art | producing | design | access
Louise Kate Anderson
Macramé Ribbon Dresses, 2o04-5
Having always been a fan of the typical friendship bracelet in my childhood, I began to research the technique mostly used to create them which is known as macramé, a word derived from Spanish, loosely meaning to "fringe". Essentially macramé is the art of decorative knotting. So I thought, well if I could knot cotton into a bracelet, why not ribbon into a dress?
I entered the 2004 Cutting in Youth Fashion Design Awards run by the City of Sydney and Waverley Action Youth Services and out of 400 applicants, I was chosen to produce my design for a catwalk competition in which I came third in the 'Nightlife' category. This earned me some spending money and my first work experience venture into the world of fashion.
My design also happened to pop up in Dolly magazine and several busstops across the CBD, not to mention the morning show with Kerri-Anne. My 15 minutes of fame, so they say...
Above: Nine Network TV Talk Show, Mornings with Kerri-Anne, December 2004.
Right: Forward Fashion' in Trendspotters pullout, Dolly magazine, December 2004, p3.
Below: Some low-tech images of design idea generation and works in progress, as well as photographs from the Catwalk Competition day at Pitt Street Mall Sydney 2004 where Verity modelled my red macramé creation.
I made the blue dress a year later in 2005 which is worn by my gorgeous friend Claire who modelled my major design project for my final photographs.
To answer the questions I frequently get asked - both dresses used more than 200 metres of ribbon each to complete; yes, I still own them, and no, I don't get much occasion to wear them out!
Although I rarely use ribbon, I still do a fair amount of macramé in my textile work.
