IKIGAI
Little did I know back in 2011 that a chance decision to try out Shibori and indigo dyeing at West Dean College would end up changing my life.
I’d been a keen hobbyist jeweller up to that point, but something about the indigo and Japanese craft really appealed. As soon as I dyed my first piece in the indigo and watched the alchemy of the colour change as my wet fabric transformed itself from acid yellow to forest green to blue, I was hooked. It was one of those lightbulb moments.
But it wasn’t until a chance discovery on Pinterest took me to Bryan Whitehead’s Japanese textiles blog and a life-changing trip to Japan to study with him, that my fate was truly sealed.
During that trip I fell in love with Japan.
I got to learn Shibori resist dyeing, Katazome stencilling, indigo dyeing and Kumihimo braiding with a little Ikebana flower arranging thrown in. We were also treated to visits to Onsen (Japanese bath houses) and introduced to Japanese textiles history through Bryan’s encyclopaedic knowledge and trips to museums and galleries in Tokyo.
During the long days preparing Shibori patterns and dyeing in Bryan’s rich blue indigo vats, I found a moment of clarity. This was what I’d been searching for all my life.
The Japanese would say I’d found my Ikigai or purpose, the thing that gives my life meaning and gets me happily leaping out of bed each morning!
WABI SABI
Romor Designs is founded on the Japanese principle of 'wabi sabi'. 'Wabi' means quiet taste and 'sabi' means elegant simplicity and combined the principle embodies the idea of acceptance of beauty in randomness.
Wabi sabi is all about finding the beauty in what is already there. Romor Designs uses shibori to create a framework within which the indigo and natural dyes can work their magic and then takes the best of what the patterns and dyes produce to create truly unique pieces. Work can then be further embellished using stencil work, Sashiko embroidery and appliqued Boro patches.
No two works will ever be exactly the same ensuring that customers always have work that is truly their own.
MOTTAINAI
Rob follows the Japanese concept of mottainai, which means concern about waste. Scraps of dyed fabric are used as "blockers" to stop knots pulling into stitched shibori work and indigo resist dyed threads are re-used in stitch projects wherever possible.
Vintage kimono silk and cotton are repurposed into beautiful scarves, ensuring that these beautiful materials have a new lease of life. Often a kimono is damaged, torn or stained and can no longer be worn. When this happens, it seems a shame to throw away something so beautiful. Creating a unique and individual scarf from the fabric feels like a good way to celebrate and repurpose these stunning fabrics.
When buying from me you can rest assured that every effort has been made to recycle and not harm the environment.
“The shibori techniques that speak to me are the ones that embrace the life that’s in the fabric and dyes themselves. ”
MATERIALS
Much of the beauty of Japanese textiles is in the layers of meaning surrounding each piece, each work being the sum of many different processes. Japanese kimono silk typically has a texture, often with a repeating design, the background being an important part of the finished work.
Rob aims to create these layers by using carefully selected vintage fabric wherever possible. The fabric bears the marks of its past upon it, adding interest and tying back to the principle of wabi sabi by providing a canvas for the dyes used to meander through.
I use vintage French linen, undyed bolts of kimono silk and vintage kimono silk and cottons. When I source new material it is always the best quality cotton, linen and silk (ideally organic and responsibly sourced) and I aim to support small, local businesses wherever possible.
DYES
Rob uses mainly indigo but also some natural plat dyes in his work. Many of these dyes have been used since ancient times - Indigo, Madder, Tansy and Myrobalan although I love to discover dyes with real vibrancy and potential. There are so many natural dyes to choose from it would be a crime to limit my palette.
Dyes are selected to provide a rich field of colour and where they produce further layers of vibrant secondary colour in combination.
The colours natural dyes produce are organic, not artificial, a key part of Romor Designs' philosophy.