History of handicraft techniques and weaving.

How did the handmade weavings and the techniques used come about?

Handcrafted fabrics, techniques, natural materials and spinning have accompanied mankind since its beginnings. The evolution of textiles has changed throughout the history of mankind.

Man, since its beginnings in prehistoric times, made his clothes with his own hands and the resources of the environment. Using different local and natural materials such as wool, linen or esparto grass. And together with these, they took advantage of the fibers found in the area. They were used in their natural state or intertwined with textile craft techniques to produce and weave fabrics and use them as clothing.

The first weaving techniques originated in ancient China.

The first weaving techniques were developed in ancient China, the main creators of artisan weaving, who invented processes and tools.

The spinning was done in a very basic way and using fusiolas or stones located at the end of a wood. While the loom would be a wall loom and much more rudimentary.

In ancient times, the Egyptians are known to have been great artisan spinners.

In ancient times, it is known that the Egyptians were great spinners. They attributed the process to the gods, and were responsible for perfecting the loom and making very fine linenfabrics , a natural material, which today is very difficult to reproduce. Later this process would be attributed to the Greeks and Romans.

With time, the artisan specialized and gave the fabrics beauty and also invented other textile craft techniques, such as pleating. It is at this time that weaving and clothing began to be attributed to the crafts. Thus, considering the craftsmen as people who worked for the pharaoh and the wealthy classes, and turning the dress into a symbol of distinction and social position.

In the Middle Ages, the Phoenicians will give greater importance to dyes and trade in handmade fabrics.

In the Middle Ages, with the grouping of trades by guilds, the Phoenicians will give greater importance to the dyes and the trade of artisan fabrics. These were dedicated to all textile processes and craft techniques related to weaving, spinning, carding, fulling, embroidery and dyeing.

The handicraft activity, besides being an incessant commercial activity, was going to be an activity protected by the kings. The richest and most luxurious textiles would be destined to them and would be equivalent to a currency of exchange, becoming part of inheritances or spoils of war.

At this stage, precious metals such as gold and silver were used to enrich the weavings. Tapestries were also used to show economic strength but also to cover the walls of the castles from the cold.

It will no longer be only the royalty but also the church that will look for the best craftsmen to make textiles and garments for them. These works will be rich and varied, as a symbol of luxury. And so textiles are shown in the architecture and decoration of palaces and churches as a symbol of luxury. Another of these symbols would be to show the fabrics in the architecture and decoration of churches and palaces. Associating the need to dress with status and social power.

The Modern Age will mark the golden age for craft activity

In the Modern Age, with the discovery of America and the massive arrival of dyes and the use of raw materials such as silk, merino wool or silver. This stage will mark the golden age for craftsmanship.

Artisans enjoyed great social prestige and the protection of their most important clients, as well as great purchasing power, such as the textile artisans of the Mesta(Merino wool).

With the renaissance, new fabric fashions and textile techniques will arrive.

With the Renaissance, new fashions of fabrics and textile techniques such as lace will arrive and the artisan activity moves to Flanders, where the trade of fabrics also increases due to the fact that the rules of the Guilds in Spain makes them lose competitiveness and innovation.

At the beginning of the 19th century, with the industrial revolution, textile craftsmanship suffered its greatest setback.

With the industrial revolution, the use of cheaper cotton fabrics and muslin combined with floral prints from India, used for women's dresses, became widespread. At that time, seamstresses the dress patterns were made by seamstresses and it was the wealthy classes who imposed the fabrics that were in fashion and the shapes of the clothes.

With the Jaquar loom (invented in 1725 by Basile Bouchon) the revolution in weaving began, and production increased, cotton was used more widely in clothing. The industrial revolution was on its way, and artisan textiles suffered.

However, dresses are embellished with embroidery and sewing as well as men's tailoring remains a totally handcrafted field.

ARTS and CRAFTS (" Arts and Crafts")

The ARTS and CRAFTSmovement arises (" Arts and Crafts") an artistic movement generated at the end of this century and led by William Morris. Seeing how the craft trades are in decline in the face of an increasingly industrialized and dehumanized society, it promotes the recovery of values, ways of working and aesthetics of this golden age of craftsmanship such as medieval craftsmanship.

This movement will have a great influence on the printing and decoration of fabrics for the home.

Fashion

But little by little we approach Fashion, a changing element that will be introduced for the first time in the middle of the 19th century by Charles Frederick Worth.

The couturier coined the term Haute Couture and was the first couturier to make costumes as an external activity and with certain designs.

He will be followed by Paul Poiret, or the much admired Fortuny, who will use absolutely handmade methods and luxury fabrics from different parts of the world. They will continue to sew their creations by hand and made to measure and their clientele is exclusive and from the upper classes. For these works, they will count on seamstresses, tailors and embroiderers who will carry out their work in their own workshops.

Coco Chanel incorporated a noble fabric such as tweed, which had been made exclusively for men in the Harris Islands (Great Britain) since the Middle Ages, and feminized it by incorporating it into women's attire in the form of a suit jacket.

Other designers of the time, such as Balenciaga in Spain, will have an exquisite manufacture in their fabrics and couture. Although already at this time of the twentieth century the dress will be more subject to the needs of society. Adapting the clothing to a faster and more constant society.

With the arrival of Prett-a-Porter or the democratization of fashion, fabrics become cheaper and production ceases to be handmade and careful to be massive and global.

In the last decades of the 20th century, several young designers wanted to recover artisanal techniques to increase the creativity of their collections. Craftsmanship techniques and motifs were merged with new materials giving rise to new forms more adapted to the current moment in which they were conceived.

Special mention should be made of designers such as Alexander MC Queen, who with an absolutely renewed aesthetic has used featherwork or embroidery techniques and has shown a deep knowledge of textile techniques and fabrics, a characteristic that has always been present in the great designs of fashion.

In our artisan workshop we have also made exclusive fabrics for fashion collections that were shown at the Madrid Fashion Week.

An example is this luxury custom knitted fabric, woven with Mohair wool (Camino Collection Leandro Cano 2016). With this pictorial fabric of more than 100 hours of work, a coat and a sweater were made. 

If you want to know more details about this collaboration you can visit our collaborations section on the web, I leave you the link:

https://rirandco.com/colaboraciones/leandro-cano/

You can see the video of the parade in the following link:

https://vimeo.com/123391080?embedded=true&source=video_title&owner=13520266

In 2022, the fashion shows will highlight the value of artisanal techniques in the most exclusive Haute Couture garments, as a sign of quality identity and the recovery of values lost with industrialization, such as sustainability, care and quality in fabrics and garments.

Finally, the world of fashion wants to highlight the value of craftsmanship, against the uniformity of dress of a society that consumes textiles in a voracious way.