Welcome to the TextileX resource guide—a growing effort created to map out and connect the vibrant textile community and resources in the Portland metro area and beyond. The foundation of this guide was built from the diversity of organizations that participate in the Portland TextileX Month festival every October.

Development of and funding for this guide have been provided by Textile Hive with additional funding from a RACC catalyst grant in 2019.

We encourage you to contribute additional resources through this form and consider becoming a member of TextileX to help further develop this resource guide as well as Portland TextileX Month.

  Studios

Adam Arnold

www.adam-arnold.com

Drawing inspiration from many sources, I have built a dedicated clientele. My skill and esteem as a designer and creator of clothing has garnered me collaborations with the Portland Art Museum, Contemporary Craft Museum, and Oregon Ballet Theater. My garments are known for their clean lines, tailored silhouettes, timeless appeal, and impeccable construction.

 fashion  tailoring

  Businesses

Altar

www.altarpdx.com

Altar is a clothing company and retail store with a brick-and-mortar location in Portland, OR. We initially opened a business in 2010 (under another name in the same retail location) with a focus on supporting independent artists from our immediate region, and by 2015 when we became Altar, we had grown that vision into the beautifully curated and ever-changing space it is today. We celebrate independent manufacturers and artists from across North America, with a focus on the stories that are woven into their work. We use the phrase, “objects with meaning” because we believe in sharing the unique stories behind these pieces.

Our clothing brand, Altar Houseline, is proudly made in America using deadstock materials and serves size gradations from size small to 6XL.

Cassie Ridgway opened her shop in 2010 with less than $3000 in the bank and a night job. Owning and operating this small business has been defined by labor of love and perseverance. Cassie's passion for sustainably produced and ethically manufactured apparel was a driving force, and has kept her laser focused on making this company better by the year. Her aesthetic sensibilities are always sort of changing (ok, sometimes all over the place), but she has always consistently been inspired by desert color-stories, moody floral motifs, art deco filigrees, and modern art.

 fashion  sustainability  textile reuse

  Studios

Aradhita Parasrampuria

aradhitaparasrampuria.net

Aradhita Parasrampuria is a materials designer originally from India, based in New York. Parasrampuria combines synthetic biology with fashion to create sustainable, scalable textiles to replace toxic petroleum-based materials. She works primarily with raw materials such as Microalgae, Escherichia coli, and Cellulose. Parasrampuria received recognition on Indian Forbes 30 under 30 2023 list in the climate change category. She has also been awarded the Swarovski Foundation's "Creatives For Our Future" grant and the Aronson Fellowship from Tishman Environment and Design Center. Her work has been showcased in prominent events and publications such as United Nations, COP27, Vogue, L'officiel Brazil, CFDA, Dezeen, No-Kill Magazine, New York Design Week, and Portland Textile Month.

 fashion  science  sustainability  textile design

  Studios

Charlotte Flory

https://www.instagram.com/morepatternmorebetter/?hl=en

Charlotte Flory is an artist and design director living in Portland, Oregon. She comes by way of New York City, where she lived for 21 years after graduating from Parsons School of Design. Her fashion and home accessory designs sold in eponymous NYC shops such as Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman and ABC Carpet & Home, while a piece she designed for Louise Bourgeois hangs in MoMA, signed in red stitches “LB”. Her textile work has walked the runway for Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, and more. Working for Master Printmakers to edition hand pulled etchings of Sean Scully and Phillip Pearlstein, and learning Letterpress Printing from the grandson of Alexander Calder, her true passion for approaching design as art has offered her a lifetime of fulfilling work. “More Pattern More Better” has been her moniker for some time now, and as a Decorative Expressionist, color, pattern and especially the mix of them, is her favorite way to amplify beauty and inspire joy. Please visit her Instagram page for more @charlotteflory

 fashion  print  textile art

  Businesses

Creative Capital Design

www.creativecapitalpdx.com

As founders of Creative Capital Design, we are, at our core, friends who know we are better together. Our success is largely a product of those who mentored, encouraged, and inspired us along the way. We continue to be buoyed up by the enthusiasm and energy, imagination and intelligence, of those around us. Now it’s our turn to share our knowledge and resources with the industry that has treated us so well. We developed Inside Fashion Design, a behind the scenes look into the world of apparel design. A site dedicated to first-year students, emerging designers and industry leaders alike. It’s a place to teach and to learn. A place to bring everyone into the conversation and celebrate what we all love to do.

