Inspirational Archives: Examining Utilisation by Textile & Fashion Practitioners

This paper describes a project in progress: ‘Interwoven Connections: The Stoddard Templeton Design Studio and Design Library, 1843-2005’. Research methods include analysis of archive and historical material, oral history interviews with relevant scholars and experts, including Stoddard Templeton employees. This project builds on ‘Awaken’, which investigated the conceptual possibilities of reinterpreting archive material for contemporary fashion and textile related design work. Fourteen creative practitioners participated; creative process journals were used as the primary method of data collection. The intention of both projects is to extend insight into textile and fashion design creative processes specifically related to utilisation of archive resources