This past week I was able to go on a private tour of the Antonio Ratti Textile Center at the Met with a few of my classmates. The private showing was scheduled by my textiles professor, Sariah Park, who I am very thankful for organizing. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have had in a while. The Ratti Textile center is located in the basement level of the Met and holds a world class collection of textiles-- old and new. The textile above was created by Paul Poiret in the early 1920s. Textiles and textile design are to me extremely important. In a world where things are said to only be reinvented and never new, designing my own textiles will allow for my future collections to further stand out.
Above is an overall view of the textiles selected for our viewing. The textiles have to be very carefully preserved; a process that involves protecting them from light as well as carefully controlling the humidity.
While on the tour we were assisted by Isabelle, one of the extremely passionate and intelligent collection conservationists. She patiently flipped through the many swatch books Sariah selected for us. Most of the textiles seen were from the earl 20th century. The following photos are of just a few of the swatches-- ones that I fancied in particular.
I love the contrast provided by blue on top of white. Always classy, this color scheme is timeless.
It is incredible to see textiles this old because despite being perfect, they are handcrafted. Their creators/designer were so meticulous, a rare trait in people today. These textiles are a reminder of a time when people were more focused on quality as opposed to today's quantity.
All of these textiles were block printed-- an extremely tedious process. Each color has to be printed separately in addition to being perfectly lined up with the previous layer. The results are unparalleled to today's rapid laser printing. Even the discrepancies make each pattern more lovely. I particularly love floral patterns.
