“Dichotomies in Silk: Shrinking and Stretching”

by

Genevieve Dion

Shibori processes can be used to generate highly-textured surface designs for the production of pure silk garments that permanently retain their form and elasticity. Fabric is first shaped using a variety of traditional stitch-resist shibori techniques on greige goods (untreated fabric) of Japanese Gunma silk, a special fabric with highly over-spun silk filaments. Next, fabric is scoured, causing it to shrink – an effect of the high-twist yarns. In unprotected areas, the textile is permanently pleated, whereas the remaining stitch-resisted and protected areas of the fabric become permanently textured. Texture can further be enhanced 0through shibori dyeing.

A major consideration in designing garments using the method described above is the fact that the scouring process leads to a sixty percent reduction in the total surface area of the textile. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate how and where this reduction will occur before scouring in order to ensure that the multiple textures and specific design features (i.e. cuffs, collars and waistline), appear at the appropriate and designated positions within the final piece. This technique, unlike that of traditional garment design, involves multiple textures within a continuous piece -- no seams exist between the pleated and stitch-resisted areas. Collectively, the elasticity inherent in the final pieces, coupled with their seamless nature, results in extraordinary fluidity and new possibilities in design.

Genevieve Dion is an award-winning artist whose collections are admired for their beautiful handmade details and extraordinary craftsmanship. She works primarily in velvet and silk, for their texture, iridescence and rich color potential and uses various applications of shibori in her creative process. Dion’s collections and accessories have been sold at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, Holt Renfrew Canada, Cicada San Francisco, Maxfield Los Angeles, Barneys, Felissimo and Julie:Artisans Gallery in New York. In November 1999 she exhibited in Santiago, Chile at the International Shibori Symposium, where she also co-curated a fashion photography exhibit of North American Shibori at the Instituto Chileno Norteamericano. In November 2000, she participated for the second time in The Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show where she was awarded the Ornament Magazine Prize for Fiber Wearable. She has also received the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation Grant and the Ontario Crafts Council Design Award. A Quebec native, she