This highly tactile collection by the Hello Gorgeous Design Team in Portland, Oregon was based on the different processes and techniques used in traditional textile arts. Inspired by these various methods, they created movement and exaggerated textures with hair for a quirky collection of looks they affectionately call “Material World”.

Heading up the team is salon owner, Crae Hasler Elliott. “I grew up with a creative and artsy mother.” states Crae. “My mom would sew, knit and crochet and it always amazed me that a ball of string and a stick or two could make a garment you could wear.  The art of repeated rows of pattern has always had an appeal and in this collection we harness that ideal and apply it to hair.”

According to Crae and the team at Hello Gorgeous, hair is a fabric that simply lacks a cross weave, so the only way to get it to stay together for many of the looks they wanted to produce is to initiate an artificial interlacing. Once hair is artificially interwoven, it becomes a moveable, positional piece of fabric or textile.

For some of the looks in this collection, the team did everything to achieve this cross weave. They tightly wet set various pieces, sewed hair to fabric, knitted and crocheted tresses, even machine stitched through hair to get the support out of regular sewing thread. The array of colors available makes thread a very useful tool for such creations as most any haircolor could be matched. An upholstery needle made sewing easy because it could be passed through the hair and the curved nature of it would bring the needle back up to the artist to continue.

Click on each image to learn more about the look created by the Hello Gorgeous Team.

For more information please visit www.hello-gorgeous.us

Credits:
Hello Gorgeous Design Team- Portland, OR
Hair:
Crae Hasler- Elliott
Sara Martin
Erin Shorthill
Michelle Leasure
Jack Leighan
Make Up: Lindsey Avenetti
Wardrobe: Lena Coleman
Photo: Taggart Winterhalter for Purely Visual

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