Photo – Victoria Zschommler. Styling – Nat Turnbull.

A Unique New Line Of Meticulously Handwoven Bags

Introducing George – a limited collection of bags exploring the relationship between object, material, and human interaction.

Writer
Sally Tabart
21st of May 2019

Canberra-based creative Georgina Whigham has recently launched a series of meticulously crafted, handwoven bags; they’re at the top of our lust-list right now!

Working in a true dream job as an exhibition designer at the National Gallery of Australia, Georgina carefully crafts her handwoven George bags on the side.

After studying a Bachelor of Industrial Design, Georgina was accepted into Kawashima Textiles School in Kyoto for a three-month intensive course. It was here where she learned the traditional Japanese dyeing techniques and weaving on a six-shaft floor loom and fell in love with the ancient techniques.

‘A discarded plastic bag floating in the breeze was the catalyst for this bag series,’ Georgina explains of both her visual and conceptual inspiration, ‘I love the way a plastic bag dances, shifting direction without warning, gaining and losing momentum’. Subverting the disposable, mass-produced nature of this inspiration, George bags are unique masterpieces, designed to stand the test of time.

Working mainly with cotton and linen threads, Georgina sources her yarn from a family-run mill in Canada. She then hand weaves each bag on a four-shaft loom, taking around eight hours in total to make and construct. ‘The bag is woven in one continuous piece, dropping the weft where textile is not required, she explains of the process, ‘I then fold the bag into its form, much like origami, and sew it together’.

As of yesterday, a limited run of George is now available online and instore at Monk House Design.

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