Photostat Luncheon Shirt

A headfuck of a fabric. Technically it’s a jacquard weave but that’s only easy to say because the master weavers at Albini told us that. On first and even second inspection it looks like a print, specifically one designed to look like a photocopy of gingham that has been folded on itself. The first tell that it's not just a print is the backside which has what seems to be the same pattern, and while doublesided prints are possible they are rare outside of the world of Dutch wax textiles. On closer inspection though it becomes apparent that the front and back are not actually the same, they are inverted versions of each other, this is a jacquard weave.

The dead giveaway is if you zoom in to the fiber levels the insanity of this weave reveals itself. All the spitty inky texture that is characteristic photocopies/Xerox/photostat is actually complex variations to the weave structure of black and white yarns. A classic gingham is one of the simplest yarn dyed patterns, a small check, but here the gingham is folded upon itself in multiple directions, as if it’s been crumpled, flattened and photocopied onto paper. It’s all 100% cotton (40% of which is recycled), 180gsm woven in Italy. It’s Albini so it’s going to wear damn nice, but the joy here is visual and conceptual.