Rachel MacHenry | Woollen Suiting Throw & Cushions (Produced by Peace Quilts, Haiti with the BandAid Project)
Location: Ervaneria Victoria Inc., 920 Dundas St. W.
Rachel MacHenry is a textile designer and maker whose practice focuses on sustainable, innovative design for functional textiles, often developed in collaboration with traditional craft producers. Working in partnership with communities, she designs for small-scale artisanal production. She has worked extensively in South Asia, creating textile products using local materials for overseas markets. Her own line has been produced with craft producers in Nepal and India and was marketed in the United States, Europe and Japan with retailers such Barney’s Japan, Anthropologie and Takashimaya. Currently, she is developing a line of plant-dyed materials, “Botanica Tinctoria”, with a project in India.
Woollen Suiting Throw & Cushions This collection is part of the BrandAid Project’s work in Haiti and is designed for production with the women’s artisan group “Peace Quilts”, based in Port au Prince. On her trips to Haiti, MacHenry observed how much of everyday living takes place out in the streets and marketplaces. People set up businesses in various makeshift structures and offer all sorts of foods, animals, and household goods (both new and used). This textile collection is inspired by the “pepe” or second-hand clothing markets found in Port au Prince, where men’s suits and other used clothing are hung for sale along the roadside. The hand beadwork is drawn from the rich tradition of beaded and sequined Vodu banners, an important part of Haitian culture. The designs also reference the great resourcefulness found in Haitian culture, where artisans are constantly re-using materials in new and inventive ways. (Wool suiting with beads/cotton backing)