Geoffrey B. Small

[Faust]

Please do so when you find time!

[Geoffrey B. Small]

The race is on.

.


Following last posts, I am now returned to Italy and SZ readers can find
the text of the foreword I wrote for the Eco-Fashion book here entitled
"The Race is On" :

http://www.geoffreybsmall.net/EcoFas...eRaceison.html



.

[sshum88]

Interesting read...will have to find a copy of the book.

[zamb]

Thanks Sass and Geoffrey

the foreword is wonderfully written and a joy to read. it touches on many a significant social and philosophical questions that I have been playing around with in my mind. not just with fashion alone, but also with different aspects of human perception of self and others......................I will say more another time, as I dont want to derail the thread

[Avantster]

Looks to be an interesting book, I'm ordering it. Thanks to Geoffrey and Sass for sharing it with us.

[Darklands]

beautiful work and a very, very, important message. congrats geoffrey.

[Geoffrey B. Small]

thanks

Thanks very much to all of you for the very kind comments.
Coming up soon will be posting some new works.
Best wishes, Geoffrey

[cremaster]

can't wait!

[sassbrown]

Geoffrey B Small

I have to agree with almost all of what has been posted about Geoffrey. I have nothing but respect for him and his work. He is a SERIOUS designer in every sense of the word. His work is timeless, his aesthetic too sophisticated for the average eye, his ethics unmatched. I was honored to have him write the intro to my book Eco Fashion which recently published by Laurence King in the UK, as well as Logos in Italy. He is a greatly under appreciated designer, and to some extent unknown. So I welcome any discussion that better promotes him and his work. Brava!

[cremaster]

Sassbrown
You must also be congratulated on producing such a timely and important book.
To give a voice and platform to designers committed to issues of sustainability and ethical consumerism and have it available to the wider public is truly a great thing.
You, and Geoffrey, are making a real difference.

[Geoffrey B. Small]

'



ARTIST AND ACTIVIST

Henryk Górecki, died Friday Nov 12 aged 76, a Polish composer who achieved immense popularity in Western Europe and America in the 1990s thanks to the ethereal splendour of his Symphony No 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs). But he was also an important political voice in Poland, for example, writing his controversial Beatus Vir for Pope John Paul II's return to his homeland after being elected pontiff in 1979. During the dying days of communism Górecki was seen as an agitator by the authorities and was frequently followed and had his phone tapped. He had started his musical life as a pioneer of the Polish avant garde and his work was often dismissed for its violence, both in its sound and in the manner of its performance. Symphony of Sorrowful Songs was originally conceived as a tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. In each of the three movements a soprano sings a Polish text: a 15th-century lament; a message scribbled on the wall of a Gestapo cell; and a Silesian prayer of a mother searching for her missing son. Repression, violence and the subjugation of innocent victims on this planet has far from disappeared. The music and its message, are as relevant today as ever. You can listen to some of it here. RIP Mr. Gorecki and thank you...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miLV0o4AhE4&feature=fvw




.

[Icarium]

Wow amazing collection with a lot of great wearable pieces that still have an extremely high level of sophistication. Great message as well.

[Geoffrey B. Small]

GEOFFREY B. SMALL
exclusively for StyleZeist



NEW WORKS

GJ03N


(words and images about a jacket and a way of life)



To start off, I have picked a piece that is futile to explain to you in
words or images...but just one touch in person with your own real
hands and you will begin to understand what this piece is all about.







You see, the fabric in the picture is not just pure cashmere. It is
pure Alashan cashmere. From the special region in Mongolia where
the finest cashmere yarns on the entire planet originate from. There is
no other like it in the world. And in the hands of the oldest working
wool making family in the world still in operation today, it becomes an
almost unreal phenomenon. For over two and half centuries, the
people at Fratelli Piacenza (founded in 1733) have been making the
world's best cashmere cloths, and this one is incredible. Pure alashan
cashmere blazer-weight cloth, at almost 150 euros a meter wholesale,
an investment in fabric representing almost 400 euros alone for a
single jacket before a single cut or stitch is put into it.

And then, we made it even better...

...with seven hours of our own secret process of dyeing and fabric
finishing totally by hand, making it darker, softer and more irregular in
texture and form. To achieve this requires hard, physical demanding
work with heat, steel, water, fire, tongs, ladel, brush, sweat and yes,
stress. Consider that if you botch up a formula or operation, or use too
much heat or motion at the wrong moment, you can ruin a piece
worth up to several thousand euros in a second. No, this work is not for
beginners. And it is not easy. So, all you industrial copiers and so-
called artisan brands out there--be our guest. Go ahead and try to copy
these 'till the cows come home. For these are the kind of results that
can only be achieved if you earn them. There are no shortcuts--no
special machine, no quick industrial process, no de-skilled-low-wage-
-throw-away laborers that can even come close to coming anywhere
near these results (you see you need to take care of your people well
enough so that they stay with you for many years, a long enough time
to develop the total mastery of the skills needed to do the job). No
fellows, keep your shortcuts for those who prefer to wear the
equivalent of sandpaper at twice the price, they'll be happy as 'pigs
in ........', and you'll make much more money that way.


