Carla Newton 

Info

THE INCOMPLETE ARCHIVE
Book Design
2020


Growing up the youngest girl in a large and loving extended family I was always wearing hand me downs. Second hand clothing never seemed inadequate to me, nothing was more exciting then rifling through a pile of clothes and giving it a second life. There’s no surprise this followed me into my adolescence when I would raid my mum’s closet and claim things as my own. It’s not unlikely that you’ll hear “thanks it was my mum’s!” in response to a compliment on my outfit.
This project is my way of archiving not only the items of clothing but the legacy they hold.

Thinking back on the past always sparks dreaming of the future and my biggest concern is climate change, and I am aware of the direct impact of something I love: fashion, has on the environment. This book aims to educate about the cyclical nature of trends and how holding onto and treasuring items of clothing is fulfilling and sustainable. This project was my final capstone project in university and it pulled together all my favourite elements. Layouts, book design, fashion and sustainability. Throughout this book I wanted to create elements of fashion sustainability in non-cliched and exciting ways. I did this by creating fabric collages which bring textile waste into a graphic format, another way of repurposing and solidifying sustainability into all aspects of the book.

I end the book with a passage which reads “This book is not finished, and I hope it never will be, my aspiration is that it will be an ongoing trend, for the women who have come before me, and who will come after me. Once we are all long gone, our spirit will be kept alive by this archive. The simple fabrics and the items of clothing will become artefacts, and the legacy of our family.”
This sums up for me the design choices in the book, it’s meant to be edited and added to and pasted into, it’s ajournal and a fully formed book in one. 
Individual items of clothing are printed onto transparency film in generations. One page belonging to the person in each generation that was passed down to the next. As you flip the pages you can see how a collection is built up over time and family. 
Collage made up entirely of fabrics passe down in my family.
Embroidery done by my great grandmother, on flax linen that she grew, harvested and weaved herself. She was illiterate but was able to copy the shape of typography for her initials. 
Another collage made from fabric samples, treated digitally to explore innovative ways in which fabric scraps can be used instead of wasted.
The pages showcasing pieces from the collection are intended to be added to over time, as the clothing is worn and loved by future generations. Photos are to be stuck in, like a traditional photo album.

Projects:   ❶AR Charm Bracelet ❷Notitia ❸Spiralling   ❹INCOMPLETE:Series ❺MELT ❻Incomplete Archive ❼Baskerville. Etcetera.