Hul le Kes can be seen two times at the upcoming Dutch Design Week. You may find two jackets by Hul le Kes in Eindhoven this year. One made in collaboration with Heleen Klopper, as a result of our stewardship at the linen project; another jacket can be found as the result of our collaboration with Textile engineer Remi Veldhoven for Zeeuws Museum.
This isn’t our usual Monet Bodywarmer, It’s not an upcycled vintage woolen blanket – it’s something else.
It’s flax!
You might remember that we have been stewards of The Linen Project. An initiative by Crafts Council and ArtEZ MA Practise Held in Common that seeks to reinstate the economy as a social, ecological and cultural domain throughout linen. Well, last year’s local flax harvest left us with some leftover flax.
Designer Heleen Klopper took this remaining flax, combined it with wool and created a beautiful handcrafted felt.
This in turn, we used to create one of our Monet bodywarmers. This garment, apart from being beautiful, is a statement about regeneration, community, notions of waste, and design. Come see it from this Saturday onwards, as Dutch Design Week kicks off. At Crafts Council’s stand you can see this special edition Monet as well as other products made using flax in cooperation with The Linen Project.
Did you know that for years Dutch flax was very much renowned for its quality? The Linen Project was founded to try and revive Dutch flax production, reviving traditional knowledge on the growing and processing of flax and its craftsmanship.
This beautiful colourful jacket is the result of a joint investigation with textile engineer Remi Veldhoven and Zeeuws Museum. A modern upcycled interpretation of 18th and early 19th century men’s jackets.
During this research, analyzing fabric and old garments from the 18th century, we were deeply impressed by the skill and time of artisans that have gone into these pieces.
A jacket like this would have taken months to make. It would be kept and cherished for years. We’re reminded how different this attitude is than the global fashion industry today.
Research on old textiles forces you to slow down, look up close to the way thread is spun, woven, to the use of pattern, the shades of dye. The slower you go, the more you take your time, the more you see. A slow reappreciation of the beauty in textile.
The jacket is made out of recycled threads by Wolkat and woven by EE Exclusives, which makes it even more interesting in terms of sustainability. You can read more about it in our previous post.
If you can’t make it to Dutch Design Week this year, this jacket, and another jacket we made are part of the exhibition re_USED re_SATIN re_COLOUR which will start in November this year. So go to the Zeeuws Museum in Middelburg later on this year instead, or do both!