 fashion  textile design

  Organizations

Esprit Heritage Archive

www.espritflashback.org

Los Angeles-based designer Michelle Koza accidentally accumulated the largest 80s ESPRIT archive. The archive includes everything from ESPRIT corporate collateral, garments, accessories, product catalogs, packaging, 35mm slides, photographs, audio, video, and various publications. ESPRIT Flashback was first established on Instagram in 2017, her passion project developed into a source of inspiration for brand enthusiasts and various creatives from around the world. The mission of the archive has evolved from collecting & preserving to research & discovery – unearthing the soul of the archive.

 archive  fashion

  Businesses

Focus Group Vintage

www.instagram.com/focusgroupshop

Focus Group is the place to get all your lightly used street wear and vintage!! We focus on the most current vintage styles. Located in the heart of SE Portland, in the famous Hawthorne shopping district. Friendly prices, friendly atmosphere, and friendly faces.

 fashion  vintage textiles

  Studios

Fuchsia Lin

www.fuchsialin.com

Fuchsia Lin is a Taiwanese-American artist, fashion/costume designer and  filmmaker, called a visionary by the Seattle Times for the imaginative art  and performance work she has produced.  Fuchsia began her career as a fashion designer, studying at Parsons  School of Design in NYC. Years later, Fuchsia turned to the medium of film  to showcase her fashion and costume designs in motion. Her first short  film, Crystals of Transformation, went on to win her a scholarship award to  study fashion filmmaking at London College of Fashion, one of two  universities in the world that teaches fashion filmmaking.   Fuchsia is currently finishing up her second film, Future Cosmos Flow, a  fantasy drama film. This film features more than 40 custom couture pieces  made from sustainable materials Fuchsia designed especially for the film,  worn and set in motion by award-winning performers.  Future Cosmos Flow is a genre-bending film and magical fairy tale inspired  by mythology and the natural elements. An exiled royal family must learn  to harness a mystical water-power to subdue a tyrannical Uncle who  threatens the ecological survival of their Kingdom. It relates to our modern  day need for the renewed care of our environment.  Fuchsia will speak about her journey from costume designer to filmmaker.  She will share how she uses the medium of film to show fashion in motion  and tell a story through textiles. And she’ll show excerpts from her new  film, Future Cosmos Flow, which will be screened at a special event at the  Portland Art Museum in 2024.

 costume design  fashion  film  sustainability

  Businesses

Herbivore Clothing

www.herbivoreclothing.com

Josh and Michelle started Herbivore in 2002 in the spare bedroom of our apartment in SE PDX. Why? Well, we wanted good looking clothes, ethically made, that would show the world we believed animals deserved respect, love, and to be free from harm. We wanted to spread the word about living cruelty-free.

We spent a few years in spare bedrooms in Portland, shipping our clothing all over the world before we took the leap to open our first little store. And by little, I mean one lap around without missing anything took about 40 seconds. We stocked our ever-expanding clothing line alongside an ever-expanding line of vegan cookbooks. We filled the rest of the store with cruelty-free belts, bags, and wallets.

Then, in 2007, we got together with Lisa, the founder of Sweetpea Baking Company, Chad and Emiko of Food Fight! Vegan Grocery, and Brian and John of Scapegoat Tattoo, and we moved down to SE 12th and Stark Streets. The Vegan Mini-Mall was born. It started as a joke, but the name stuck.

A lot has changed over the years, but the core belief and drive behind the vegan mini-mall hasn't. Basically, ethical veganism is awesome, you can be one, too! All while eating a donut with one hand, sipping a soy latte with the other, wearing ethically made, fashionable clothing as you wait for your tattoo appointment to begin in a shop that uses vegan ink and supplies.

As for Herbivore, we have spent all these years designing rad clothing, as well as manufacturing belts and wallets. We have hosted countless events, co-founded an animal rights conference, and spoken at vegfests. We've published some books. We've travelled the country tabling at events. We've donated our time at sanctuaries, and donated our skills to lots of organizations in the form of pro-bono design work. We have raised lots and lots of money for animal rights organizations and sanctuaries, as well as other social justice movements.

We believe these movements are linked and the oppression of one is the oppression of us all. We believe in animal liberation and human liberation are the same cause, so we fight for both.

Our approach has always been to show veganism as a positive choice that gives you back so much more than you give up. Compassion Is Invincible!

 fashion  home goods

  Businesses

Hidden Opulence Design House

www.hiddenopulence.com

Hidden Opulence is a Design House that’s focused in Apparel sustainability and upcycling. We enjoy serving both existing apparel brands and the general public. We feel pride especially serving those who identify as Queer, Non-Binary and/or BIPOC. It’s all about meeting you where you are at in your slow fashion and sustainable journey!

