Abstract

Commissioned by Shirin Guild Ltd. for Shirin Guild Collection Spring/Summer 2004. Design samples included new developments of innovative fabrics Starszakowna produced for Issey Miyake 1990/92, including the crush-shibori/high-pressure pigment print subsequently used in Miyake’s collections and later exploited by his then studio designers, Yoshiki Hishinuma, Junichi Arai and Reiko Sudo, who subsequently developed a printed textiles capacity at Nuno Corp, Tokyo. These textiles combined traditional Japanese shibori concepts with a Western aesthetic, effectively creating a paradigm shift in the hitherto dye-based Japanese textile culture (“For ‘crush’ prints, Norma Starszakowna has led the way……had great influence, via Japan,… Her rust series……makes a significant impact on global trends”, Shoeser, Silk, 2007). These and subsequent Shirin Guild samples were presented to industrialists at Mantero Lab Como and Polytecnico de Milano, Italy 2003 (invited and sponsored by Mantero Ltd.) and conferences identified in output 2 above. The Shirin Guild portfolio included a range of new tensioned-printed and oxidisation treatments, several produced at 4,000 metres for Shirin Guild Collection extensively retailed Liberty, Browns, Harvey Nicholls and internationally. The crush print was subsequently exploited by Prada in S/S 2005 Collection. Additionally, Starszakowna produced a limited edition of 50 throws, similarly retailed by Shirin Guild and subsequently exhibited in ‘Suave 2: Innovation in Textiles’, Centro de Artesania y Deseno, Lugo 2006, National Museum of Costume, Madrid and National Textiles Museum, Barcelona 2007. A selection of these is illustrated in the monograph Portfolio Collection: Norma Starszakowna published Telos Art Publishing 2005, ISBN 1-90201595-9; Techno Textiles: Revolutionary Fabrics, published Thames& Hudson 2005, ISBN: 0-500-51245-0; Art Textiles of the World: GB 3, ISBN078-1902015-16-3, published Telos Art Publishing 2006; CRAFT, published by British Crafts Council January 2007, Surface Design, Summer 2007, published SDA, USA, and Silk, by M. Schoeser, published Yale University Press 2007 ISBN: 978-0-300-11741-7