Launch of Sustainable Fashion Line “Seeds” at manzi

Launch event: Fri 12 Dec 2014, 8 pm
Textile installation: 12 – 30 Dec 2014
Manzi Art Space

From Manzi:

You are invited to the launch of sustainable fashion line and textile installation called SEEDS at Manzi. This new line uses traditional textiles and techniques to create a contemporary and elegant mens and womens collection.

To produce SEEDS Kilomet 109 worked with local artisans from Vietnam’s remote Northern highlands to incorporate, and thus help preserve, endangered methods of fabric dyeing, weaving and embroidery. By doing so we strive to reimagine the boundaries between cultural preservation and reinvention. The result is an exciting contribution to Vietnam’s fashion scene.

The idea behind SEEDS was born from the close relationship between the raw materials used to create the textiles, to the process of weaving, dyeing, beezwax printing, and all the way to the creation of the design sample and the 3D prototype.

The installation portion of the SEEDS exhibition is reconstructed in a three dimensional format, integrating all of the raw materials and techniques that were used in the garment design. Next to this will be displayed illustrations that lay out the recipe and the ingredients used to create the pigments and dyes.

The SEEDS collection is heavily influenced by a European sensibility regarding garment structure combined with the versatile functionality of streetwear. Most of the detailed finishing and decoration, however, has been adopted from the traditional dress of the people of Vietnam. Some of these details include the buttons taken from the neckline of the Thai women’s blouse, contours and slopes of the Nung men’s shirt, beezwax prints of the Dao Tien dress , the dense array of color coordination borrowed from the Lo Lo people , and the thin line button loops with transparent glass buttons inspired by the Trang An ao dai. But these traditional elements are designed to be ambiguous , or are even hidden somewhere in the design to create a special connection between the wearer and the piece, between functionality and decoration, and between the traditional and the contemporary.

SEEDS will bring the audience a view of the collection from the inside out.

SEEDS will be launched at manzi art space at 8.00 pm, Friday, 12 December 2014. By invitation only.

SEEDS installation series will be on display at manzi till 30 December 2014.

Communications partners: Hanoi Grapevine and &OfOtherThings

Manzi Art Space 14 Phan Huy Ich, Hanoi