We are your one stop shop when it comes to refreshing or perfecting those cherished items in your wardrobe or from your home. Basic tailoring, mending and altering are a part of our core. Projects that have anything to do with heirloom refurbishing, repairing and re-configuring (garment or textile) touch our hearts. Unfortunately at this time, we do not provide pattern rendering or clothing concept development.

 fashion  sustainability  tailoring

  Studios

Hyun Jung Jung

www.instagram.com/hjung_jung

Hyun Jung Jung is a Korean artist and designer currently based in Portland, Oregon with a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Hyun Jung’s artistic practice centers around creating interactive and immersive experiences for her audience, resulting in various outcomes across different forms and mediums. Inspired by personal experiences and Pop culture, she aims to capture the generation she lives in and create work that is relatable to people from different backgrounds and cultures. Hyun Jung plans to continue creating works that capture the generation that she lives, and to fuel meaningful dialogues.

 fashion  textile art

  Businesses

Inside Fashion Design

www.insidefashiondesign.com

Inside Fashion Design shares behind the scenes look into the Apparel Industry. Created to support, inspire, educate, inform, connect and engage community.

 fashion  talks

  Studios

Judilee Fitzhugh

www.judileefitzhugh.com

Judilee Fitzhugh is a textile artisan who specializes in natural plant dyes and couture sewing. A tour of duty in Japan with the U.S. Navy led to a profound Japanese influence and a lifelong affection for indigo and plant fibers. She gained her Certificate in Craft at the Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2002, and taught in the BFA and Studio School programs until the school’s closure in 2019. Her finely crafted work combines natural objects with vintage fabric remnants, hand weaving, and surface design to portray a single moment in history.

 fashion  natural dyes  sewing  textile art  vintage textiles

  Studios

Keeva Moselle

www.instagram.com/realmandreigndesignstudio

Growing up Keeva Moselle made all of her Halloween costumes from age nine on, repurposing items from around the house. Keeva learned to work with her hands and a myriad of materials and techniques to create wearable art. These skills eventually translated into fashion design and garment construction. Today Keeva is a Portland native artist creating large scale interactive art installations, immersive beauty experiences, costumes, and multimedia art. All of her endeavors primarily use post-consumer waste & salvage materials. Keeva is a graduate of Oregon State University Graduate School, where she studied socio-political ethics. Keeva is an environmentalist and a Black Feminist thinker and author; her art reflects that same powerfully dynamic voice. In 2011, Keeva created an original character “The Queen of Unicorns”, as a public persona to inspire imaginative play and give young girls, especially those of color, representation in the cosplay and festival community.

 fashion  sustainability  textile reuse  vintage textiles

  Businesses

MAOTA

www.maotajp.com

With continuous support from local craftsmen MAOTA commits to a maintained visible production. We are based only a short distance to our weaving mills, yarn factories, dyeing mills and production factories in Japan, making possible frequent visits and keeping the production local and close to home. We use high quality yarns which are the base to unique textures, shapes and colors. Yarn is the beginning.

 fashion

  Studios

Marjorie Skinner

https://www.portlandfashion2000s.com/

Marjorie Skinner is an independent curator and former fashion editor for the Portland Mercury.

 curator  fashion  writer

  Businesses

Mujer Woo

www.mujerwoo.com

Youkyung Kaycee Woo was born in South Korea, achieved a BFA diploma at Parsons School of Design as a fashion design student in New York. Also, Kaycee studied textile design at Central Saints Martin in London UK for almost one year. She has been working as a textile and fashion designer since she graduated in 2019. Besides, she opened her textile workshop in New York City. Currently, she is working on tufting art installations for exhibitions and several art projects in New York and South Korea. Also, she opens workshops for art and textile students who want to learn tufting techniques. MUJER WOO, Youkyung's fashion and home interior design brand, embraces time-honored techniques with her bold but feminine textile design and a modern sensibility to create unique and feminine pieces for all different ages of women. Indeed, MUJER WOO's priority is producing sustainable living products and tufting artwork. All the tufting works are hand-made and made with 100% New Zealand Tex wool. Also, the brand has sustainable and unique shapes of soap for a zero-waste living. The designer wants customers to be intelligent, confident, and love themselves through the contemporary feminine garment and sustainable products, consider the environment, and love other people.

 fashion  interior design  sustainability  tufting  wool

  Studios

Orquidia Violeta

orquidiavioleta.com

Orquidia Violeta is a Salvadoran-American textile artist. Growing up in a dirt-floored farmhouse in Central America. Orquidia crossed the US border as a six-year-old refugee and went on to earn an Associate of the Arts degree from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Living in Oregon, Orquidia continues to challenge herself as a salvage textile artist, exploring new methods and mediums, such as machine and hand embroidery, knitting, weaving, appliqué, soft-sculpture, fiber-collage, drawing, painting and eco-fabric dyeing to tell colorful stories on the diversity of people.

