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Womenswear

Sven Steinmetz

"The loom is an extension of me; it is holding the yarn in a way that I cannot."

Sven grew up in the south west of Germany. Through an apprenticeship as a dressmaker and studies in fashion he developed an interest in finishing techniques. This interest spread and made him research the world of textiles with a focus on weaving.

Now, as a student at the RCA he is developing his own weaving technique which combines the two fields.

Sven Steinmetz

My work is questioning the division between textile and garment. 

Instead of cutting the pattern out of the textile, I am setting it into the weave. Thereby garment and fabric are created at the same moment. This simultaneous creation demands a new way of coding the pattern and adapting the loom, while using weave structures to create a surface design.

This cross-disciplinary way of working gives me the chance to set my work in a new context, which is now moving between garment, textile and machine. 

By combining these fields I am creating seamless garments. Which allows me to reduce waste during the production and shorten the manufacturing process substantially.

My forms are based on my mothers body. That way I was able to study the anatomy of one individual and therefore create a method that can create tailored garments.

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When weaving two materials are brought together. Two qualities are joined. Held in place by each other’s presence only.

The support they provide to each other creates new. 

Weave means passing on, holding, uniting, learning. The weave inhabits not only two characters from warp and weft but catches as well a movement, a meeting, a moment. It captures the surroundings, the maker, the action. 

Weave means bringing together.


Medium:

100% British wool (Romney Tweed)

The loom is an extension of me; it is holding the yarn in a way that I cannot.

Similar perhaps to an exoskeleton; its strong wooden arms create a frame for tension and its fine metal fingers are pulling and organising the yarns, just as defined as an harpist operates strings.

At the same time, I am the power of the loom. Through my pulling and pushing I am making the machine act.

We rely on each other, we teach each other and we change one another. While weaving I see and realise what I can change, where I can add or lose parts of the machine to make it more efficient and seamless to achieve the textiles I admire.

On the other hand the loom adapts me; it teaches me what is hidden in its construction, makes my body posture change and trains my muscle memory to its ways.


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My garment is made of 100% British Wool. A material well-suited for the local climate and easy to weave by hand. 

This allows me to trace back the fibre to the breed of the sheep and therefore control another factor of the production process. 

I was kindly provided with yarn by Romney Tweed which is using the wool of the local breed. The Romney Marsh sheep have a lustrous fleece with a beautiful sheen.

This fibre inherits locality; it has only seen the landscape of England before it is a final product.


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Medium:

Silk, Mohair