Issue 71 Southern
July/August 2016
COTTON HAS PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT and controversial role in the history of the British Empire, the United States, and India, and is inextricably linked to the highs and lows of human endeavour. Today cotton is still our firm favourite, accounting for 65% of all fibres used for clothing and home furnishings. What accounts for its preeminence? Cotton is comfortable, absorbs moisture well, is strong and easy to launder; but perhaps it is its ability to retain colour that has accounted more than any other for its success.This issue we appreciate the appeal that pretty printed cotton feedsacks would have had during the great depression: and the appeal also of work clothes re-purposed into attractive, albeit necessary, quilts across the southern United States.
Our love affair with cotton can be seen in the enduring appeal of printed cotton, from artisanal producers to Japanese prints, as well as in the resurgence of interest in selvedge denim jeans.The designer Carin Mansfield uses high quality cotton in the small-scale production of her heirloom quality clothing, available in white, black and indigo. Like cotton, the appeal of indigo crosses continents from Asia through Africa and back to the Americas – and everywhere in between. Rosalie De Ory has been a convert since visiting Central America fifteen years ago, and has pursued her passion with verve.
The vibrant colours of traditional Mexican cotton textiles provided inspiration for our cover photographer Anne Menke as well as the contemporary upholstery company A Rum Fellow.We follow the trail to its source in Oaxaca, and on further to the San Blas Islands of the Panamanian archipelago. I hope you find inspiration wherever you follow the sun this summer.
Polly Leonard, Founder
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Description
July/August 2016
COTTON HAS PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT and controversial role in the history of the British Empire, the United States, and India, and is inextricably linked to the highs and lows of human endeavour. Today cotton is still our firm favourite, accounting for 65% of all fibres used for clothing and home furnishings. What accounts for its preeminence? Cotton is comfortable, absorbs moisture well, is strong and easy to launder; but perhaps it is its ability to retain colour that has accounted more than any other for its success.This issue we appreciate the appeal that pretty printed cotton feedsacks would have had during the great depression: and the appeal also of work clothes re-purposed into attractive, albeit necessary, quilts across the southern United States.
Our love affair with cotton can be seen in the enduring appeal of printed cotton, from artisanal producers to Japanese prints, as well as in the resurgence of interest in selvedge denim jeans.The designer Carin Mansfield uses high quality cotton in the small-scale production of her heirloom quality clothing, available in white, black and indigo. Like cotton, the appeal of indigo crosses continents from Asia through Africa and back to the Americas – and everywhere in between. Rosalie De Ory has been a convert since visiting Central America fifteen years ago, and has pursued her passion with verve.
The vibrant colours of traditional Mexican cotton textiles provided inspiration for our cover photographer Anne Menke as well as the contemporary upholstery company A Rum Fellow.We follow the trail to its source in Oaxaca, and on further to the San Blas Islands of the Panamanian archipelago. I hope you find inspiration wherever you follow the sun this summer.
Polly Leonard, Founder
