The AA2A programme is a platform for me as a weave designer/maker to develop and bring together my research in garment constructive textiles.

I’ve always been interested in doing more with weave and found it hard to just weave cloth and not decide it’s purpose. With this in mind, I decided to develop on from Issey Miyake’s APOC (A Piece Of Cloth)concept and create a new spin.

I’m from Ghana and we are the owners of the Kente cloth, woven in Kumasi Bonwire, which I visited in December 2007 and did my internship with the native Kumasi weavers. The Kente has so much value and importance that one wouldn’t dream of cutting into a small piece of cloth and only wearing it for one season. The Kente is cherished and worn as a piece of cloth with minimal seems and closures, almost wrapped and tucked into a tight knot, that gradually loosens and the wearer must re-arranged and tighten again for usage. Similar to a the Greek toga, the kente for men is draped across the right shoulder and wrapped around the waist. For the women the kente is enveloped across the torso and tucked above the bust line. Using these methods of wrapping, I would like to engineer a garment on the Jacquard using the APOC concept.

The AA2A programme will finish around April so I have two months left to complete a product that will hopefully launch me into my career and finalise my ideas.

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Hand woven fabric cushions