Kaffe Fassett was born in San Francisco, USA, and has lived in London since 1964. In the late 1960s, he began to work closely with the then Scottish designer Bill Gibb (also a legend). Their personal relationship and cooperation did not end until the death of Bill Gibb 1988.
Legend has it that Kaffee Fassett's lifelong love for wool weaving came from a trip with Bill Gibb in Scotland. At that time, he visited a wool factory, became interested in wool as a carrier, and was infected by the beautiful scenery in Scotland, so he bought 20 colors of Shetland wool thread and some knitting needles, and learned the basic stitch from another passenger on the train back to London. This story shows that even if you don't learn a skill at an early age, as long as you really love it and stick to it for many years, you will achieve something one day.
The full-page hand-knitted design published in Vogue Knitting magazine makes Kaffe Fassett stand out. In addition to working with Bill Gibb, Kaffe Fassett also designed for the famous Italian knitting brand Missoni. Many celebrities have only collected one of his hand-knitted products, including lauren bacall, Barbara Stacy and Shirley McClane.
Kaffee Fassett's ingenious use of various colors and unique knitting designs has become an important symbol that distinguishes Bill Gibb's works. 1970, one of Bill Gibb's fashions was selected as the best design of the year by the editor-in-chief of British Vogue, including Kaffee Fassett's hand-woven vest. It shows that the mainstream fashion industry at that time has begun to accept the traditional hand-woven technology.
In the early 1980s, Tam invited Kaffe Fassett to cooperate with them to design and sell hand-woven kits, and Fassett was already selling similar products in its own name. Starting from 1983, Tam began to sell Fassett's designs in wool shops and department stores. At first, manufacturers were worried that these packages were expensive and the stitches were complicated, so craftsmen might not buy them. It turns out that this popular product is one of the main sources of income for the company for many years.
From 65438 to 0988, Kaffee Fassett held a solo exhibition at the Victoria and Alberta Museum in London, England (the exhibits in the museum were mainly art and design), becoming the first living textile artist to win this honor. Later, because of its high popularity, this solo exhibition expanded into a tour of nine countries. When it was exhibited in Iceland, it was said that 5% of the country's population had visited it.
Kaffe Fassett has been working with patchwork designer Liza Prior Lucy since 1980s. It is because of teamwork that Fassett's design field is broader. He also designed the stage background and costumes for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
By the middle of1980s, Kaffe Fassett paid more attention to the design of (manual) canvas embroidery and related material packages.
A few years ago, I saw Kaffe Fassett's machine embroidery pattern series and patchwork material package designed for Swedish sewing machine manufacturer Husqvarna Viking Fujiwa Weijin (I personally think it is the most powerful sewing machine in the world), which is still full of his personal style.
Kraft Fassett and Charity Work
Kaffe Fassett is entrusted by the famous charity Oxfam (Oxfam International) to provide graphic designs that sell well in the West and assist poor villages in India and Guatemala to make them by hand. These colorful hand-woven fabrics are mainly distributed by Rowan Company in Britain and Westminster Fibres Company in America, and can be widely used in shirts, bedding and patchwork works.
No matter how much energy and time Kaffe Fassett has invested in painting, embroidery, patchwork and other fields he loves, he has always insisted on knitting design in Rowan and knitting training in the studio.
Kaffe Fassett's knitting design emphasizes color matching and pattern, so the same pattern can be woven into different finished products by different users, and the structure can be changed accordingly. This concept can be accepted by most European and American users, and I personally recognize it. For hand knitting, every finished product is unique. If you copy it completely, you will have no personality and may not be suitable for yourself.
My only regret is that the master didn't design crochet. I wonder if it is because he is not interested. In fact, knitting can be replaced by machines, and crochet can't be done for the time being. Therefore, crochet relies more on manual work and changes more.
The following are some knitting designs of Kaffe Fassett, focusing on jacquard and color matching. Most of the pictures are different finished products woven by ordinary knitting enthusiasts with his designs, and the rest are hard photos of magazines or books.
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Alice by the lake
Lifelong learner, settled in Canada.
Sixteen years experience in immigration industry.
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