Sue Barrett’s Lockdown Nostalgia Project - GORDON

Описание: Sue Barrett’s Lockdown Nostalgia Project - GORDON

Originally conceived for a piece written for Sportswear International magazine in June 2020. Interviewed by Emma Holmqvist Deacon.

Andrew Olah liked the article so much, he asked Sue Barrett if she could do Film versions of her Lockdown Nostalgia Project - So Sue made 6 short films for Kingpins 24 - These were shown Live on 23rd + 24th June 2020.

-

Denim and trend specialist Sue Barrett has used her time in lockdown creatively, inviting her denim community friends to reflect on the industry and share stories of their favorite vintage garments.

In the midst of the bleakness and trauma brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdown has forced members of the industry to slow down and shift the focus of their creativity. Spending more time at home has inspired some of us to rummage through our wardrobes, unearthing long lost pieces and, hopefully, falling in love with them again. With this in mind, London-based denim guru and trend forecaster Sue Barrett – co-founder of Denim Forum and Address the Future – virtually gathered some of her friends in the denim community, asking them to share their love for specific denim pieces and suggest how they might improve them for today.

Said Barrett about her far-reaching body of denim work, The Lockdown Nostalgia Project: “As we all know, denim is more than just a fabric. Denim is the much loved, unique canvas that captures marks and memories of good times and bad. I wanted to connect with the currently housebound indigo hearts of the denim brotherhood I’ve had the privilege of knowing, and invite them to revisit some of their denim highlights.”

Here, an edit from the project, presenting Six denim experts and their most treasured pieces.

The original Sportswear International magazine interview was in two parts can be read here:

https://www.sportswear-international....

https://www.sportswear-international....

Sue Barrett
  / denimforum  
  / sue-barrett-97529312  

- - -

Sue Barrett Lockdown Nostalgia - Gordon Muir
Denim Consultant, Hiroshima, Japan

"My first special vintage piece was bought at a very special time – 1998. I’d been living in Italy since ’95, working for Adriano Goldschmied and Piero Turk at Team Kit in Asolo. After years of seeing the best denim come into the studio, it was time for me to experience Japan and its vintage shopping scene. “Boon” and “Popeye” magazines were the coolest titles at the time, so I knew which stores in Tokyo and Osaka to hit. Having arrived, I walked around with my eyes popping and my tongue hanging out – I’d experienced nothing like it. In Harajuku, I came across Teardrop, the smallest vintage store I’d ever seen. It was the width of garage shutter door, with an amazing selection of vintage denim and sweatshirts stacked up. I really liked two pieces – a 1950s sweatshirt and a pair of jeans – a Levi’s XX hidden rivet. I loved how the piece was patched and repaired, and the fade and wash were very unique. I didn’t have enough cash to buy both and didn’t speak any Japanese back then so couldn’t ask to have them put aside. After a restless night’s sleep, I went back and walked away a happy man with my jeans and sweatshirt."

"So how would I update the jeans if given the chance? It would be great to do a modern sustainable version of it, with fewer dips to achieve a lighter indigo shade. This way we’d be able create brighter, lighter summer shades without all the chemicals needed. We’d use laser for the processing, then go for embroidery with indigo threads to bring it back together again, giving the patch and repairs a feel of the “untouchable” –just like the original."