Hi Reader,

What do you think of when holding a fabric for your next collection or project? Colour, texture, drape, pattern, price, or ...? That's a lot already!

I've been thinking about all the choices hidden within a single piece of cloth. Behind every fabric are countless decisions.

Selecting and sourcing fibre content and yarns; discussions on who makes what, how and when; the final word on waste allowance, wages, environment - both in and outside the factories. Only then maybe the textile designer is given 'free' rein to create what you hopefully are looking for.

By the time a fabric reaches a fashion designer's studio, many of those decisions are invisible, yet they matter. They matter a lot.

Visible choices.

I've spent much of my career helping connect designers with the people who make their fabrics, because I've seen how quickly decisions change for the better for everyone when relationships become visible.

When you understand where a yarn comes from, even see its recycling or farming process, you hold and wear the final fabric with more confidence. Knowing the weaver who brings that fabric to life, learning of their heritage, level of skill and challenges, you appreciate so much more. At many levels.

Choosing a fabric is not just the practical decisions about quality, design, price, etc. it's personal. Choices stop being abstract, and for conscious designers that's really good news!

Why? Because designers hold far more influence than they often realise. Every sourcing decision sends a signal about the kind of industry we want to support. Just as every collection or project affirms progress over perfection - because we can't knock ourselves out trying to check every box!

The designers I most admire are not those with all the answers. They're the ones who keep asking better questions. Where did this come from? Who made it? What impact will it have? And I love it that these honest questions silence a lot of finger-waggers!​
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You know them. You want to support ridding the oceans of plastics, and choose such a fabric, but there's a finger-wagger saying, "But that isn't bio-degradeable." Or, your heart is set on generating work for vulnerable women overseas. There's a finger-wagger, "But we need jobs in this country!" ... You get the picture!

Kind Fabric Course

Those questions, and challenges, sit at the heart of the Kind Fabric Course because designing fabric means designing consequences too. And that's where real change begins. I really hope you'll join us, or let your people know about all the good we'll be creating together so that they can!

Remember the course is forever free for alumni, and the Early Bird offer of just $597 (🎉a $200 discount🎉) is open til 30th June. Want to share a ticket with a colleague? Yes, up to 3 can join on 1 ticket ... just let me know and we'll chat the details!

A question to ponder:​
​Which choices in your design process create the impact you stand for?

Here's to making things, all things, better together! 🙌🫶🙌