Artist Spotlight - KO-Z SNPR Mid Woven
WEARABLE ART INSPIRED BY THE NEW MOON WIND
We caught up with Deckers X Lab Designer Charlotte Mollard and weaving designer Nadine Marchal to learn more about the hand-crafted elements on the KO-Z SNPR Mid Woven and their creative process.
Charlotte, what was it like working with Nadine?
CM: In addition to planning work in the office, I visited Nadine at her studio in Haute-Loire in France. Imagine a house surrounded by rolling landscapes, warm natural light and, inside the house, a huge barn with weaving looms, paintings, musical instruments.
What a gathering place to unleash your creativity!
This environment boosted our inspiration. With nature as our playground, we found most of our colors, textures, materials to start working on a coherent range of products.
Nadine, how did the Windy New Moon become your inspiration for this project?
NM: Work for me is life. The day I really started to weave the project it was early fall with a very light grey sky and cold air that morning. I have a wind charm hanging on a tree outside my home, and I could hear the wind chime running. It was also a new moon. This was the first weaving that I did for Deckers X Lab that could end up on a shoe and on the feet of someone I don’t know. A new moon is a new circle a new life, new energy, it’s full of, “OK Just Go… you are free to go” and so with this energy, I started weaving.
Nadine, Can you share more about the selection of yarns/materials in the weaving?
NM: I consider the comfort and softness and what the hand-feel of the weave will end up like. Following the image of the Windy New Moon, I also wanted to play with matte and shiny.
I work with small quantities and so I have beautiful choices and close relationships with suppliers that are salvaging wool and silk from factories that are no longer using them. I also work with an artist who section-dyes yarns giving multi-color dimension and new life to a singular thread of yarn.
Nadine, what is your creation process like?
NM: There is of course time taken to understand the vision for the project with Jean-Luc, Charlotte and the DXLAB team. For this project, the weave we selected has a kind of W shape for windy new moon, with also some X shapes for Deckers X Lab.
There is time taken to calculate the length of the yarns, and then the warping begins. It took two days to measure the yarns the same length and put them on the wood warp. This is a two-person job, and for me it’s a family thing. My husband and mother help along with my dear friend Lydie (who is like family). Then we put the warp on the loop and put each yarn in each needle and reed – it took two days to thread Jack for this project. I call my loom Jack.
With the loom threaded, weaving can begin. Weaving for me is like meditation. My husband is a musician, and when I’m weaving, I need to play the same song over and over to be in my meditative state, so my loom sits in a studio separate from our home. It takes me about three weeks to create 3 meters. I need breaks during the day to think and then to come back with new feelings and ideas. My brain needs this time to find the solutions for the next rows... But at night, I can weave in my dreams from 10pm to 7am with no break :)!
I like to light a candle when I start and finish a project to mark the moment with a ritual.
