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Lorinda Grant: Innovation in Wool
Innovation can take many forms, innovation in materials, technologies, construction, marketing, packaging and distribution. Lorinda Grant is an innovative textile designer stretching the bounds of wool fibre and knitted construction. This tutorial explores the practices and processes of a young textile designer.
Outcomes
This material addresses aspects of the following syllabus outcome:
H1.2 The student relates the practices and processes of designers and producers to the major design project.
Source: Board of Studies NSW, Stage 6 Design and Technology Syllabus, Preliminary and HSC Courses (1999)
Lorinda Grant takes pieces of
woollen fabric and shapes them to the body, fastening them with
stitches and pins. Sculptural garments emerge from this deconstruction
of formal shapes. The new forms allow fluidity and movement through
the use of natural fibres, creating malleable garments that can
breathe. This is the essence of what makes her clothing so attractive,
their flexibility, texture and individuality.
Extract from Sutton, P. (2002) Following Lorinda Grant: Innovation
in Wool, viewed 26 May 2003 http://www.abc.net.au/arts/design/stories/s526628.htm
Lorinda Grant uses a technique called broomstick knitting (using broomstick handles which gives an open lacy appearance when combined with very fine gossamer yarns). She also uses felting and dyeing in her designs, capitalising on the properties of wool.
"To me it's essential, basically
because I can work with a fibre from the sheep's back and choose
how it's processed the whole way through. I've seen dye plants
and stuff so I take it to the CSIRO and I know it gets soda and
soap scour so the harsh chemicals aren't used and the whole way
through I know what's happened. I know its story and therefore
it holds a place in my heart," she said. Through her relationship
with the growers she is able to source wool to her exact specifications.
Extract from: Straight from the sheep's back, Landline,
viewed 26 May 2003,
http://www.abc.net.au/landline/stories/s301241.htm.
As well as taking an innovative approach with fibre and construction Lorinda is innovative in the way she arranges garments or pieces on the body.
For this new designer, clothes
are about play, defying traditions and constraints. That is why
she will take a dress and flip it inside out, or turn a cardigan
around so that it becomes a jumper with an elaborate cowl neck.
With a legion of hand knitters creating her ethereal fabrics,
she works with different stitches, and changes the weave by felting,
ripping and moulding to take wool to new extremes.
Extract from Sutton, P. (2002) Following Lorinda Grant: Innovation
in Wool, viewed 26 May, 2003, http://www.abc.net.au/arts/design/stories/s526628.htm
Activity
Using the following questions and web site as a guide write a profile of this young textile designer. Consider how you could apply her view of design to your chosen design field.
- What is the first
stage for Lorinda
Grant
in developing new designs? - Lorinda's innovative designs are closely tied to the fibre. What research does Lorinda undertake in sourcing her wool fibre?
- Lorinda thinks isolation is one of the challenges facing regional Australia. How does she hope to contribute to regional life?
- Lorinda has been hand knitting for some time, she is now exploring machine knitting. What advantages does machine knitting offer?
- Explain the benefits of Lorinda's creative partnership with Akira Isogawa.
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