(In)Visible Mending Installation
LCF MA Show, House of Vans, London
Current fashion academic research on sustainability looks at post-growth fashion and alternative fashion systems and conversely, production. Often ignored in fashion history writing, is the actual period of wear and care practices of garments.
My approach is research led and experiential—when handling the mended objects, the richness of the mended surface enchants. Hand-mending can be paralleled to a person’s hand-writing, leaving behind signatures and marks on the garments.
Through the installation presented, the same objects are presented through different lenses: close-up images, sketches and archival documentation. The video installation also offers microscopic footage of the inside of a pair of mended jeans worn over a span of 8 years. The abstracted patterns of the weave where the denim has worn out can be observed up-close, as can the colour gradations of the indigo on the jean’s surface.
Object list
1 – “What do 8 Years look like?”. Video by Daniela Monasterios-Tan
2 – Copy of donor letter, Burdekin Collection. Courtesy of London College of Fashion Archive
3 – Silk camisole dress c. 1920s, Burdekin Collection. Courtesy of London College of Fashion Archive
4 – Silk stockings c. 1920s, Burdekin Collection. Courtesy of London College of Fashion Archive
5- Material Culture Analysis of mended objects in Burdekin Collection. Photograph by Daniela Monasterios-Tan
LCF MA Show, House of Vans, London
Current fashion academic research on sustainability looks at post-growth fashion and alternative fashion systems and conversely, production. Often ignored in fashion history writing, is the actual period of wear and care practices of garments.
My approach is research led and experiential—when handling the mended objects, the richness of the mended surface enchants. Hand-mending can be paralleled to a person’s hand-writing, leaving behind signatures and marks on the garments.
Through the installation presented, the same objects are presented through different lenses: close-up images, sketches and archival documentation. The video installation also offers microscopic footage of the inside of a pair of mended jeans worn over a span of 8 years. The abstracted patterns of the weave where the denim has worn out can be observed up-close, as can the colour gradations of the indigo on the jean’s surface.
Object list
1 – “What do 8 Years look like?”. Video by Daniela Monasterios-Tan
2 – Copy of donor letter, Burdekin Collection. Courtesy of London College of Fashion Archive
3 – Silk camisole dress c. 1920s, Burdekin Collection. Courtesy of London College of Fashion Archive
4 – Silk stockings c. 1920s, Burdekin Collection. Courtesy of London College of Fashion Archive
5- Material Culture Analysis of mended objects in Burdekin Collection. Photograph by Daniela Monasterios-Tan
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