Beneath The Cloth: Investigating Printed Textiles Pedagogy, 1970s-1980s

The Cloth was an innovative creative collective formed by David Band, Brian Bolger, Helen Manning and Fraser Taylor for their Royal College of Art (RCA) degree show in 1983. The group was an overnight success due to their collaborative and painterly approaches which different from industry practice at the time. The Cloth created fashion textiles for numerous clients including Betty Jackson, Paul Smith, Fenn Wright & Mason, Yves Saint Laurent, Bill Blass, Nicole Miller and Calvin Klein. Under The Cloth label, the collective created printed textiles and clothing, available through exclusive retail outlets such as Liberty of London, Corniche in Edinburgh, The Warehouse Glasgow, Barneys New York and Isetan Toyko. All members of The Cloth studied printed textiles, however, throughout the collective’s four-year existence, they worked across a plethora of creative disciplines. Prior to attending the RCA, Bolger studied at Duncan of Jordanstone and Manning at Middlesex, whereas Band and Taylor went to Glasgow School of Art (GSA). At this time, GSA’s printed textiles department was known for its contemporary approaches, established by Robert Stewart and continued by Jimmy Cosgrove. This paper utilises archives and oral histories to examine the pedagogic experiences which influenced The Cloth’s approaches to creating textiles. In particular, how were textile skills and approaches communicated and transmitted? What was the role of artist teacher or designer educator in sharing textile understanding and skills? What inspired emphasis on collaboration and cross-disciplinary working? This paper is part of a wider project funded by The Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship