A shirt in two days
The studio's own footage follows one white shirt from the first leaf to the drying line, over two days in February 2024.
1 min read
Some pieces are documented from start to finish. This one, the Golden Leaf Shirt, was filmed over two days in February 2024, and the footage shows each stage of its making.
Day one: arranging
On the first afternoon the shirt was laid flat and fresh green leaves were placed on it one by one, in climbing sprays: paired leaves along each stem, running up the front and out along the sleeves.
The arrangement was covered with a sheet and rolled tightly around a pipe, so every leaf stayed pressed against the fabric. Rolled and tied, it joined the day's other bundles, and late that afternoon they went into the steamer.
Day two: the reveal
The next afternoon the steamer was opened. Cut free of its ties and unrolled, the shirt was still covered in leaves, now dark from the steam.
Then the slow part: lifting the leaves away, one at a time. Under each one was its print in golden yellow and saffron, every vein in place.
The finished shirt
Within the hour the shirt was hanging on a line in the garden, drying in the open air: golden leaves climbing a white shirt, in front of a wall of green vines.
The shirt is part of the NILA collection. See the Golden Leaf Shirt, or follow every stage of the craft on Our Process.
