The Art of Craftsmanship Revisited

Blink and it's time to update software on your laptop, or replace an outmoded mobile phone. Such breakneck pursuit of technological innovation has a plus side, though: an increased reverence for heritage and traditions. At Swayspace Letterpress Printing in New York, it takes hours to perfect a single print. David Munro, horologist at the Arcadian Clock Co. in New Jersey, might spend years developing an original precision regulator for one of his clocks. To promote and disseminate the ethos and techniques of such artisans, luxury group LVMH Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton teamed up with Parsons The New School for Design to pair 125 students (in groups of five) with 23 local artisans for a collaborative contest entitled The Art of Craftsmanship Revisited: New York. The teams spent several months laboring with these master craftsmen—including Swayspace and Munro as well as calligrapher Bernard Maisner, framer Eli Wilner and papermaker Dieu Donné—to create original garments and short films inspired by their mentor’s work. The outcomes of these partnerships—first previewed at New York Fashion Week in February—go on show this weekend on the restored Governors Island in New York Harbor. Ahead of the exhibition, NOWNESS sent photographer and ex-model Elle Muliarchyk to photograph the students in preparation. Here she recounts her memories of the day: