PRINT & TEXTILE MAKER CHARMS THE FASHION WORLD
A wonderous world awaits you in the work of Regan McDonell. She takes fashion illustration and textile making to a new level of loveliness, and Plaid caught up with the Toronto-based artist to learn more about the future of design.
Can you tell me about the process of designing a textile?
The more I think about it, my love of drawing, that’s where it really starts. My parents really encouraged me and I went to art school and did well in drawing. In art school, people who were fine artists surrounded me and they’re amazing, but that’s not me. I felt out of place. I felt like I needed useful art. Everything I did was useful in some way. I thought maybe I would do furniture design, and when I found screen-printing, I knew I could draw and screen print onto textiles, and textiles could be made into clothes. It became useful art that was meaningful. I see the pattern of balconies on the side of a building, and I see plaid coming out of that. It’s always happening in my head. I see things in patterns all the time and that’s what draws me. I am always taking close-ups of ceilings and carpets.
How did you begin working with screen-printing and textiles?
I took screen-printing and drawing courses in art school. I had a friend who worked at an ad agency [and] was leaving, and she offered me her position. It was a good fit, actually, because I love print. Print is what I really loved about screen-printing, and advertising is about print. It was very different from textiles. I learned about type-setting and how to balance something to make it look pleasing. Soon after I met Stacey Case, the screen printer, and I asked if he was looking for an apprentice. He asked me to come down and I ended up working for him. He owns Merch Guy, the studio, now, but when I started with him, we were working in his garage. So ghetto, so rock n’ roll – it was great. When I worked with Stacey, I felt alive again and completely fell in love with screen-printing. I loved the physicality of it and, for me, it was like dance.
Your illustrations often feature or allude to death, but there is life in plants and florals. What does it mean?
That’s something that’s been with me my whole life. I’m half Scorpio; I was born on the cusp of Scorpio and it’s the sign of death and rebirth. It’s the end of the year and everything dies and comes back. When I was really young, my mother used to read me fairy tales. They were the old, classic English stories, which are dark. I loved one in particular that was illustrated by Arthur Rackham. He did a lot of illustrations for books and they are absolutely stunning, beautiful paintings, but they too are very dark. He was illustrating beautiful girls from these fairy tales and gorgeous outfits, but there’s something dark and ominous about them. The art that I make now always has that fairy tale girl, but there is a lot of darkness in it.
Can you tell me about the recent sale of your artwork to Calvin Klein?
I was jumping up and down when I realized that it happened. I began working with an agent who sells textile designs in the United Kingdom. She has a small design agency there. Most of the artists she represents are in the United Kingdom but I’m the only Canadian. I sent her a portfolio and she loved it, and offered to represent me. The first textile design I sold went to Calvin Klein. I worked so hard for so long in this city, and really it was a whim. To sell the first thing to Calvin Klein, I knew I had made the right decision.
How does fashion inspire you, and which designers would you like to work with?
I was so devastated when Alexander McQueen died. I cried. He was someone whose textiles inspired me and I aspired to one day sell work to him. I know the company will continue, but it’s hard to think he isn’t there. My brain works in technical, esoteric ways that seem to not make any sense, so someone like McQueen would be a perfect fit.
It doesn’t have to be new. It can be traditional patterns and fabrics. When I see something that moves me, it’s very strong. It can be a little overwhelming, looking at everything, every season, and I worry about losing my voice, about being influenced too much!
What is your connection to Toronto Alternative Fashion Week?
The designer Anika Kozlowski is a close friend. She showed last year at Toronto Alternative Fashion Week and her work has inspired me. She introduced me to Gareth Pugh, Nicholas Kirkwood and the new British designers that are treading the fine line between art, fashion and sometimes, comedy. It truly opened my eyes to fashion and intensified my appreciation of it. I would like to collaborate with someone and I’ve spoken with her and other designers about collaborating.
What is the future of textiles?
Lately, I’ve seen a lot of new materials. I’ve seen woven metals, like copper. It’s so soft, it oxidizes and it’s a textile. It looks like burlap, but softer. It’s luminous and it might be used for outerwear. I’m so practical! I’m always thinking about what I would do with it.
What’s next for you?
I am meeting with someone to discuss designing carpets. It’s a new challenge for me and it could be a new direction. It’s a new medium for me, and I’m always looking to expand. So far, most of my work is print and pattern-based, so there is a lot of repetition. I like designing a pattern that repeats, but one where you can’t decipher the repetition. Carpet is more like painting. They’re handmade, one-of-a-kind pieces, so it isn’t like fabric, which is spun on large fabric bolts. As an artist, I need to work in many different mediums. Whatever medium it is, I need to make art. It’s inside me.