But for these kind of results-
there is only one way to enter such a narrow gate...


Do the same work we do. Experience the same toil, pressure and pain
each time, and yes maybe, if you have the skill and technique, you
will get the same result. And this is why we do it. Because what you
get in the end, is fabric so soft, and with so much drape, it resembles a
liquid in solid form. Touch it, and it will take your breath away. Put it
on, and it will all but melt over the contours of your body, enveloping
you in a shroud of soft, warm, peaceful security and comfort that
redefines the concept of urban body armour in a whole new dimension.
A combination of nature, human energy, and skill, that represents a
history, a culture, and way of life that is all but disappeared. It is our history,
our culture, and our way of life- for a precious few makers, and
wearers, still intent, to defy the destructive forces of this industrial age
and the global corporate consumerism we live in, to the very end.

Live free or die.
















Designed with a priority from the inside, our lining story begins
with Como, the city on the lake north of Milan that for the past six
centuries has been the capital of weaving and crafting the best silk and
fine filament fabrics in the entire world. Here, masters like the people
at Tessitura Mauri still create linings that blow your mind, each one a
painting in itself with colors so subtle and balanced like nature that you
can use them in a myriad of ways--like I chose to do with this one on
the sleeve linings of the GJ03N (above).









For the linings of the body, we created an assembly of exquisite
fabric pieces, also from Como, to create a really personal story that is
both beautiful and different than what is expected when one opens a
typical 'designer' jacket. Like old palazzi milanesi, quiet, somber, and
reserved on the outside- but inside, one can display a warmth and
heartful personality unlike any other...an advanced and unexpected
combination that studies contrasts: Bemberg regimentia striped taffeta
and blacked out pure silk floral printed satin, mixes of hard and soft,
structural form and liquidity, straight linear lines and soft floral curves,
all harmoniously working together, pulled partly in synch with the
watercolor-like wash effects of the very subtle hand dyeing work.










Can you see them?
Even with the aid of a 5 megapixel macro lens shot, you still do
have to concentrate a little--but they're there, dozens of micro hand
pick stitches in pure silk Bozzolo Reale Milano threads...around the collar
edges, in other subtle places and even more in the fourteen handsewn
buttonholes on both left and right fronts, each one taking about ten
minutes to create, a total of more than 2 and half hours of arduous,
slow, and totally expert work without a single machine involved.











Our fanatical approach to buttons is well-known among people
who know. In fact, many of our pieces can be recognized by the
unique quality of their button story and selection alone. And this piece
is no exception. A subtle, remarkable array of shapes, textures and
forms in handmade leather, horn and bone all created exclusively for
us in Parma, Italy by Botonificio Fontana, whom we believe to be one
of, if not the, best buttonmakers in the world today. But many of
the buttons you see here are not at all as they arrived to us from
Parma, for we too also added much to their character, applying a
series of hand dyeing and finishing techniques to get them to their very
special final state, harmoniously blending and embellishing the form
and beauty of the jacket in a manner that is undeniably, and uniquely
ours, and of course, the jacket's prospective owner...

[Geoffrey B. Small]

Inspite of its extreme technology, luxury, and handcraft
research, the GJ03N is a piece that is meant to be seriously worn and
lived in. Its loose, relaxed shoulder cut and silhouette, and full super-
fine linings are designed to provide significant ease and movement.
Handcut interior besom welt pockets and special exterior seam pockets
give plenty of places to carry what's needed on-person during travels.






















And our signature 14-button 19th century front design (which we
pioneered to the world in Paris over seven years ago) offers a number
of different yet very classic styling options for wearing from double-
breasted naval blazer and peacoat style buttoning interpretations, to
earlier 19th century Napoleonic-era buttoned-back looks - all in
impeccable taste and of course, incredible Alashan cashmere comfort...






























Only 3 in the world

One of the most exclusive clothing designs in the world...
and one of the most valuable, only three GJ03N pieces have been built
for the entire world in 2010-- requiring up to ten months delivery wait.
One was created for Kamille in Paris, another for Persuade in Bilbao,
and the third for Minority Rev in Japan. Each one is handsigned, created
by hand, and fully backed with lifetime access to our legendary workroom
repair and alterations services at Cavarzere Venezia, Italy.










Thanks very much for reading.
More new works coming up later.

Best wishes,


Geoffrey




c.copyright 2010 Geoffrey B. Small. all rights reserved worldwide.

[Faust]

Thank you, Geoffrey. I still remember the tingling in my fingers when I touched this fabric in your showroom. A truly transcendental experience - I dream about those cashmere pieces to this day.