#thewhitworth galleryinthepark barbarabrown blanket 1960s textiles design

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Work #72

Blanket

Barbara Brown, 1987

Machine-knitted wool

Barbara Brown was a high profile 1960s British designer. Born in Manchester in 1932, Barbara Brown was considered one of the prolific designers of 1960s Britain. Originally commissioned by Heal’s fabrics, Brown’s characteristic 3D designs and bold futuristic compositions quickly earned her the reputation of one of the golden girls during the 1960s and 70s. Brown’s bold futuristic designs reflected a confidence which swept through the country during the 1960s, where post war Britain began to get optimistic about the future again, rejecting the drab browns of the make-do-and-mend era.

Alongside another of Heal’s superstars, Lucienne Day, Brown played a part in this shift in society, where young people were turning away from the traditional one-size-fits-all textiles - and indeed values - of their parents’ generation. Brown and Day’s contemporary home fabrics and furnishings played a part in the new wave of attractive and affordable design available to the general public instead of just the elite few. Day even exhibited her work at the Britain Can Make It exhibition, intended to boost morale across the nation.

Despite being such a prolific designer, Brown’s name is not as well-known as Heal’s principal client, Lucienne Day. It is not so much that Brown was working in the shadow of Lucienne Day, as Brown came a little later than Day’s debut, but perhaps due to the associations her designs have with the 70’s: her bold geometric designs and shades of browns and oranges epitomise 1960’s and 70’s style, and, along with avocado bathroom suites, carry a certain stigma as an era of somewhat garish household décor, gladly forgotten by those who grew up in it. Lucienne Day’s work tended to heavily feature nature and natural patterns, something which is considered classic and is repeatedly returned to in fashion still today. At the time, however, Brown’s home furnishings were much-loved and considered very contemporary. They were sold at prices, which enabled customers to replace household items every few years as fashion changed. Tom Worthington, Heal’s owner, invested in designers who produced compositions exemplifying the changing moods of the decade.

For many, the 1960s is considered to be an era of revival of handicrafts and more modern ideas were combined with traditional crafts. Heals designs worked with designers to create a range of colourways to print their fabrics, something which immediately strikes you up on entering the Barbara Brown exhibition here at The Whitworth, particularly ‘Piazza’, ‘Colonnade’ and ‘Recurrence’, bold shapes in a range of colours reminiscent of pop art prints. But it is not these designs that capture my attention most, but rather, the multi-coloured linear patchwork blanket hung in the far corner: ‘Blanket’. This piece stands out from the rest, not only as the only one made of wool, but through its composition; a kaleidoscopic island of block colours which give way to more muted tones. Despite its vibrancy, the piece has an air of unobtrusiveness, displayed by the exit and somewhat cut off from the rest of the exhibition space.

After taking a particular interest in this piece, believing it to be wholly different to its counterparts in the main exhibition space, I come to discover it is actually a lot like the others in that it is highly exemplary of the era: It is a traditional craft adapted for commercial production (machine knit), and it exudes the confidence characteristic of the era. The blanket’s patchwork block colours are joined with a seamlessness that is only achievable through this method of production and near impossible through hand knitting.

The effect of mass production on home furnishings in the average UK household was immense and, for me, the machine knitted blanket is a marker of this shift from a culture of homemade furnishings of the war and post-war era to the more shop-bought consumer culture of the 1970s. In the  1980s, handicrafts of times gone by, including home sewing and knitting, were in rapid decline throughout the western world; shop bought clothes and machine-knitted items were so readily available to buy, and often much cheaper than the cost of fabric or wool and a pattern to follow -  and much less effort to make. By the 1990s, wool suppliers were becoming obsolete and wool shops suffered. Looking at Barbara Brown’s ‘Blanket’, I think it somewhat represents the beginning of the end for homemade creations and makes me think of the ‘fast-fashion’ throwaway culture of today. As appealing as the piece is to the eye, it is rather a bittersweet experience to learn of the implications of mass producing items that used to be handmade. On the one hand, this meant the average – and even poorer - households could brighten up their living spaces and keep up to date with fashion trends without breaking the bank. On other hand however, it is another reminder of how machines have replaced crafts and dying art forms, as well as a reminder of our increasing dependence on high street manufacturers and our almost inescapable relationship with them.

The textiles industry, however, is currently under scrutiny for a number of reasons (working conditions in overseas factories, the carbon footprint of mass production and overall unsustainability, to name just a few) and there’s the very beginnings of a shift in today’s culture, where people are beginning to confront the problems of the textiles industry. One indication of that fact is the revival of traditional crafts, especially amongst the younger generations. For many, returning to handmade crafts - or learning for the first time - is not just about trying to create a revolution in the textiles industry, but it’s also a way of connecting with past generations, learning the skills of our grandparents, for whom making clothing and furnishings was an accepted part of life.  My Nanna taught me to knit and when we talk about different techniques, complicates stitches and tools, I feel as if I’ve picked up an old forgotten language which provides me with a glimpse into her past and how she used to live.

Abbie Roberts (Visitor Team Assistant)