Though I am completely swayed by the precision of digital printing especially when it involves cosmic prints like the ones above, that's not to say hand dying isn't completely ruled out. Especially when someone like Shabd Simon-Alexander, based in Brooklyn, NY is doing it with such vigour and enthusiasm, having just opened up her e-shop selling hand-dyed leggings, bodies, tops and shorts with jewellery and accessories soon to come. It's not just the scorching heat this weekend that is making me yearn for these prints that are of course best enhanced by sunlight but that it's preserving a craft in a way that is contemporary and relevant...
What makes it even more interesting is that Shabd is willing to custom dye your own items to your specification meaning that with the right dress, I could end up print-blocking different prints together... I'm most defintiely into the idea of mixing Prism, Crystalline and Lichen all together into one garment (these are the names given to the various prints...). This really is a case where messing around with a bunch of dyes in my bathtub would probably NOT result into these prints and so a true dye master is needed to get these spaced out effects...
From this basic line of garments, I'm also sure Shabd has some more complex design ideas up her sleeve looking at her portfolio... I'm literally DYE-ING to know what Shabd will get up to next...
