seen big business look to the benefits of artisan techniques and skills and ways in which these could be integrated into larger-scale production. There are, for example, a number of large companies currently working with natural dyes (Rowan Yarns, Levi jeans). Organic cotton is increasing in popularity for clothing, bedding and other products. “Old” fibres such as ramie, abaca, bamboo and soy are being developed into exciting new textiles with some fascinating properties such as anti-bacterial and healing qualities. Natural wool is seeing a huge resurgence in popularity because of the appreciation of its many valuable properties – in carpets, mattresses and bedding there is evidence to suggest that wool is better for those with dust allergies , in clothing for its natural wicking and breathability. (http://www.campaignforwool.org/about-wool/) . Interestingly, some silk duvets are approved by Allergy UK ( http://www.allergyuk.org/products-and-services/listing/bedding#p=1 ).

Pro-forma for mass-production

Hand-crafted products may also be a stimulus and even a pro-forma for mass-produced textiles. Textile artists will design, for example, a print fabric, the design for which is then purchased by a large manufacturer for incorporation into their range (Kath Kidston, Kaffe Fassett, Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen, Jasper Conran). Runway garments are individually designed and hand-crafted but will be adapted and re-worked into a more affordable format to make them accessible to a wider audience (John Rocha, Julien Macdonald, Issey Miyake). Unfortunately, this can, of course, lead to many arguments over copyright, “passing off” and intellectual property theft, but re-working is also used increasingly by bespoke, high-end designers for their own collections. A Vivienne Westwood dress may grace the red carpet at the Oscars and will be well beyond the reach of most consumers. By developing a design collection into an off-the-peg range that makes the image, style and brand available to a wider audience this is both practical and arguably financially necessary for the high-end fashion houses.

Pleasure

Last but certainly not least, we should recognise that craft-produced textiles give great pleasure. A product made by the hands, whether it is top quality haute couture, a simply made traditional piece purchased from a co-operative enterprise, or a hand-crafted commissioned piece from a local artisan, will have the hallmarks of the personality of the maker. Individual care and attention has gone into its production and this knowledge brings many people pleasure and joy at owning such an item.