From top left: “Shots from “Case Study House #8; Eames House”, 1949 by Charles and Ray Eames from Eames: Beautiful Details, 2012 by Eames Demetrios and Charles Eames, edited by Gloria Flower and Steve Crist (pages 374–375); The Willie Top and Celia Florence Skirt from Alabama Chanin; “Embroidery Design”, 1885 by May Morris via the Victoria… Read on

Though the actual German Bauhaus school technically existed for a mere 14 years, its legacy undoubtedly continues to expand and flourish. The school, active during the years of the Weimar Republic, sought to unite artists of all disciplines in a utopian goal of designing a new world. Until broken up by the Nazis in 1933,… Read on

In October of 2014, and as an extension of our Makeshift initiative, we began a new series of events and conversations called On Design. This series explores art, design, makers, relationships, and how those who create can elevate craft in general. Natalie hosted our inaugural event, which was an exploration of the school of Bauhaus… Read on

Left: “Plate 110. Wall hanging, Jacquard weaving”, 1925; right: “Plate 111. Wall hanging, three-ply weave”, 1926 by Anni Albers from Anni Albers: On Weaving (New Expanded Edition) by Anni Albers with afterword by Nicholas Fox Weber and essays by Manuel Cirauqui and T’ai Smith. “Most of our lives we live closed up in ourselves, with… Read on

Left: “Ruth Asawa amid her works”, 1954. Photographed by Nat Farbman/Time & Life Pictures via New York Times; right: “Untitled (S.270)”, 1954–1958 by Ruth Asawa via Whitney Museum of American Art  NOTE: At the same time we were working on this post, a New York Times article titled “The Japanese-American Sculptor Who, Despite Persecution, Made Her Mark” published on July 20,2020. It’s wonderful and timely… Read on

Image: Black Mountain College via OurState.com  “But most important to one’s own growth is to see oneself leave the safe ground of accepted conventions and to find oneself alone and self-dependent. It is an adventure which can permeate one’s whole being. Self-confidence can grow. And a longing for excitement can be satisfied without external means,… Read on

“This ‘ethical fashion,’ this ‘sustainable fashion,’ that complies to what fashion really is, that is borne out of passion, skills, heritage, artistry, and bravery, is fashion. “ — Orsola De Castro Alabama Chanin returned to New York Fashion Week this year with a private showing at the Bowery Hotel. This return inspired us to looks… Read on

Paradise Under Reconstruction in the Aesthetic of Funk—that is the name of fiber artist Xenobia Bailey’s ongoing cultural art project. It’s colorful, challenging, multi-disciplinary, and incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to categorize. Bailey’s primary media are yarn and fabric and most of her pieces are crochet or knitted. She often uses concentric circles or repeating… Read on

First published in 1965, Anni Albers’ seminal book, On Weaving, is both a thoughtful meditation on the art of weaving and a beautiful photographic collection of historical craftsmanship. Albers, who we have written about in the past (and used as inspiration for some of our own work) was part of the Bauhaus movement and one… Read on

“A longing for excitement can be satisfied without external means within oneself: For creating is the most intense excitement one can come to know.” – Anni Albers Anni Albers, one of the original students trained at the Bauhaus school in Germany, was a true innovator in textile design. Though she worked as a multi-disciplinary artist,… Read on

“A longing for excitement can be satisfied without external means within oneself: For creating is the most intense excitement one can come to know.” – Anni Albers Anni Albers was a multi-disciplinary artist best remembered for her work in textile design. She trained at the Bauhaus school in Germany, where she met her future husband and… Read on

In 1984, author Cara Greenberg wrote a book on home and furniture design from the 1950s, coining the phrase “mid-century modern” —which she also used it as the title, Mid-Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950s. I recently unearthed this long-lost beauty of a book while reorganizing our studio library. Mid-Century Modern exemplifies the pinnacle of… Read on

It’s no secret that we at Alabama Chanin have long been admirers of Heath Ceramics—their work, their approach to responsible manufacturing, and their embrace of beautiful, sustainable design sets them apart from so many companies today. We have also been honored (and excited) to collaborate with them on several projects, including a line of dinnerware,… Read on

Our On Design series began in fall 2014 as an extension of our Makeshift conversations and events. The series explores art, design, makers, relationships, and the elevation of craft. Our conversation in January explored William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Here are some of Natalie’s thoughts from the presentation. Feel free to share… Read on

As part of our On Design and Makeshift conversation and event series, we have led discussions on various design movements and schools of thought (like Bauhaus, Arts and Crafts, and Memphis), the business of artisan craftwork, and designers like Charles and Ray Eames. This week’s discussion takes a turn toward a new design arena—Biophilic Design… Read on

“Eventually everything connects – people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality, per se.” – Charles Eames Our first official On Design conversation and event centered on the Bauhaus—founded in 1919 by architect Walter Gropius. This movement’s core objective was a radical concept: to reimagine the material world to reflect… Read on

Roman Alonso, Steven Johanknecht, Pamela Shamshiri, and Ramin Shamshiri are Commune—an inter-disciplinary collective of artists that work in the design realm. Commune is a design firm, but they are also much more than that; they invent moods and spaces for residential clients and for public space, design graphics and branding concepts, and create products that… Read on

Join us this Monday at The Factory for the second lecture in our conversation series: On Design. Last month, Natalie spoke on the Bauhaus and the creative process. This month the conversation continues with a lecture about Charles and Ray Eames, husband and wife designers, and mid-century design. We’ve been finding inspiration from the timeless… Read on

Beginning  October 13th, 2014 and as part of our ongoing Makeshift conversation, Alabama Chanin will host a series of discussions and lectures about design, art, business, community, and plenty of other topics. Events will be held at the Factory on the second Monday of each month. The format will shift, depending on topic and presenter,… Read on

It’s no secret that we at Alabama Chanin have long been admirers of Heath Ceramics – their work, their approach to responsible manufacturing, and their embrace of beautiful, sustainable design sets them apart from so many companies today. We have also been honored (and excited) to collaborate with them on several projects, including a line… Read on

As Alabama Chanin has grown and evolved, we have built a business model that I strongly believe in. Many of you have been with us from the beginning, and many of you have found us along the way. On a daily basis, we receive a bounty of emails, phone calls, and letters. Here we have… Read on

Occasionally in our lives, a person comes along who changes the course of our destiny and makes us a better person, simply by having touched our lives. One such person in my life was a teacher who believed in me before I knew that one could believe. I came to his studio as a naive,… Read on