Selvedge Virtual World Fair
A unique event to celebrate textile makers from around the world
03 – 05.09.2020
Discount for ETN members!

The first Selvedge World Fair, created by independent magazine Selvedge, takes place online, 3 – 5 September 2020. The three-day virtual event, a celebration of cloth, culture and creativity, will present the work of 100 artisans, bringing together varied - and in some cases endangered - textile traditions from 60 countries. It is the only event on the arts calendar dedicated to championing the skills of textile makers. Visitors will be able to buy handmade fabric, fashion and homewares from across the globe, take part in online workshops from master craftspeople, join international talks and be together as a community for a live quiz.

Regular tickets cost £25 for general admission.
For ETN-members it gives them a 25% discount on standard tickets and preview tickets. ETN members will receive a code by e-mail with which they can register at the discounted conditions. Workshops are priced separately and are not discounted.

Buy direct from designers and makers
The fair is a chance to buy direct from sustainable designers and makers of fashion, fabric and homewares. Artisans taking part include Somporn Intaraprayong, award-winning embroiderer and textile artist from Thailand, Maria and Karl Wagner, experts in the ‘Blaudruck’ dye technique from Austria and Aissata Namoko, indigo dyer and Djiguiyaso Cooperative founder from Mali. In fashion, designers who work with artisans, Carla Fernandez (Mexico), Bibi Hanum (Uzbekistan) and Santandu Dass (India) will talk about how they partner with artisans on IGTV interviews.

Learn endangered skills in unique workshops
The virtual workshops include something for all craft and textile lovers. From surface design to knitting, basket-making to upcycling clothes. They are a rare opportunity to learn skills from master artisans, for example, learn Fair Isle Knitting with Mati Ventrillon (Scotland), learn how to create rugs from recycled materials with Multicolores (Guatemala) and learn traditional Kyrgyz “ala-kiyiz” felting, with local experts from the Crafts Support Association's Resource Centre (Kyrgyzstan).

Listen to experts share their textile knowledge
The topics covered in the talks are wide-ranging. From celebrating materials, to preserving skills, to approaching challenges like cultural appropriation and sustainability. In Fantastic Fibres, Karin Carlander (Norway) will discuss weaving with linen, Natalie Chanin (USA) will talk about cotton and Huang Mengqi (China) will talk about using silk in her footwear company, Suzhou Cobblers. In Cultural Identity & Appropriaton weaver and campaigner Portirio Gutierrez (Mexico), Rita Nazareno (Philippines) and Meghann O´Brien (Canada) discuss the importance of cultural identity in the making and creating of products. Talks will take place both on Zoom and IGTV throughout the fair.

The Selvedge World Fair also offers access to content to help visitors get closer to makers, from a live chat-room where visitors can ask artisans questions, to pre-recorded ‘show and tell’ films about products and processes, and themed podcasts.   

Polly Leonard, Selvedge’s founder and editor said: “The Selvedge World Fair will be a joyful event for textile lovers. A chance to explore, to learn and to support businesses that enrich our lives. Uniquely, we will show the work of makers from 60 countries on the same platform. Willow baskets from England next to block printed cotton from India next to traditional folk blouses from Romania.”

“We are surrounded by textiles, but in mainstream culture they are undervalued and underappreciated. From fast fashion to the destructive ubiquity of cotton, we don’t think enough about cloth. The Selvedge World Fair aims to be an antidote.”

Polly Leonard launched Selvedge magazine from her kitchen table in 2004 with the aim of making a publication as beautiful as the textiles it featured. 16 years later, Selvedge is one of the most influential textile magazines in the world, helping makers reach an international audience of enthusiasts.