The Raw Energy of Natural Fibres by Earth Habitats Founder Anna Crozier
By Anna Crozier, Earth Habitats
A momentum is growing in the awareness of the bio-electrical pulses that exist within the DNA of natural fibres. These subtle energy, harmonic pulses are the gifts of the non-human fibre species, animal fibre species, botanical species. Comprehending these gifts is understanding the narrative that exists within the interspecies relationship and knowing the empathy between the non-human species and the body’s intelligence. These natural fibres contain the feelings, the emotions of serenity, the Spirit, the kinetic pulses in the DNA of these species. All traits are conveyable to the human organism via the second skin, the textiles that wrap the body. The sciences of electrophotonic technology validates this reality as the imaging captures the auric field of the fibres. This technology also applies to imaging the auric field of the human body, water and the botanical species.
The exquisite beauty of natural colours in the alpaca fibres, merino, the wild silks, the vast scope of native cotton colours, Musk Ox and the qiviut fibre, cashmere, vicuna, abaca and the sea grasses contain the alive, subtle harmonic energies for our inner human ecology. It is vital that these fibres from Nature are organically manufactured to obtain these harmonic fields of subtle pulses.
Spotlight: 3 Designers Who Respond To The Call Of The Wild & The Pulse Of Natural Fibres
Amano - Melbourne
Lorena Laing is the catalyst for the artisanal collaboration AMANO BY LORENA LAING, based in Melbourne, Australia. As Founder and Designer, she co-ordinates a gathering of 10 highly skilled weavers and knitters. Lorena and the greater number of these women arrived in Australia from a beleaguered Chile in the 1980s. She speaks about the alpaca being her main love of natural fibre as it links her to the Andean cordillera where she grew up.
Lorena is deeply inspired by the fibres she works with: ‘The material evokes a feeling and it activates what I envisage for the outcome. The material is the pivotal point for a design that will complement the behaviour of the fabric. They work hand in hand. I cannot design and then find the fabric, I am an intuitive designer and not an overplanner. I allow the fabric to come forward and speak for itself. It is why I have an affinity for natural fibres. It travels back into the subconscious and I consciously call on the ‘inner versal’ power for design inspiration. I never have a blockage as the mind is not getting in the way of how the fabric speaks to me. It is a personally unique experience and people do fall in love with these designs and their qualities’. Lorena referred to the team of knitters, weavers, hand crochet specialists being ‘in tune’ with the inherent nature of the fibres. She is a designer to observe as she is now diving deeper into the threads that hold those naturally grown fibre colours that enhance the subtle harmonics within the human body.
Avani and Kumaon - Uttarakhand, India
Rashmi Bharti is the Founder and Designer of Avani and Kumaon. Behind her is a community of designers, spinners, weavers and a vast landscape ecology for the moths and trees that create the wild silks. Their collective story is extraordinary as it belongs to individuals who placed themselves in the wild living room of the Himalayan mountains that were carpeted in diverse tree species with very few resources except their ingenuity. In 1998 they developed infrastructure for a Co-operative for hand spinning and hand weaving. Today this community of hand spinners and weavers specialise in outstanding textural outcomes. Originally the hand spinners and weavers were bringing in synthetic fibres half way across India. The weavers were looking at costs and not what they were making. In the upgrade for the Co-operative they chose to orientate their Projects around qualitative fashion, natural fibres, design sensibility, a fair price for their artisans and external marketing for their beautiful apparel. 20 years ago the external marketing was challenging as sustainability and circular production were not part of the conversation. The change is now taking place and they are responding to a global desire for fabrics that do enhance the body. This wonderful Himalayan community has demonstrated resilience with an infrastructure that has actualised circular management, zero-waste, composting waste for their gardens and clean energy production, both Solar and Pine Needle Gasification. In a radius of 40 kms, they have orchestrated 7 field Centres as their objective had the oversight of not displacing village families but creating integrative infrastructure so the women can work near their homes and families.
