Kristin Ferrell

Mountainside

Kristin Ferrell's great-grandmother is from Látrabjarg, which is a cliff on the west peninsula of Iceland. The coast there is about 14 km long and the fall to the sea is 400 meters. The landscape there is peaceful and beautiful, yet extreme and dangerous to navigate. 

These dualities, seen through the designer's memories of Látrabjarg is the story being expressed in the dress “Mountainside.”   

The piece began with several fabric tryouts when trying to capture this duality, and came together when she started stitching on the bias. In those samples, the stitched areas were stiff and structured, while the other areas were light and voluminous. The next step was to translate this into woven structures. 

The dress is a woven piece, created using a combination of a two-weft structure and a two-warp structure. The yarns play a big part in achieving the texture. The front side is a black viscose, and the back is a black wool. When washing and dyeing the fabric the wool shrinks and results in a more stiff and structured area while the other areas are light and voluminous. The final result is a draped deep purple asymmetric dress.