RedesigN: EMBELLISHMENT + REPAIR

We are always inspired by Japan, everything from its art to its philosophies of design makes us want to keep creating. This month's Other Lives redesign workshop took inspiration from Kitsungi and Sashiko, two Japanese mending art forms.

Kintsugi is the art of highlighting an object's history and imperfections by mending it with gold. Flaws and areas that need mending are seen as an opportunity to create an element of beauty.

Sashiko and Boro also provided a tremendous fountain of reference for this workshop. Both are functional embroidery techniques that were created out of practicality to reinforce and mend old garments in the Edo Era in Japan. Designers such as Maison Margiela, Yohi Yamamoto, Haider Ackerman and Jil Sander have used similar embellishment techniques for hand stitching details on the runway.

Sashiko by Sashi.Co

19th Century Boro

Maison Margiela FW11 Couture

Yohji Yamamoto SS09

Haider Ackermann FW15

Dior Homme FW16

Jil Sander SS08

Embroidery repairs can be taken as far as the imagination will take you. We love these runway embroidery details from some of our favorite designers.

James T. Merry

James T. Merry: Metal Moth headpiece for Bjork

Maison Margiela FW14 Couture

Phillip Lim SS14

Don't know what to do with that torn tee or want to repair a pair of jeans? Sign up for the workshop here!

March 6, 2024

Learn how to repair your clothing through embellishment. In this workshop, we will teach you how to update and revive torn pieces in your wardrobe through hand embroidery. We will work on hand sewing backing, beading and handmade embroidery.

Bring what you have and your curiosity and we'll create something new together!

RESIZING WORKSHOP: LACING

We are back on our resizing game, this time through lacing. Lacing has been used in adjusting fit since the inception of clothing, and as design detail for decades. Some of our favorite moments and earliest memories of it were in the 90s and early 2000s (Aaliyah's ICONIC 'More Than a Woman' video to be exact).

In our next workshop, we will teach you how to use this detail to add (or remove) and inch or two so your favorite pieces won't get abandoned at goodwill just yet, and you create a fit that works for you (there is no room for uncomfortable fits in 2023).

We've collected some of our favorite examples of lacing to inspire you on this redesign adventure, starting with the queen of lacing herself, our favorite, Alabama Blonde.

Charlotte Knowles - Fall 2020

David Koma Resort 2022

Dior Fall 2003

Alexander McQueen Fall 2017

Alexander McQueen Spring 2020

Proenza Schouler Fall 2016

Preen by Thornton Bregazzi Fall 2015

Mugler Spring 2018

DKNY Fall 2016

We love this lacing inspo, if you know the source, please reach out!

MARBLE DYE MOOD

Here we are again- as always, looking to extend the life of the pieces we have and make them into something we love. We wanted to create a way to give a new life to stained garments, and clothes that just needed an update, period. We experimented with Abstract Over Dyeing in the form of an ancient Japanese technique dating back to the 12th century. We took inspiration from the ancient art of Suminagashi aka "floating ink" and some of our favorite abstract runway prints. Our runway inspiration for this colorful process comes from iconic prints by Stella McCartney Spring 2020, Mugler SS 2019, Mugler Spring 2020, Off White Spring 2020, Acne Studios Spring 2021, David Koma Pre Fall 2022, Dries Van Noten SS2021, Christopher Esber Pre Fall 2020 and more. We are hosting our first IRL workshop in LA this month and can't wait to teach you how to recreate these prints, by hand! Join Us!

Mugler SS 2019

Mugler Spring 2020

Off White Spring 2020

Acne Studios Spring 2021

David Koma Pre Fall 2022

Dries Van Noten SS2021

Christopher Esber Pre Fall 2020

Charlotte Knowles SS2021

Louis Vuitton Spring 2019

Stella McCartney Spring 2020

Issey Miyake Spring 1995