R & D collection of 4,000 kinds of fabrics "cloth library" for China's independent design

"I haven't had a second identity in these 21 years. I am a fabricist, a material person." This simple and simple self-description was emphasized many times by MaryMa.

But when it comes to the Textile Library and the changes she has made to China's independent design and fabric industry over the years, it's not as simple as a “clothing person”.

From June 28th to August 28th, if you go to the Beijing Yingke Center, you will see a "Dear, World" software image exhibition sponsored by the Cloth Library. At the entrance, a huge blue cloth installation suspended in the air, heralding a cross-border exhibition. In the nine exhibition spaces, you will enter the soft promenade made of fabric, into the soft device made of inflatable fabric, and also see the actors in the space of more than 400 different white fabrics. Huang Jue and other nine video creators' photographic works.

It’s novel to use a cloth application and an image to blend out an exhibition. When fabrics of different materials and textures reinterpret the image in an imaginary form, the fabric is also broken. It's amazing, a piece of ordinary cloth can also extend so much play.

“This exhibition is breaking through the infinite nature of fabric applications.” As the founder of the Cloth Library and the curator of “Dear, the World,” MaryMa uses cloth as an artistic language. Although the cloth library is not an art institution, there are already seven art exhibitions planned.

In the past curatorial career, the cloth library is known for its boldness and imagination. Whether it's exploring how a single piece of fabric transforms 20 looks, or a lace-themed cross-border exhibition, MaryMa always allows the general public to see the mysteries behind the fabric and connect with creativity, technology and experience.

Founded in 2015, the Cloth Library is both an academically strong fabric research and development center and a unique landscape for the Chinese fabric industry.

A library without books displays more than 4,000 rare and innovative fabrics. It works closely with hundreds of independent Chinese designers. The initial mission is to enhance the Chinese textile fabric industry. But nowadays, the cloth library has stepped out of the fabric industry, and has repeatedly made art exhibitions to the public.

“Everyone used to think that cloth is just a supply, it is for the fashion, home or building behind the scenes. But cloth can actually face the public, it also has the power of culture and art.” MaryMa is the cloth library There is business logic, but she never thought about changing the fashion industry. Instead, she told the public about the charm of the fabric in the form of exhibitions, and then promoted the position of the fabric in the design of the entire commercial industry, creating a cross-section with the use of cloth as the core. Application.

The possibility of finding a piece of cloth

In the suburbs of Hangzhou, there is a cloth kingdom hidden in the fabric library of more than 2,000 square meters.

This is a peaceful place beyond the hustle and bustle of the city. In the distance, there are rails, bungalows and woodland, and the quiet interior is with thousands of fabrics and designer workshops for designers. Visitors who come to make reservations every day can browse here and see the designers' busy figures and fabrics of different colors, materials and textures. If you are interested in the history and details of the fabric, you can scan the QR code to read the process and source of the material.

From more than 1,800 fabrics in the initial construction to more than 4,000 today, MaryMa is still expanding its variety with the R&D team. Any independent designer can find the materials they want here, or ask for ideas and ideas, and tailor the fabrics they want.

Because of the years of cooperation with independent designers such as Wang Tianmo and Chen Peng, and the exclusive development of fabrics for commercial brands such as JNBY, the cloth library has become a non-negligible existence in the Chinese fashion industry. Here, not only does the designer help the designer to complete a small amount of order at a relatively low price, but also meet the designer's inspiration with rich categories, create together and let the creative fall.

“Before I created the cloth library, I have been a material supplier for 18 years.” MaryMa used to be a foreign trade company, providing long-term fabric services for international brands such as Prada, Burberry, NorthFace and Nike, but never thought about it. Do the domestic market.

“I went to the shopping malls in China and found that the brand on the same floor had a strong sense of similarity.” Because of her professional sensitivity, she began to think about where the problem lies. China's clothing brands are usually divided into the purchasing department and the design department. There is a lack of communication between the two departments, resulting in almost the same choice of fabrics for many brands.

China is the world's largest textile producer, exporter and consumer. China's textile production accounts for more than half of the world's total, and its international market share exceeds one-third of the world's total. According to statistics, in 2018 China produced nearly 80 billion meters of fabrics, nearly 30 billion pieces of clothing, and exports amounted to nearly 200 billion US dollars. In April 2019 alone, China produced 4.22 billion meters of fabric.

Such huge data and productivity are difficult to meet the needs of independent designers.

In 2015, Wang Tianmo, an independent designer who became famous overseas, found MaryMa and hoped that she would help her solve the fabric dilemma. Since the purchase volume of independent designers is generally small, there is a high demand for design and production of material printing, so it is difficult to find a suitable supplier. Many designers have to go to Europe or Japan to purchase, paying a high price, fabrics have almost become the designer's biggest headache, and also restrict the development of the independent design industry.

MaryMa helped Wang Tianmo to provide a complete solution for fabric selection and design. In the end, it costs 300 yuan a meter in foreign countries, only 30 yuan to solve, the entire season is very successful.

