Fabric-ator: 5 Upstate Textile Makers

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There''s a reason 5-star hotels brag about their thread counts—soft, cozy fabrics are supremely important. To keep you snuggled up and happy all year long, we''ve rounded up 5 textile companies based in the Hudson Valley that sell everything from napkins to bedding to rugs in lush fabrics that far exceed our comfort quota. Not only that, the patterns are strikingly beautiful, the designers wonderfully original, and the products ethically produced.   

Brush Textiles

In 2016, at the ripe old age of 23, Upstate native Jessica Brush traveled to Jaipur, where she came face-to-face with the colorful world of block-printed Indian fabric. A lifelong rural fashionista, with an eye for pattern and texture, Brush saw potential for a line of textiles marketed in the US, made using this traditional method. Arriving home, she dove into vintage ''60s and ''70s-era magazines looking for design inspiration. "The color palettes of those vintage music posters and wallpaper would eventually make their way into my designs," Brush says. "I began dreaming in repetitive patterns and in turn created prints that while spirited, capture and communicate a modern and simple aesthetic." Brush Textiles  officially launched in, selling a line of quilts, throws, tablecloths, duvet covers, and napkins. Each piece is entirely handmade India from the wood carving to the stamping and sewing.

Alicia Adams Alpaca

Alpaca fur is usually thick, scratchy, and warm enough to withstand a winter in the mountains of Peru, but the yarn spun from Alicia and Daniel Adams''s alpaca herd is soft enough to be mistaken for cashmere. The yarn is woven into blankets, capes, sweaters, and pillows for their clothing and homeware line, Alicia Adams Alpaca. All of it is based out of their 80-acre farm in Stanfordville, NY, where the couple live, work, and care for their fiber animals. Alpaca fur naturally ranges in 22 different shades. After separating out the guard hair, carding, and spinning the fur into yarn, Adams dyes it then weaves it into her signature warm, ultra-soft knit.

Minna

"We believe that contemporary design should not sacrifice social responsibility or quality and that our homes should be a reflection of our values," says MINNA founder Sara Berk. The textile line grew out of Berk''s personal artistic exploration as a weaver and in quickly blossomed into a full line of ethically sourced, socially responsible textiles rugs, throws, and duvets. With a background in graphic design, Berk develops all the patterns herself—often starting at the loom for inspiration. Then the textiles are produced in direct collaboration with women artisans and master weavers in Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Uruguay. "Designs are informed and inspired by Feminist art, the Bauhaus, traditional craft, and vintage textiles," Berk says. That''s style you can feel good about. Shop online or visit the storefront at 421 Warren Street in Hudson.

Palampore Fabrics & Hangings

Alison Kouzmanoff has only to peek outside the window of her Germantown home to find inspiration. The patterns for her textile company Palampore Fabrics and Hangings bear the names of the wild plants they are styled afer—Ground Ivy, Bloodroot, Sumac. Kouzmanoff takes a refined, minimalist approach to this rural aesthetic, creating refreshingly clean designs. She pairs these patterns with inspiration from traditional Palampores, the rich Indian fabric panels of the 17th and 18th century. Made to order in the US using water-based ecologically safe pigments, Palampore hangings can all be customized in different sizes and colors making them a great option for wall hangings, window panels, throws, tablecloths, or bedding. 

Doonyaya

Dunja Von Stoddard grew up drawing in her mother’s Hudson Valley painting studio, and her earliest memories of brightly colored, simple, shapes never faded. Today Von Stoddard creates colorful linens and pillows by starting with a sketch; experimenting with pattern, repetition, and color; and screenprinting each piece by hand in the 19th-century barn she’s converted into her studio. The result is a textile line that’s clean, contemporary, and versatile. Last fall''s collection was inspired by elaborate patterns discovered in the woods, including tree rings, veiny leaves, and pine needles, and come in colors that evoke both the season’s cool-down and the warmth we seek in the midst of chilly weather: cranberry, pumpkin, gray, chartreuse, robin’s egg, deep teal, and onyx. “Overall, I am inspired by patterns. I see them  everywhere," Von Stoddard says. "I organize the world in patterns visually. Not just of nature, but really whatever I’m surrounded by."

Source: Chronogram, India
Friday, 14 December 2018