1. Mary Schoeser Keynote Lecture: The
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1. Mary Schoeser Keynote Lecture: The Individual Approach: Bernat Klein’s Creative Impact Set within the context of a focus on the series of Personal Colour Guides launched by Bernat Klein in 1965, this keynote lecture looks more broadly at the individualism of Klein’s own approach to the development of innovative cloths. Based in the Borders from 1950 until his death in 2014, the Serbian-born designer placed colour at the centre of his artistic oeuvre, whether tweeds, knitwear or paintings in oil. From the break- through moment, when in 1962 his tweeds were utilised by Coco Channel, Klein was a transformative influ- ence, bringing international recognition to his adopted Scottish region. As a predominantly freelance historian since 1991, Mary Schoeser MA FRSA has written diverse publica- tions (26 books, over 50 essays in books and over 120 shorter pieces), which include Textiles: A concise his- tory (T&H: 2003), Silk (Yale University Press, 2007), and Textiles: The art of mankind (Thames & Hudson, 2012 and 2013). For nine years in the 1980s the Archivist for Warner & Sons and thereafter a consultant archivist to numerous firms, her knowledge of British manufacturers extends to a sound understanding of textile and wallpaper production itself. This has facilitated restoration work with English Heritage, the Na- tional Trust and other historic property owners and also informed 36 curatorial projects, most recently an Orla Kiely exhibition for the Fashion & Textile Museum (25 May – 23 September 2018). Extensive academic experience included a part-time research position at Central Saint Martins (2000-2011) and receipt in 2016 of an Honorary Senior Research Fellowship from the V&A Museum. President of the Textile Society, she is also Patron of the School of Textiles, Coggeshall. 2. Gráinne Rice Abstract: Klein’s Colours – a personal collection From the perspective of a collector, Bernat Klein’s vintage textiles, garments and interior schemes come in a seductive array of colours. Today, de-contextualised, they embody a moment in mid-twentieth century style and taste; the colourways simultaneously signify a kind of retro nostalgia as well as communicating what was unique about Klein’s design vision. The ‘Personal Colour Guides’ were an attempt to define systematic principals by which the Kleins lived and worked; applied to both mass-produced and bespoke objects (like the tapestries and his paintings) produced under the Klein brand. With reference to pieces in my own collection I’ll look at the application of Klein’s colour principals in the design and marketing of the Diolen jersey silk printed textile range and consider what has guided my own collecting decisions. Gráinne Rice studied History of Art at the University of Glasgow graduating in 1997 followed by an MA in Exhibition Interpretation from Napier University Edinburgh in 2000. I have taught on architecture, art and design history and context programmes at Strathclyde University, Edinburgh College of Art and Glasgow School of Art. I have worked as an organiser of exhibitions for Glasgow School of Art, V&A and Dovecot Tapestry Studio as well as managing arts projects for other organisations. I currently work as the Adult Programme Coordinator at National Galleries Scotland. I have been collecting Bernat Klein garments and fabrics since 2003. 3. Fiona Anderson Abstract: Bernat Klein: Design, Colour and the Interior In the post-war era, Bernat Klein became internationally renowned as a designer of textiles for both fashion and interiors, primarily for his accomplished use of colour. Klein’s innovative approach to colour was in- spired principally by modern art and his work contributed to the greater embrace of the symbolic and ex- Page 1 of 8 pressive power of colour in British design of the 1960s and 1970s. This paper will extend previous research on Klein’s practice as a consultant designer of furnishing textiles and carpets. It will also explore the visual and technical relationships between his textiles for fashion and those for interiors. The presentation will include an investigation of the key characteristics of Klein’s design consultancy work in Britain and Scandi- navia, which mainly related to furnishing textiles and carpets between 1966 and 1980. An extensive com- mission to design a colour-co-ordinated textile range for the Department of the Environment, which Klein worked on between 1969 and 1971, will also be examined. In addition, the paper explores the fact that Klein’s career centred around the exchange of ideas, goods and cultural influences between the specific locale of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders region and a range of other British and international places. Fiona Anderson lectures at the University of Glasgow and works as an independent curator. She was for- merly Senior Curator of Fashion and Textiles at National Museums Scotland, where she curated several ex- hibitions including Jean Muir: A Fashion Icon. Key acquisitions at NMS included the Bernat Klein and Jean Muir Collections. Fiona has worked as Curator of the Conran Foundation Collection and in curatorial posi- tions at the Design Museum and the V&A Museum. She has previously held lecturing posts in the history and theory of fashion, textiles and design at a range of institutions, including Edinburgh College of Art, Cen- tral Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art. Her recently published research includes the book, Tweed for Bloomsbury Academic (2016), which includes sections on Bernat Klein. Fiona’s publications also include the essay ‘Bernat Klein: Colouring the Interior’ in British Design: Tradition and Modernity after 1948, ed. by Christopher Breward, Fiona Fisher and Ghislaine Wood (2015). 