California Art Artists Galleries Directory - Fabric Fashion Design

Mark Thomas - dyes sumptuous velvet—a material that doesn’t shout, but whispers of elegance and serenity—in deep black and luscious colors. He stitches it into clothing that is all draped straight lines and simplicity. Its appeal is in the details: patterns of light and shadow, streaks and stipples reminiscent of a secret forest glade or a pool as still as mirror glass.

His present work is influenced by shibori methods Thomas adapted to create “a whole new self-devised technique.” He’s reluctant to reveal details—he’s planning a book on the method and wants to keep it relatively secret until then—but it involves painting fabric first with brushes dipped in dye and embellishing the striated pattern with dots of dye applied via squeeze bottle. “The black is most important; I mix my own,” he says. The dye is fixed with a seaweed paste, then steamed.