Professor Robert Beaulieu teaches textile science and development at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. I took an introduction to textile science class more than ten years ago, but I think about the class often and have told stories borrowed from Robert’s lectures at cocktail parties.
We talk about Levis Strauss, jeans, denim, polyester leisure suits, pills, and more. And this is part one of the interview, which will continue soon.
FIT’s Textile Development and Marketing home page.
A link to the YouTube movie of the guitar prodigy who plays Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.
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February 25th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Yes, thanks, Jon, this is a most interesting conversation.
From the Fox Fibre site:
“Sally Fox didn’t invent colored cotton — it has always existed in nature. The Incas used it in their textiles.”
But I believe she gets credit for just about everything else. And I’m interested because as I sat here composing a comment, the first shipment of color grown cotton was delivered to my store! This particular cotton comes from Peru and I’m wondering if all of it was spun by hand or if it can be worked by machine like Sally Fox’s cotton.
The colors aren’t as distinct as I expected but it can be boiled to make deeper colors.
Now I wonder if the cuticle is already gone or if its removal is what changes the color. Perhaps that will be answered next episode!
February 25th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Gail,
Thanks for the clarification! I’ll see if I can get Robert to answer your questions. We didn’t cover cotton cuticle removal.