Sneak preview: ReVampt gets quilted with V&A special exhibition

If Oscar de la Renta’s recent pre-fall couture collection is anything to go by, we will all be coveting patchwork in the new year, but if high-end luxury loveliness is a little too costly for both your purse and your planet then maybe ReVampt have the answer with its new collection of patchworks, launching in February.  Louise Black writes.

ReVampt has been recycling textiles to create kitsch new homewares, accessories and garments for over two years now, taking discarded remnants, samples and vintage fabrics and making them into something new. In February it will be taking its rejuvenation ethos one step further by launching its new patchwork range to coincide with the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Quilts: 1700-2010 exhibition. Rescuing contemporary and vintage reclaimed fabrics, mainly denim, from the almost certain journey to the landfill, ReVampt is not only breathing new life into the fabrics, it is helping to regenerate interest in a dying art.

Kirstie Allsopp isn’t the only one getting crafty at the moment, with elite fashion packs gathering for knitting circles in Claridges and a growing online community of sewers, needlepointers and felters, it looks like 2010 could be the year when crafts make a comeback. ReVampt’s V&A workshops will be just one of the places to learn the basics and gain tips from the more experienced. ReVampt’s owner and designer Sarah Baulch will be at the Patchwork Social quilt making workshop at the V&A on the 1st and 2nd of May as well as running the Re-working Textile workshop there on the 3rd May.

If you’re not too handy with a needle, ReVampt’s collection contains a range of patchwork items including throws, cushions, bags and chairs that have been lovingly made for you. These unique items, containing large quantities of reclaimed denim, evoke the back-to-basics style that was so prevalent at Paris’ most influential home design show, Maison et Objet. If denim’s not your bag however, ReVampt will create new items to order using fabrics that it has reclaimed or from textiles that you provide yourself.

If you can’t wait until February, then visit ReVampt at the Tearooms Market off London’s Brick Lane every Saturday and Sunday from 10am-6pm or shop online at Revampit.co.uk.