Authentic Period Designs from The Design Center Exhibited at Downton Abbey Screening

Sarah Moore, collections curator for The Design Center, showcased authentic period designs for a reception and viewing celebrating the second season finale of the award-winning series Downton Abbey. The event took place Feb. 19 at WHYY, the Philadelphia public television station that airs the show locally.

Items from The Design Center’s historic collection included evening dresses, a sequined fan, shoes, a World War I Red Cross head scarf and wide-brimmed velvet hats, all styles popular during the years 1912 to 1918, around the time the series is set.

Items from the Downton Abbey exhibit will be on display on the first floor of Hayward Hall starting Feb. 23 and continuing through late March.

Winner of six Emmy awards last year, Downton Abbey returned this year to depict the lives of the noble Crawley family and the staff who serves them in their Edwardian country house in the early 1900s. Created by Emmy-winning writer Julian Fellowes, the all-star cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Emmy-winner Dame Maggie Smith and Elizabeth McGovern.

Most of the designs, including two evening dresses, would have been worn by those in the upper classes, Moore said. A drawstring evening bag was a popular shape for that time period, and large wide-brimmed hats were all the rage just before and during the World War I period. A velvet and silk satin hat on display is almost identical to one worn by the character Lady Cora in the series, Moore noted.

The beaded and buckled shoes displayed feature fashionable pointed toes and Louis XIV-style heels. The exhibit also included such personal items as hand-carved tortoise shell combs with Art Nouveau details and personal fans.

Stephanie Nawrocki, a fashion design student and Design Center intern, helped present the collection at the WHYY event.

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Philadelphia U Students Gain Hands-On Textile Experience


by Ian Volner

PhilaU grad students work with Lori Weitzner

Interior Design Follows Weitzner and Phila U Project Weitzner has teamed up with students from Philadelphia University in hopes of achieving new and innovative products for Weitzner Smart. Interior Designmagazine is documenting the process and has released its first series of videos and articles. Click here to view them!

Call for Artists! (Text)iles: Fibrous Languages in Art

Click here for more information.

Insight: Digital inkjet printing holds future potential

Digital inkjet printing holds future potential

from Innovation in Textiles

When digital inkjet printing first emerged in the 1990s, it was a welcome innovation for printing flags, banners, and POS textiles, made primarily of polyester. Using disperse inks for direct printing or water-based inks for sublimation, the technology was the answer for quick-turn, small runs or single pieces needed in the display business.


It didn’t take long for textile designers and print studios, already using digital software for their design work, to realize the benefits of printing samples and small runs using digital inkjet printers. The development of acid, reactive, and pigment inks allowed them to print on a full range of fabrics, skipping the time-consuming, labour-intensive, expensive process of engraving screens.



While speed and colour matching were issues, ongoing improvements in machines, software, print heads and inks have resulted in impressive growth for digital inkjet printing. In 2010 the reel-to-reel digital textile market grew by 13%, with a printed output value of $1.3 billion US; while the direct-to-garment market saw 32% growth, with printed output valued at $2.45 billion US.
But as accuracy, colour-matching, and the quality of printing inks improve, the speed and hence the cost of digital inkjet printing for longer production runs has continued to impede its success for industrial use, where it lags behind rotary screen printing...


Read the rest of the article HERE.

From Liz Weissert: Internship Insight

Our textile design print grad, Liz Weissert, shares her thoughts on her internship with Anthropologie:

Hi!  That’s me in front of that unstable shelving unit.  It needs to be replaced very soon. Although  I won’t be the one to break it down and replace it, I probably will be the one to take all of the books off then put all of them back on new shelves.  Among my other laborious tasks: completely gutting and organizing a room the size of my apartment.  Before you start to think my internship sucks and is tedious busy work, please put this into context:  I’m the Anthropologie Home Design Intern. 

Now that your point of view has shifted to mine, I will tell you that these books have been gifted from and have inspired the most creative minds I have come to know.  The task of gutting the room I have affectionately termed “the craft closet” is more like rummaging through the personal beloved treasures of a seasoned and fashionable curator(picture Sarah Moore’s stock in 20 years).  It houses Anthropologie’s trend boards from past seasons, mill samples of carpet, fabric, ornaments, ceramics, garments and textiles from all over the world, you name it.   It also has a never-ending supply of yarn and fabric in a seemingly infinite array of colors.

If anyone is still not convinced that my internship rocks, I started off talking about the less interesting parts of it, the best is yet to come.  The ever-amazing design director wants to work with me on designing a dinnerware collection.  Yes, me!  This opportunity will allow me to better learn a part of the industry I haven’t had much exposure to: hard goods for interiors.  My first 3 internships along with an assistantship have given me exposure to the worlds of interior fabrics, historic textile collections, designing prints for intimates, and color selection for apparel.  As my fourth and most likely final internship, this is truly the icing on the cake, and I look forward to being a part of it every day.  I will stop bragging now.