After this, a group of independent high-end sports brand ParticleFever, independent designer Tan Fengyi and other people came to admire. Through cooperation with independent designers, she discovered the opportunity for the transformation of the Chinese fabric industry, and the cloth library came into being.

Together with different designers, she is immersed in the creativity of materials and creates under the theme of different styles. A piece of cloth can be selected not only, but also designed, created and recreated. MaryMa found that she has been motivated once again in the fabric industry for more than a decade. “Those avant-garde, young, and fresh thinking ideas have enabled my team to open their minds and see more fun and fashion behind material creation.”

In 2016, the Cloth Library became the first Chinese institution to be certified by the New York MaterialConneXion, the world's leading material agency. The Chinese fabric industry has since gained a new identity and recognition in the world.

“In the 1970s and 1980s, Japanese designers Kawakubo and Yamamoto published their works on the stage in Paris and the world. Their power behind the scenes came from Japan, and they all used Japanese fabrics to express their works. We also hope that it can become China. This is our source of public welfare research institutions for contemporary materials,” said MaryMa, but her inner business blueprint is far more than that.

Establish design IP

Fabric is "one cloth", material is "open factory"? These impressions from the public are what MaryMa wants to break.

“You can never imagine the boundaries of the possibility of a piece of fabric.” In the seven exhibitions hosted by the Cloth Library Curator, the concept of “clothing without borders” was spread to the masses with a combination of contemporary artistic experiences and installations. .

In 2016, the Cloth Library planned the “1-20 Cloth Plan” and went to the public for the first time. A piece of ordinary 100% polyester fabric, processed by the development of modern technology, 20 kinds of metamorphosis.

In 2018, the Cloth Library and the Swiss St. Gallen Textile Museum opened the "LacetoMeetYou Embroidered Waihui" exhibition, which fully presented the re-creation of lace classic materials and contemporary crafts from a hundred years, from fashion, sports equipment, shoes, The full use of accessories reinterprets ancient lace.

This time, the "Dear, World" software image exhibition is to step beyond the industry and interact with video art.

MaryMa said that the cloth library is only a starting point. The extensive cooperation with designers is the first step in business logic. Later, through the exhibition, the audience can see the deeper connotation of the fabric.

The new material experience hall TEXTILE+, which first appeared in the exhibition, is an independent space for MaryMa to explore business possibilities in the future. Here, hats, accessories, shoe bags, furniture items, and other products related to all aspects of life are sold. The technology materials that the audience has experienced in the exhibition have been applied to them.

It seems that this experience hall is more like a shop or a collection store, but MaryMa said that it is just an IP that the cloth library hatches. “TEXTILE+ is a product, an exhibition hall, and an open laboratory. We gather Innovative technology and aesthetic creativity, taking life scene as the core, creating a new product for urban consumers to gain new possibilities and thinking.” Even they will let users participate in the design and realize for them around “TEXTILE+ whimsy”. product.

Just like walking into the art store and taking away a derivative after watching the exhibition in the art gallery, people can also buy the avant-garde design evolved from the high-tech materials that they have seen before in the experience hall. It may be that a pair will not be beaten. Wet white shoes, a ruffled cloth coffee table with water on it.

MaryMa said that the project can ultimately carry what, can be connected to a wide range, she is still trying, the future TEXTILE+ project cooperation works will have an online mall, "TEXTILE+ is a design thing. Materials can carry everything, also It can be turned into everything. A coffee table, a pair of white shoes, a windbreaker, a handbag, and their common features are no longer the same as what you see everyday. It is in your life, just like the cloth is close to you. The skin is kind and natural, and importantly, it is not expensive."

The fabric industry has already ushered in a wave of new technologies, and the global textile and apparel consumption and market structure have undergone structural changes. Consumer preferences and purchasing habits have undergone tremendous changes, and orders are personalized, customized, and fragmented. These all place higher demands on suppliers' ability to respond, integrate resources, and fulfill their social responsibility capabilities. The industry has provided opportunities for more voice and advantage in the new era.

"The strength of foreign technology industry is very strong, and I am also standing on the shoulders of giants." In 20 years, MaryMa has contacted countless foreign experts and technologies, and constantly digested all accumulations. "These marks are implanted very deeply. In the brain, it becomes the originality of the self, and then combines the raw materials of different regions of China to realize new feelings."

MaryMa firmly believes that once the TEXTILE+ project is combined with the design of different brands and fields, and the design brand and the public form a dialogue, the single fabric supplier role in the past will continue to upgrade and integrate, open the industrial chain of Chinese clothing design, reshape the fabric. character of. This is also the opportunity and direction of the entire fabric industry in China in the future.

She also envisioned the future, the cloth library will surely take the Chinese fabric label to London, New York, Tokyo and other fashion capitals, and gradually take root there.

“Who is the opportunity for the fabric to the public, is it real estate? Is it commercial? I think everything is possible.” MaryMa hopes to bring more internationalized fabric creative content to China and bring the Chinese fabric industry to the world. More places.