Karen Modeo

I studied and worked in fashion fields for several year before opening my label. I was curious about colors and their history but I started working in natural dyes after met textile artist Vivienne Prideaux.On 2018 I founded Oak Studio, a Timeless, Sustainable, and Artisanal brand that is inspired by the Mediterranean landscape and cultural values of the Apulia region of Italy.I am co-founder of rén collective, a no-profit who imagine a future where fashion is a regenerative, inclusive and collaborative force that creates values for people and the environment.

Q&A

What craft do you work with?
I worked as a designer for several years before opening my own atelier and deciding to combine the work I do with my passion for textile handicraft. I love natural dyeing for its rich color palettes but also because it allows me to be in close contact with nature, the most perfect art form.

What inspires you to work with this craft?
My inspiration has mostly been the Mediterranean landscapes and their different cultures. I often draw on myths, dreams, and stories that spring from this magical land. I am interested in spending time on artistic research, but also working with pigments and textiles, experimenting with forms both manually and digitally. However, I believe that the greatest source of inspiration for a designer-maker is to dialogue with people to understand their needs.

How do you start your creative process?
The creative process that has inspired me over the years is known in Latin as Magnum Opus and that is the alchemical process of working and transforming raw material. I have found resonance with the cult of the great mother because of the continuous cycle of birth, death, and re-birth, as well as the three phases of the process: the black, white, and red work. These phases are: Blackening, or Nigredo, which is decomposition and reduction; Bleaching, or Albedo, which is a purification process that leaves only the purest essences; Reddening, or Rubedo, which is when true transformation occurs and the previously discovered revelations are brought to reality and a union of opposites occurs, manifesting a truly united being, ultimately aware of and in harmony with all aspects of itself. I can start from either of the first two phases and follow with the other; for me the ‘important thing’ is to be able to see the pattern behind it and to manipulate the material following the right time for everything. These processes have also drawn me, in recent years, away from traditional fashion because I prefer to follow the natural cycles of nature. For this reason I cannot understand such fast production times and I feel much closer to a concept of slow fashion.

Your Workspace?
Thus far, my atelier was in a building within which a supportive ecosystem of social, cultural, technological and artistic research and imagination coexists. But I am constantly evolving, trying to make my work versatile and able to adapt to different possibilities, and I hope in the future to be able to find a space of my dreams. In this space I would like to have natural light with many plants and certainly a part where the garments can be displayed and a small dyeing workshop with all the pigments catalogued by type.

Are there new techniques you would like to try?
I like to search for different fabrics and natural colors of different qualities because I believe that it influences the final result a lot. I am intrigued by the potential of biodiversity and I am very excited by the prospect of experimenting with dyes made from plants in different geographical areas. In my work, I prefer the use of bamboo, hemp, and natural dyes, despite the longer processing times. In addition, I have recently found some more sustainable techniques in old manuals, such as organic indigo fermentation, which requires 12 continuous days of work to activate the “indigo vat” through micro-organisms.

Sharing your craft and experience?
I would like to improve the way I produce garments and make the processes less impactful and more efficient. Another goal I have is to travel to Central and South America to discover the colouring techniques of the place of my ancestors.