Since forming in 2012, Kalopsia has worked to promote and support the creative talent working in textiles today – from contemporary textile art to textile design, we believe that the subject is a diverse practice and holds huge potential for innovation. Our Creative Director, Nina Falk, ran two fashion labels and a store in her native Sweden and found upon arriving in Scotland a number of challenges that textile creators face when producing their fabrics. The lack of resources meant that it was required to travel south to England for short run production and fabric prototyping; an often costly and time consuming process. It became obvious working with other textile artists and designers there was a real demand for a solution.

The Facility is our biggest project to date and aims to support Scottish designers and emerging talent by establishing a creative hub where graduates, independent designers and small businesses can produce their textiles in more efficient and sustainable ways through the use of specialist equipment, trained technicians and the sharing of knowledge and skills. By creating one multi-purposed and designated space, we hope to create an environment where people from different aspects of the textile practice can interact and ultimately fuel the exchange of ideas and knowledge within the textiles industry. We first pitched The Facility last autumn at the STLA symposium and were met with a really enthusiastic response showing there is a real need for this kind of space.

We are looking to build this as a pilot to develop what we hope will be a pioneering new business model for creative industries and are working to make it a commercially viable business that is responsibly grown. With this in mind, we aim to make it a real tool to be utilised by the fresh talent in the textile industry. As we are a social enterprise, Kalopsia see The Facility as an opportunity to train unemployed apprentices, helping them into sustainable and skilled jobs in the regional and national industry.

On Friday 30 January at Ocean Terminal, Kalopsia will be hosting an evening to officially launch The Facility Project. The evening will be an opportunity to hear more about the project but we are keen to hear the ideas of those who could really benefit from The Facility. How can we make The Facility best suit your needs? What would you like to see from it? The event is free and to attend you can your ticket from here.

To get in touch and find out more about The Facility and ways to get involved say hello at info@kalopsia.co.uk.

Visit here for more about Kalopsia Collective on Central Station.

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