 cooperative  embroidery  fashion  sculpture  textile art  wearable art

  Businesses

Over & Over Style

www.overandoverstyle.com

Over & Over Style is the project of Barbara & Vivian, veterans of the Seattle apparel industry, with shared passions for textile artistry, history & travel, and the transformative power of clothing.  In search of our next act, we came across a treasure trove of vintage kimonos (way too beautiful to be hidden away in moth balls) and decided to give them new life. The result, after hours upon countless hours of designing, deconstructing, washing, steaming, cutting & sewing, is a collection of unique home decor and one-of-a-kind garments in a dazzling array of patterns and colors.

 fashion  tailoring  textile design  textile history

  Schools

Pacific Northwest College of Art Applied Craft + Design MFA Program

pnca.willamette.edu/academics/graduate/acd

Connecting design thinking to design doing, the MFA in Applied Craft + Design program is grounded in hands-on making, entrepreneurial strategies, and social and environmental engagement.

With a curriculum focused on the development of a strong artistic voice, the realization of work for a specific community or client, and entrepreneurism that connects making a living with making a difference, the MFA in Applied Craft and Design is the only graduate program of its kind.

Combining a mentor-based approach with an exceptional visiting artists program, students work one-on-one with nationally and internationally recognized designers, makers, and scholars in a self-directed curriculum that challenges them to bring to life the full strength of their ideas and skills.

Encouraging a cross-disciplinary studio environment in which the workshop is a lab to collaboratively explore design and making processes, the mentor-based MFA in Applied Craft and Design welcomes students from a wide range of creative backgrounds to make original work with an applied purpose.

 classes  craft  fashion  textile art  textile design

  Businesses

Parker Simonne Designs. Inc.

www.parkersimonnedesigns.com

parker + simonne designs is a woman-owned small batch clothing line modernized kimonos, tops and tunics, inspired by my dreams.

 fashion  sewing  textile traditions

  Businesses

Pattern People

patternpeople.com

Pattern People is an industry leading print studio which offers seasonal trend guides, custom pattern design services, stock prints for immediate use, design tools, and educational ebooks for designers of all levels.

 fashion  textile design

  Businesses

Portland Apparel Lab

portlandapparellab.com

PAL is a member-based makerspace for sewn-goods. PAL is a design support team here to get you production-ready. PAL is a collaborative knowledge-sharing community that takes your skills to the next level.

 classes  fashion  manufacturing

  Schools

Portland Fashion Institute

www.portlandfashioninstitute.com

Portland Sewing started business in 2002 with a beginning sewing class for four students. The business grew to add classes in intermediate and advanced sewing. In 2010, Portland Sewing added classes on the business of apparel. In 2016, Oregon made it a licensed career school. Thus Portland Fashion Institute was created to offer three certificates and give people the skills to start businesses and get jobs at apparel companies. Yet PFI still offers classes to people who just to take one or two just for fun. We offer sewing classes for the beginner to the advanced stitcher wanting to learn something new, from sewing basics to patternmaking, draping, tailoring and couture. No matter the class, our job is to make sure you gain skills, create a project you like, build your confidence — and have a good time doing it!

 classes  fashion

  Businesses

Portland Garment Factory (PGF)

www.portlandgarmentfactory.com

Portland Garment Factory is a full-service design and fabrication studio with expertise in soft-goods design + manufacturing, creative direction, and art fabrication + retail display + experiential marketing design. Led by PGF founder Britt Howard, the zero-waste studio has been upending the factory model for more than 10 years, as a leader in soft-goods innovation, design, and fabrication.

 fashion  manufacturing

  Schools

Portland State University Textile Arts Program

www.psutextilearts.com

The Textile Arts program provides a critical investigation of clothing and textiles with a focus on craft, sustainability, and community engagement. Students learn techniques in weaving, surface design, and sewn construction towards fashion, costume, and contemporary art.

 community  fashion  sewing  sustainability  textile art  textile design  textile history  weaving

  Businesses

Sustainable Fashion Forum

www.thesustainablefashionforum.com

Founded on the principals of discovery and education, the Sustainable Fashion Forum is a highly-curated, community-driven sustainable fashion conference held annually in Portland, Oregon. The SFF looks to the future by fostering honest, thought-provoking and in-depth conversations about the social and environmental effects fashion has on our world and what we can do individually and collectively to improve it.

 fashion  sustainability  talks

  Studios

That Year Forever

www.thatyearforever.com

THAT YEAR is a creative studio and clothing label, developing products, events, design, direction and digital and physical media.

 fashion