Preston Zly

The Lolice shoes were so exciting that I started to think about shoe making as a craft. The old name, Cobbling. I looked for handmade shoes in my city and the people who make them and I came across Preston Zly.

The cobbler duo are a couple, designer and shoemaker, Joanna Preston and sculptor, Petr Zly. Preston began making shoes out of her great love for them, and the difficulty she found in finding well-fitting shoes for her extremely narrow foot. She learnt her skills from the late Bulgarian master craftsman, George Koleff who was tutoring in Adelaide at the time. In 1993 Preston launched her bespoke shoe company and in 2000 Zly became an official business partner and Preston Zly was born. The pair produce shoes out of their Smith Street studio and stock in their store The Signet Bureau, which is on Gertrude Street.

Taking inspiration from historical footwear, ranging from 1930s silver screen glamour to the swinging 1960s, their works are realised in leather, wood and synthetic materials, often in bright colours. Preston's skill combines with Zly's sculptural perspective to create shoes that are not trend-focused, presenting new and unconventional shapes and forms.

Here are some designs from the 09/10 summer collection, Sea Breeze:

'Aeon'

'Avignon'

'Angelica'

And from the current winter collection, Out of The Box:

'Ruched Clara'

'Marlene Wrap'

Preston and Zly have also collaborated with other designers including Akira Isogawa (particular favorites of mine), and Material By Product, for who amazing tatooed Avignon shoes were developed. Here they are:

These images were sourced from the Preston Zly website, www.prestonzly.com.

Material By product image from www.ngv.vic.gov.au.

Much of the information came from an article I read on handmade shoes in Melbourne, 'When The Shoe Fits'. Gina Morris. The Age. May 27, 2007.

Sweet Steps

In 2009 Sarajevo designer, Belma Arnautović collaborated with a local shoe maker to produce Lolice shoes for her graduate collection at the Academy of Fine Arts, Sarajevo. I'm really glad she did and that somehow I managed to find her work on the vast world wide web because her shoes are delicious, or at least they look it! They combine leather, beads and ribbons as well as real lollies!

I found these pictures at Deezen, http://www.dezeen.com/2010/03/07/lolice-shoes-by-belma-arnautovic/.

my secret is out...

It couldn't be avoided. The idea is to document what I'm doing and as I've been crocheting, it has inevitably crept onto my blog, and with it the scary truth that I'm a really nanna inside a twenty-year-old's body...

I learnt to crochet when I was about 13 and could do afghan squares (I think that's the name), but it was only recently that I taught myself two techniques I've been dying to learn for ages. Shag or fur crochet and bobble crochet.

Here are my afghan squares (the first is embroidery thread, and the second is wool):

And my fur sample:

And my bobble sample, this one is my favorite, I'm sorry the picture's a bit fuzzy:

I love crochet, that much is certain. I think it's my craze for this craft that has caused me to explore it here. However, I'm not sure I should continue with crochet because knowing me I'm just as likely to head down a 60s, 70s recreation path- a bit limiting. If it sneaks in further down the track, well that might be out of my control...

a little bit of stitching

A little sample of my own embroidery. Done by hand with a kind of long stitch of thick cotton thread, it's not particularly fabulous but it has potential- the use of wadding creates a rounded effect that is fun and spongy to touch, the coiled cord that is reminiscent of cornelli, and the bright colours with black are all aspects that could be further developed...

Story Telling

When I first started this studio one of the first things I found that related to craft was the Rittenhouse skirt I spotted in Frankie magazine. It’s incredible, embroidered with a whimsical tea party scene complete with sweet treats and the legs of the girl picnicking. The colours are wonderful. I love the awkward pink and red with steely purple and black. After weeks of exploring craft this skirt still hasn’t lost it’s shine. I think what keeps me interested in it is the story it tells. I like that it’s so pictorial, even though it’s an item of clothing. To me, it demonstrates the potential of craft in fashion to introduce art and literature.

It was partly because of this skirt that I was so excited when I saw more embroidery of a similar fantastical nature. I can thank Rica for introducing me to Chromium Dumb Belle, a remarkable collection of embroidered and appliqué works by British artist Joanne Burke. The romantic, mythical images have historical and fairy-tale references which are enhanced by the various satin and metallic fabrics used. Fabrication combined with machine and hand embroidery create decadent and theatrical effects. The lines are loose and squiggly and black is used to successfully frame many of the characters. Burke applies her creations to both garments and furnishings.

Chromium Dumb Belle images taken from the website, www.chromiumdumbbelle.com. There are lots more there to look at!

Pondering on Craft

Before it escapes me, and because this is my first post, please let me introduce my blog. This is the blog of Harriet and it has been created as part of my third year fashion design course, specifically for my studio subject which is based on craft. Over the past three weeks I have been exploring the vast world of craft to try to define what it is and find direction within its far reaching arms.

Here begins my discovery.

Craft. The word itself is quite simple to define. Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary states that craft is an art or a skill; to craft is to construct with careful skill; and a craft'y person is one having skill. So being the master of technique and medium is integral to craft, but a contemporary interpretation of craft encompasses more than just skill.

Today's craftsperson is not just a person with a trade, or a nanna knitting away at home, but an artist and designer as well. Traditionally craft is distinguished from art for its utilitarian purpose, practical and commercial application, and it's methodical, even rudimentary processes. But the lines are blurring, craftspeople have moved away from the 70s weekly editions of Golden Hands to become more imaginative and conceptual like the artist; and artists are turning to age-old craft techniques such as horsehair hitching as their art. As the practical need for certain crafts diminish an opportunity for it to be reinterpreted arises. This is the case with shiseki machine knitting- an industrial application of a craft that can produce highly experimental outcomes.

Craft can be an object or a skill, and it can also be an approach. The idea of 'crafting' something, regardless of whether the activity is considered a traditional craft, is a craft in itself. It's the notion of perfecting or refining something to absolute mastery. Craft in a contemporary sense can also be personalised. If an old fashioned craft is modified, either by method, material or application it suddenly becomes particular to the individual who adapted it, and is a new craft, their craft.

With this interpretation the concept of craft grows to unlimited possibilities. So in an attempt to maintain a little of my sanity for this semester I will endeavor to reign in these broad pontifications on craft and define simply what craft is to me. Perhaps what I feel most strongly is the sensitivity of craft. To me, craft is hand-made, time-honored and careful, making each crafted piece unique and special. It's respectful of it's materials and because of this, has the potential to be environmentally sustainable. It is sociable and inclusive on personal and different community levels (think knitting circles!) and it is practical and functional. Whatever craft I choose to adopt as my own, I hope to execute it with these principles. This my craft manifesto.