Their journey for sustainability led them to replanting 12.000 specific tree species for the wild silk moths. The tree species that were replanted were the fodder trees that had been disappearing from these wild Himalayan forests. The fodder trees are the species that nurture the silkworms for the rare wild silks. After 7 years 5.000 trees have grown and matured and by 2021 will be ready for the silkworm egg seeding, the silkworms to spin the exquisite Muga, Eri and Oak Tasar Wild Silks. The Muga Silk gives these illuminated, golden silk threads, Oak Tasar Silk projects the colours of fallen oak leaves, Eri, the wild silk threads of natural cream to white colours.
There is one more attribute that will be realised. Rashmi Bharti and her colleagues are now researching the ways in which to maintain the glue, the sericin, that surrounds these silks as Japanese research has determined that this glue consists of 45% amino acids. The woven fabrics have this viscosity that indicate high performance fabrics as well as a superb experience for the body. This is a Collective to watch for the future Wild Silk Threads that enhance the harmonics of the body. In Rashmi’s words, ‘we are here to make the Earth a little more beautiful’.
Vreisis - California
The enthralling scope of native coloured cottons had nearly been sent to the libraries of botanical extinction. But due diligence on retrieving these extraordinary naturally grown colours has been taking place in Peru, Mexico, China, India and Israel— with Japan, Peru and USA creating outstanding organic manufacturing of these fibres. Israel purchased rare mauve seeds from Peru several years ago and this colour will add to the enthralling presence of colours for design and production companies. The re-emergence of these colours and the transformation into unique apparel relates not only to the visual delight but the resonance of subtle energies for transference to the human body via the fabrics. The colours range from chocolate, coffee, mocha, sage green avocado green, primrose yellow, mauve and recently, in India, there has been an unveiling of the black, indigo blue and red colours. These colours require significant investment for ongoing research and development so they can become more available in the hand crafted and commercial manufacturing industries.
As the Founder of Vreisis, Sally Fox’s presence in this retrieval process of intense and delicate colours has been vital. Her dedication has covered decades of research and multiple plantings to increase qualitative characteristics that can be developed through natural selection of the seeds. Sally’s research has been dedicated to hand selection of the native coloured cotton seeds for the fibre advantages of increased length, soft handling and tensile strength. Her landscapes have been biologically and biodynamically managed and these attentions translate to minimalised water requirements by the plants, high density nutrients, high tensile strength and optimum soft handling properties. Sally has developed the colours of umber, fawn and varying shades of avocado green. She has processed these raw fibres with Mills in the USA and in Japan. Yarns for knitting and weaving and the fabrics and knits are available from Sally Fox and her company, Vreisis at Brooks, California.
Sally had been challenged for years by white cotton growers but she has endured. She is continuing to grow these sublime native coloured cottons and ongoing hand selection for the greater length of these native cotton coloured fibres. She has achieved outstanding yarns that have high tensile strength, handle like silk and convey those animated, subtle pulses to the body. The yarns and fabrics naturally respire.
She would like to establish a Not-For-Profit company that will nurture the ongoing research development for the wide scope of colours for current and future coloured cotton growers who would like to enter the enticing fields where these dynamic native cottons will colour a landscape. Expanding the colour scope will be part of this objective and meet the incoming awareness for second skin aliveness. Sally has demonstrated the significant increase in the length of the fibre and the direct relationship with the comfort fit for the body. She has demonstrated that natural grown colours not only support the immune system of the body but the re-enlivenment of soil biology mass and atmosphere health when grown biologically and biodynamically.
Naturally grown colours from nature’s palette translate to textiles that are not dyed and immersed in chemicals. The dye and chemical processes annihilate the original sentient energy, the subtle, fractal pulses within the DNA of the fibre. It is critical that organic manufacturing practices are engaged so the kinetic energy of the botanical species and animal fibre species are present in the second skin. These sentient, animated, heart coherent, empathetic fibres are the sources for wholistic textiles that maintain the pulses and give ‘serenity’ in the second skin. This due diligence is an experience of interspecies connection and when you wear these garments you will feel nature’s presence breathing lucidly on your skin.