4. Helen Taylor Abstract: Bernat Klein: Colouring the Archive Bernat Klein’s use of colour and texture revolutionised Scotland’s rather conservative woollen weaving industry in the 1960s with an approach reflecting his artistic background. This talk will explore the Bernat Klein archive at Heriot-Watt University’s Scottish Borders Campus, the curatorial work on storing this significant collection and his impact on the existing tweed industry. Helen Taylor holds an MA (Hons) in History from Edinburgh University and a Masters in History, Archives and Records Management from Western Washington University, Washington State, USA. I have previously worked as Archivist at Tameside Local Studies Library in Greater Manchester, National Records of Scotland, West Lothian Council. Currently I am University Archivist for Heriot-Watt University and responsible for services at both the Edinburgh and Scottish Borders Campuses. 5. Regina Lee Blaszczyk Abstract: Visibly Invisible: The History of Color Forecasting The fashion business has collected and analyzed information about colors, fabrics, silhouettes, and styles since the 18th century but these activities have long been shrouded in mystery. This PowerPoint talk exam- ines the history of color prediction for the fashion and textile industries by drawing on the author’s original archives-based research in North America and Europe. The paper discusses the evolution of color forecasting in four phases: 1) origins (1870-1914); 2) rationaliza- tion (1914-1965); maturation (1965-2000); and 4) digitalization (2000-present). In the first era, French dye houses created shade cards for their customers, the textile mills, to show how they could dye fabrics in the latest Parisian hues. These cards were exported around the world, where mills, designers, and retailers treated them as the first color forecasts. In the second period, the locus of innovation shifted to the United Page 2 of 8 States, where the style industries drew on modern theories of scientific management, segmented markets, and the fashion cycle to rationalize the palette and to create the tripartite system of basic, fashion, and fad colors that is still used today. In the third phase, a new generation of French and British entrepreneurs re- sponded to the demands of American retailers for up-to-date European style and color information by cre- ating some of the first trend companies, including Promostyl, Nigel French Enterprises, and IM Internation- al. In the fourth period, forecasters in the US and the UK adapted 20th-century color forecasting methods to the computer age, as exemplified by the digital services of Pantone, WGSN, and the Doneger Group. Regina Lee Blaszczyk is Professor of Business History and Leadership Chair in the History of Business and Society at the University of Leeds. Reggie has published on the history of consumer society, the history of design and innovation in the creative industries, and the history of color in consumer products, from auto- mobiles and appliances to fabrics and fashion. From 2013 to 2016, she was Project Leader and Lead Princi- pal Investigator for The Enterprise of Culture, a HERA II project that focused on the history of the European fashion business since 1945. Her 12 books include several award-winning titles: Imagining Consumers: De- sign and Innovation from Wedgwood to Corning (2000); Producing Fashion: Commerce, Culture, and Con- sumers (2008); and The Color Revolution (2012). The Color Revolution was widely reviewed in media out- lets around the world including the New York Times, The Atlantic, Women’s Wear Daily, the Wall Street Journal, the International Herald Tribune, BBC4 Radio, and ABC Radio Australia. Her newest books are Fashionability: Abraham Moon and the Creation of British Cloth for the Global Market (2017); Bright Mo- dernity: Color, Commerce, and Consumer Culture (2017); European Fashion: The Creation of a Global Indus- try (2018); and The Fashion Forecasters: A Hidden History of Color and Trend Prediction (2018). She has been recently interviewed on the history of color invention and color forecasting for CNNStyle.com, the New York Times Magazine, and The Guardian. 5. Tracy Cassidy Abstract: Colour Forecasting Colour forecasting is a fundamental part of a collective process known as fashion forecasting or trend pre- diction, where attempts are made to accurately forecast the colours, fabrics and styles of fashionable gar- ments and accessories that consumers will purchase in the near future.