DEEPLY FELT

On a visit to Johannesburg’s Decorex Fair last year, I was amazed by the versatility achieved by felt artists from South Africa.  The pioneering work of Ronel Jordaan has had a tremendous impact on a growing craft that has the potential to touch many lives.

Since 2005, Ronel Jordaan has been experimenting with felt achieving three-dimensional sculptures that echo natural forms. She is known internationally for the felt pebbles used as accent furniture, pillows and sculptures.

Originally from Mongolia, felt has been used since the 13th century  by many nomadic tribes that find in it, a protective surface that is warm, waterproof and eco-friendly.  

Felt comes from sheep and goat wool from breeds such as merino and mohair. Mohair wool from the Lesotho area of South Africa  is considered to be the most beautiful in the world. This very fine fiber comes from angora goats that inhabit the Maluti Mountains. 

Hundreds of farmers wash, clean, card and comb the fibers, which then are taken through a hand made process of layering and alternating between boiling water, sunlight and cold water.  Felt is also called “the angry fiber” because it reacts to the cold water by becoming stiff or “felt like.” Hand rubbing is a key step in the process of creating felt because it allows the follicles from each strand to interlock change from a soft loose texture to a dense and firm structure that allows for new forms and shapes. 

The process of creating felt is eco-friendly and socially responsible because it allows for the reuse of water for gardening, uses biodegradable soaps, lead free dyes and a handmade process that allows for the creation of jobs in a growing industry.

Marcella Echavarria Interviews Ronel Jordaan:

1. Why felt? I fell in love with the medium while doing a course in Art Therapy

2. Felt and South Africa. What is the connection? South Africa is a wool  producing country and we have the best Merino wool. 

3. Is felt a conscious product? How? Yes, It is possible to mould it and keep a shape--this doesn’t make sense.

4. What is your take on felt? What has been your input? I love the fact that felt can be molded and you can create any shape or form you can imagine. I have tried to take felt out of the “craft” and try to use it as a "modern" material.

5. Can you define felt in three words? Touch, warm, love.

6. Is there something that you have liked to do with felt and could not? What was it? Stop pilling completely.

And about you:

1. Where do you find your inspiration? Nature.

2. Favorite food? New favorite- Mexican corn on the cob! IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE MEXICAN?

3. Ronel's recipe: Butternut baked gnocchi.

4. Paris or NY? Paris.

5. What are 3 "must go" places in South Africa. Lapalala, Kosi Bay.

6. Who do you admire in:

-Fashion: Issey Miyake

-Design: Campana Brothers

-Crafts:  Rural crafters in South Africa

7. Who would you like to be? Myself.

8. How do you define happiness? To be content in the moment.

9. A place you are dying to go to? Mongolia.

10. A material to explore: Hemp.

AESTHETICS +ETHICS

Natalie Chanin from Alabama Chanin says,”Products today have to be sustainable and they have to be beautiful.”

In the words of Paulette Cole, CEO of ABC Carpet and Home, “Beauty is the spoonful of sugar which allows you to become aware of the need for service in the world. We all need beauty, and we can satisfy that need while creating beauty and planetary health for others, too.” Or as Gandhi said: “There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.”

“Desirability is sustainability in fashion,” explains Ali Hewson from Edun. “There is no point in having well-meaning principles if you can’t deliver on that,” especially when dealing with the consumers focused on ‘wanting’ instead of ‘needing.’

Quality now has become a bigger word which encompasses the quality of the terms of how goods are made, where they are made, who makes them and under what circumstances.   Thus value embraces many more qualities beyond price redefining the world map with new players.  This explains why South America is now the new hip destination.  It also explains why heritage, authenticity and tradition are very much appreciated today. 

The mantra is: “live wisely and responsible for you and for the generations to come.” The consumer as citizen is the new definition and this involves participation, conversation, input, exchange of opinion. A good citizen is aware and constantly confronts and validates prices as related to quality and brand promise.  Price is what people are willing to pay for something while value relates to the intrinsic worth.  These two concepts are in sync more than ever.

1. Featured Aeshetics+Ethics concept

Yak is the future of luxury fabrics and a great present and future for the Tibetan Plateau. 

The philosophy behind Norlha is to provide a sustainable development model around yak fiber. The herdsmen on the Tibetan Plateau need to diversify their income and develop employment opportunities. This can be easily achieved by using their own, underused raw materials, in this case, yak fiber. Nomads are practical people who have little time for finery. In the old days, they made everything they needed, but now, they buy most of it. Spinning and weaving for everyday use were widespread, though the new generation had little or never practiced it.  Through the production and commercialization of beautiful scarves and throws, Norlha merges nomadic culture with the resources from the area to achieve a sustainable model where luxury and development converse.

http://norlha.net/

THE SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION: FROM MONOLOGUE TO DIALOGUE

                                                                         http://www.roneljordaan.com/

 “The major change, the most profound change in retail is happening right now, today and it’s hard to see, and that is the consumer now is in complete control. They have access to everything and they will do it in their terms.” John Fleeming, Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer at Walmart.

Brands have become publishers eager to find new information and new ways to deliver it to customers hopefully in “real time.” This is why bloggers are now in the front rows of all the major fashion shows.  What is really new in this revolution is the shift from monologue to an open multilayered dialogue.   The process of exchanging, sharing, connecting is a great new platform to deliver the sustainability message that the hand made world has as one of its main assets. Brands have then an extra role:  creating exciting and relevant information.

Transparency is the name of the game and this is why companies are under permanent scrutiny by customers.  Corporate social responsibility (CSR) stopped being a marketing tool to become a business initiative.

THE HUMAN TOUCH RULES

“Anything that hints of the hand is selling,” according to David Alhadeff from The Future Perfect in Brooklyn. “This is a time for a genuine connection to the objects in our lives,” said Chee Pearlman, a design consultant to The New York Times, last November.

Craft refers precisely to the human touch. People put the work of their hands towards making a product. This is a free territory of cultural expression where there is room to experiment and make mistakes. It is also the space for innovation. Together with design, craft creates a continuum between high and low tech, traditional and industrial, north and south and even south to south.

“Looking like you spent a lot of money now just seems hopelessly insensitive and as if the person wearing it has no idea what is going on in the world. The whole concept of cutting-edge fashion is that you are in tune to, even ahead of what is going on in society.” David Wolfe, Creative Director of the Doneger Group.

SLOW, SMALL, SCARCE

Everything is smaller now: less products, fewer stores, lower prices, smaller series. “I think the world needs a bit of stability when it comes to luxury. Less is definitely going to be more and the quality of less is more important than value of it,” says Alexander Mcqueen in Elle Decoration September, 2009.


According to the designer Isabel Toledo: “Craft takes time, and therefore it is luxury,” she said to Time Magazine last September. “You cannot do an amazingly well-made garment without taking time; not just the time it takes to make something but also the time it took the maker to come up with the idea. That is all luxury, and that has been lost because we’re trying to make things faster and faster, cheaper and cheaper. This is why home-sewing will bring back the love of crafts and knowledge of good quality and luxury.”


A new way of approaching consumerism is through scarcity, a concept that has become rare in recent times where we have been ruled by abundance. With lowering inventories and re-designed companies came an emphasis on what is precious, unique, and scarce. This is evident in the revival of nesting with a bigger emphasis in the homey, intimate, quiet, simple and slow. Entertaining at home is very chic now!


“Luxury today is much more private. It’s about the knowledge and understanding of a product, authenticity and personal attitude,” Bill Amberg, leather designer.


“The pie is smaller and fewer people have access to it,” Concetta Lanciaux from Strategy Luxury Advisors.