Sketch Pad: The Laurence King Blog

Márcia Ganem

I started my day by catching up with one of my favourite Brazilian ladies: Márcia Ganem is in London to exhibit at the Pure London trade fair at Olympia. Her work really stands out among the other sustainable fashions exhibited there. Whereas most environmentally-design is crafted from sustainable hemp-heavy weaves or recycled materials, Márcia's designs are delicate and elegant. Here's what she said about her work when I interviewed her for 'Textile Designers at the Cutting Edge':

If Márcia Ganem heard other designers complaining about how expensive materials are, she would probably laugh out loud. While many of her colleagues are likely to lavish money on overpriced silks, expensive beads and exclusive leathers, the materials Ganem uses are nothing less than priceless. In Ganem’s accomplished hands, the precious gems, polished stones, facet-cut crystals and pieces of pure gold harvested from the Brazilian landscape provide a rich resource of untainted colours and original shapes. Combined with reclaimed materials and natural fibres, and crafted in the traditional textile techniques characteristic of Brazil’s Bahia region, Ganem’s designs are an extraordinary mix of cultural references and sustainable resources.

Ganem’s designs could be mistaken for pure luxury, but every aspect of her production is rooted in regenerating artisan cooperatives and traditional handcraft associations. Taking the artisans time-honoured techniques as her starting point, Ganem often introduces them to new types of materials and finds contemporary expressions for their traditional crafts. Almost every collection explores a new technique, which, in turn, creates opportunities and sustainable ventures for the communities. ‘My Dândi collection, from autumn/winter 2006, used techniques such as macramé, Nhaduti, bobbin lace and knotted-weft. The textiles were produced in partnership with artisan communities such as the group of embroiderers known as 25 de Junho, and a group of women from Saubara who formed a 120-member association of lace-makers. For the Dândi collection, they combined traditional bobbin lace techniques with Polyamide fibres. I believe that working with the textile traditions from the Northeast in this way maintains a link between modern innovation and Brazilian cultural identity, and, at the same time, it sustains marginalised communities.’

Ganem broke new ground when she developed methods of recycling synthetic Polyamide fibres. Polyamide was originally used in the automotive industry, and Ganem was drawn to it because it has the tenacity of coconut fibre but is even easier to work with. ‘Polyamide is easy to recycle and excellent to work with, so it became the base material for the textiles used to produce my couture line,’ Ganem said. ‘It’s easy to create a surface with it by using handcraft techniques. The appeal of the couture range isn’t just that the garments are meticulously-fitted, it’s also because the fabrics themselves are made by hand.’

Posted on 12/02/2009 by Bradley Quinn