Creating Textiles with Embedded Cultural Value

Benedicte Lux’s practice merges her art historical background with a designers methodology. While most designers focus on seasonal trends and silhouettes, Benedicte Lux’s process is informed heavily by textiles she’s working with. She uses fabrics that preserve craft methodologies, starting with the material as a way to embed value into her creations. For her first officially released collection, she uses handloomed textiles from India, in itself a 26,000 year old process. The textiles are exceptional, with integrity literally woven into the weave. Using only natural fibers, the silks she uses are peace silks and completely non-violent. This means that unlike normal silk, no silk worms are harmed in the process of production. Once she has secured the correct materials her silhouettes are inspired by culture and historical periods, with a focus on femininity. With a character and setting in mind, she drapes everything entirely by hand, and may dye her fabrics with natural dyes. For this collection she was inspired by the Buena Vista Social Club, and focused on the libertarian, leisure-filled attitudes of pre-Che Cuba. She edged the garments with natural dyes, embracing the unpredictability and mysterious qualities of the indigo dyeing process. She doesn’t believe in seasonal trends, but prefers a trans-seasonal attitude to dressing, where pieces are crafted for the wearer and not for a particular time or place. With a practice of shopping for vintage garments, she creates garments that feel like discovering treasure; exquisite and timeless, in limited edition, with exceptional attention paid to the entire process of the garment.

For her shoots, she collaborates exclusively with friends only; using her own friends as models, and crafting entire immersive sets that are representative of the vision of her line. Forever informed by a practice of research, she interviews other makers and designers working in alternative ways to the fashion industry, building brands that craft with value in mind rather than consumption. Benedicte studied Fashion Design at Parsons and graduated in May 2017.